Manorathangal

Manorathangal (transl. Mindscapes) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language anthology television series.^[2][3] The anthology features nine featurettes based on M. T. Vasudevan Nair's nine short stories:^[4][5] Aswathy V Nair, daughter of M.T. Vasudevan Nair, is the creative director of this film. Titles are Olavum Theeravum, Kadugannawa; Oru Yathra Kurippu, Sherlock, Silalikhitham, Vilpana, Kadalkkaattu, Kazhcha, Abhayam Thedi Veendum, and Swargam Thurakkuna Samayam.^[6][7]

Manorathangal
Genre	Drama Anthology
Based on	Short stories by M. T. Vasudevan Nair
Written by	M. T. Vasudevan Nair
Directed by	Priyadarshan Santhosh Sivan Ranjith Jayaraj Shyamaprasad Mahesh Narayanan Ratheesh Ambat Aswathy V. Nair
Starring	Mohanlal Mammootty Biju Menon Asif Ali Fahadh Faasil Parvathy Thiruvothu Surabhi Lakshmi Siddique Aparna Balamurali
Narrated by	Kamal Haasan
Composers	M. Jayachandran Ouseppachan Bijibal Ramesh Narayan Rajesh Murugesan Rahul Raj Jakes Bejoy Saeed Abbas
Country of origin	India
Original language	Malayalam
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Producer	Rohandeep Singh
Running time	402 minutes
Production companies	Saregama Jumping Tomato Studios Newsvalue Productions
Original release
Network	ZEE5
Release	15 August 2024 (2024-08-15)[1]

The anthology is presented by Kamal Haasan.^[8][9] It comprises an ensemble cast including Mohanlal, Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil, Biju Menon, Nedumudi Venu, Siddique, Indrajith Sukumaran, Asif Ali, Mamukkoya, Vineeth, Indrans, Aparna Balamurali, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Surabhi Lakshmi, and Ann Augustine.^[10][11][12] The anthology released on 15 August 2024 on ZEE5.^[13][14][15]

Plot

Olavum Theeravum: Baputty, a timber trader falls in love with his dead friend's sister Nabeesa. However her mother, a prostitute, wants to marry her off to Kunjali, a wealthy trader.The story culminates in a dramatic confrontation between the two men, with Bapputty asserting his love for Nebeesu.

Kadugannava, Oru Yathra Kurippu: A journalist named Venugopal travels to Sri Lanka for an official purpose, motivated by a childhood mystery involving his father and a young girl named Leela. He searches for Leela in the village of Kadugannava, where his father once lived, hoping to uncover the truth about their past.

Kazhcha: Sudha, a woman living in a troubled marriage, returns to her Kerala village to inform her family of her decision to divorce. Faced with opposition and societal pressure, she seeks advice from an elderly woman named Valiyamma. The story explores themes of women's choices, societal expectations, and the complexities of marriage.

Shilalikhitham: A historian, Gopalankutty, and his daughter witness a young woman dying alone in their village. The indifference of the villagers to the woman's plight becomes a focal point of the story, highlighting societal hypocrisy and the failure to help those in need.

Vilpana: A journalist, Sunil Das, encounters a mysterious woman named Mrs. Parekh while looking for furniture. She involves him in a strange situation, leading to a series of unexpected events. The story delves into the complexities of human connection and the unexpected bonds that can form between strangers.

Sherlock: Balu, a recovering alcoholic, visits his sister in Philadelphia. He develops a strained relationship with her pet cat, Sherlock, who seems to have an uncanny ability to expose Balu's secrets. The story explores themes of surveillance, privacy, and the complexities of family relationships.

Swargam Thurakkunna Samayam: Kuttinarayanan, known for his expertise in end-of-life rituals, is called to a dying man's bedside. The arrival of the man's selfish children disrupts the peaceful atmosphere, revealing the stark contrast between the dying man's character and his family's materialistic values.

Abhayam Thedi Veendum: A stranger arrives in a village and takes refuge in an abandoned house. As he becomes increasingly attached to the place, he faces resistance from the local villagers. The story builds suspense as the stranger awaits a confrontation with the house's owner, ultimately revealing a chilling truth.

Kadalkkaattu: A successful businessman leads a double life, juggling his family in the village and a mistress in the city. His life takes an unexpected turn when his lover reveals a shocking secret, forcing him to confront the consequences of his actions.

Cast

• Kamal Haasan as Narrator for all segments

Olavum Theeravum

Further information: Olavum Theeravum (2024 film)

• Mohanlal as Baputty
• Surabhi Lakshmi as Beevathu
• Durga Krishna as Nabeesa
• Hareesh Peradi as Kunjali
• Mamukkoya as Mammadikka

Kadugannawa, Oru Yathra Kurippu

• Mammootty as Adult Venugopal
• Vineeth as Venugopal's father
• Anumol as Venugopal's mother

Kazhcha

• Parvathy Thiruvothu as Sudha
• Harish Uthaman as Vishwanathan
• Narain as Prabhakaran
• Kalamandalam Saraswathy as Grandma
• Manju Pathrose as Sumathi

Shilalikhitam

• Biju Menon as Gopalankutty
• Sshivada as Sarala
• Shanthi Krishna as Malu amma
• Joy Mathew as Raghavan Mama
• T. G. Ravi as Parameshwaran
• Manikandan Pattambi as Kumaran Mash
• Nila Bharathi as Renu
• Geethi Sangeetha as Kurumba
• Nandu Poduval as Eroman
• Krittika Pradeep as Narayani
• Hareesh Pengan as Uzhuthura Warrier

Vilpana

• Asif Ali as Sunil Das
• Madhoo as Gita Parekh
• Sreejith Ravi as broker Balu
• Chitra Iyer as visitor
• Ujjwal Chopra as Mr. Parekh

Sherlock

• Fahadh Faasil as Balu
• Nadhiya as Balu's elder sister
• Cat as Sherlock

Swargam Thurakkuna Samayam

• Surabhi Lakshmi as Sita
• Kailash as Achu
• Indrans as Kuttinarayanan
• Nedumudi Venu as Madhavan Mash
• Renji Panicker as Pathmanabhan
• Jayakumar Parameswaran Pillai

Abhyam Theedi Veendum

• Siddique as The Man
• Ishit Yamini as The Woman
• Naseer Sankranthi as Karyasthan

Kadalkkaattu

• Aparna Balamurali as Bharathi
• Indrajith Sukumaran as Keshav
• Ann Augustine as Margaret
• Sanju Sivram as Vincent

Episodes

Title	Director	Writer(s)	Music Director	Cinematographer	Editor
Olavum Theeravum[16]	Priyadarshan	MT Vasudevan Nair	Bijibal	Santosh Sivan	MS Aiyappan Nair
Kadugannawa, Oru Yathra Kurippu[17]	Ranjith	MT Vasudevan Nair	Bijibal	Sujith Vassudev, Prasanth Raveendran	Manoj Kannoth
Kazhcha[18]	Shyamaprasad	MT Vasudevan Nair	Ouseppachan	Nimish Ravi	Vinod Sukumaran
Shilalikhitam[19]	Priyadarshan	MT Vasudevan Nair	Rajesh Murugesan	Divakar Mani	MS Aiyappan Nair
Vilpana[20]	Ashwathy V Nair	MT Vasudevan Nair	Bijibal	Divakar Mani	Dilip Damodar
Sherlock[21]	Mahesh Narayanan	MT Vasudevan Nair	Saeed Abbas	Mahesh Narayanan	Rahul Radhakrishnan
Swargam Thurakkuna Samayam[22]	Jayaraj	MT Vasudevan Nair	Ramesh Narayan	Nikhil S. Praveen	CR Sreejith
Abhyam Theedi Veendum[23]	Santosh Sivan	MT Vasudevan Nair	Jakes Bejoy	Santosh Sivan	Dilip Damodar
Kadalkkaattu[24]	Rathish Ambat[25]	MT Vasudevan Nair	Rahul Raj	Lokanathan	Dilip Damodar

Production

The anthology consists of nine short stories by M. T. Vasudevan Nair.^[26] It was conceptualised by Nair's daughter, Aswathy V. Nair, during the COVID-19 pandemic to commemorate his 90th birthday. Initially, she selected 20 stories, but eventually narrowed it down to 10, and finally settled on nine. While her initial intention was to focus on stories with female protagonists, she also included stories with male protagonists after discovering several compelling narratives. Explaining her decision, she stated, "I wanted women as the protagonists but discovered many wonderful stories with male protagonists. Ultimately, I chose stories with an abiding human element, with emotions of love, lust, greed and revenge, etc". Aswathy also directed one segment titled Vilpana.^[27] According to Onmanorama, the anthology draws inspiration from Stories by Rabindranath Tagore (2015), a television series based on the works of poet Rabindranath Tagore.^[28]

Aswathy served as the creative producer. The series began production in 2021. By January 2022, six of the films had completed production, including Silalikhitham, Vilpana, Kadalkkaattu, Kazhcha, Abhayam Thedi Veendum, and Swargam Thurakkuna Samayam. Priyadarshan-directed Olavum Theeravum is a remake of the 1970 film of the same name. It began production on 10 July 2022^[29] and wrapped up on 17 July 2022.^[30] Priyadarshan also directed Silalikhitham.^[19] Kadugannawa Oru Yathra was initially supposed to be directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery.^[31] But Ranjith replaced him and began production on 16 August 2022^[32] and wrapped up on 26 August 2022.^[33] Olavum Theeravum completed filming in July 2022 in Thodupuzha,^[34] which was made in black-and-white format.^[35] Initially, the series was produced for Netflix, but the platform rejected the anthology reportedly due to the addition of new segments starring Mohanlal, Mammootty, and Fahadh Faasil which increased the production cost. Later, ZEE5 acquired the series.^[36][37]the series was co-produced by Anil Thampi and Chandana Thampi^[38]

Release

The trailer of the anthology released on 15 July 2024 on Occasion of M.T. Vasudevan Nair's birthday.^[39][40] The series will release on the OTT platform ZEE5.^[41][42] The series was initially planned for release in September on Occasion of Onam but later advanced to 15 August 2024.^[43][44][45] Apart from Malayalam, the series is also released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada languages.^{[46][47][48][49]}

Controversy

During trailer launch of the series, Asif Ali was supposed to present a memento to Ramesh Narayan, but Ramesh allegedly refused to accept it from the actor, leading to widespread criticism about his behaviour.^[50][51] He responded that he was music director of Jayaraj's segment of the series, but he didn't get invited to stage on launch event and he was disappointed. He also clarified that he didn't hear the announcement and didn't know that Asif Ali is presenting the momento.^[52][53][54]

Reception

A review in the Indian Express found, the anthology film "has some standout segments, some that are decent and others that fall short."^[55] while The Hindu too stated it contained "a few hidden gems".^[56] The Hindustan Times praised the poetic achievement of the production.^[57]