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Poster of the film Padakkalam

Padakkalam

Comedy Fantasy Malayalam


Four nerdy comic book enthusiasts find themselves in an unexpected adventure when their school's charming new professor turns their academic world upside down with supernatural events.

Cast:Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sharafudheen, Sandeep Pradeep, Niranjana Anoop, Ishan Shoukath, Arun Pradeep, Pooja Mohanraj, Arun Ajikumar, Saaf, Nahas Hidayath,
Director:Manu Swaraj
Writer:Nithin C Babu, Manu Swaraj
Editor:Nidhin Raj Arol
Camera:Anu Moothedath

All Guild Reviews of Padakkalam

Image of scene from the film Padakkalam

Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sharaf U Dheen's Comedy Is One-Note, But Still Infectious Fun

Fox in morning light

Vishal Menon | The Hollywood Reporter India

Sat, May 10 2025

'Padakkalam' takes a few outrageous steps to give us a plot that goes beyond the basic setup-payoff pattern of most body-swap comedies.

There’s an infectious amount of silliness in Padakkalam which makes this fantasy impossible to take seriously. Speaking broadly, it’s another one of those body-swap comedies in which the jokes emerge out of our amusement on seeing one actor perform like another. There have been dozens of comedies in a similar vein, including Big (1988), The Hot Chick (2002) and Freaky Friday (2003), with Malayalam cinema getting its version in Shine Tom Chacko’s Ithihasa (2014). But with Padakkalam, we take a few outrageous steps ahead to be left with a plot that goes beyond the basic setup-payoff pattern of most body-swap comedies. The writers of Padakkalam push their concept to the limits, not just by throwing in the idea of one character being able to control the body of another, but also by making this a three-way swap.

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