Mohanlal almost didn't play Sethumadhavan, here's how 'Kireedam' finally came together

Few films have left behind scenes that audiences can recite by heart. Fewer still continue to evoke the same lump in the throat decades later. In 'Kireedam', that moment arrives when Achuthan Nair looks at his son and pleads, "Kathi thazhe idada." It is not just one of the most iconic scenes in Malayalam cinema. It is the culmination of a tragedy that unfolds with such heartbreaking inevitability that even today, audiences know what's coming, yet hope it somehow ends differently.

As Sibi Malayil's 1989 classic prepares for its 4K re-release on July 10, nostalgia is only one reason behind the excitement. 'Kireedam' has survived generations because it did something few commercial films dared to do. It stripped its hero of every cinematic privilege, refused him redemption and trusted audiences to embrace heartbreak over heroism.

Ironically, the film itself almost never got made.
"When we first approached Mohanlal, he didn't have a single date to spare," recalled co-producer Dinesh Panicker. "He was shooting for 'Thoovanathumbikal' in Thrissur when we met him. He was exhausted, dealing with back pain and juggling several unfinished films. His immediate response was that he simply couldn't take on another project. It took nearly two years before everything finally fell into place."

Today, it is impossible to imagine anyone else as Sethumadhavan, the young man whose dream of becoming a police officer is destroyed after a single act of courage changes how the world sees him. In defending his father, Achuthan Nair, from the dreaded Keerikkadan Jose, Sethumadhavan unknowingly trades his future for a reputation he never sought.

That quiet tragedy was born from an equally simple idea.

"Lohi didn't come with a completed script," Dinesh said. "He only had a story about an ordinary man from his hometown who beat up a notorious rowdy. From that day onwards, the village stopped seeing him as an ordinary man and started identifying him with the goon. The moment we heard that, we knew there was a powerful story waiting to be told."

Legendary writer A K Lohithadas turned that one-line premise into a screenplay in just three to four days. But what made 'Kireedam' extraordinary wasn't the speed at which it was written. It was the emotional precision with which it unfolded. Every decision Sethumadhavan makes feels justified. Every consequence feels unavoidable. The tragedy doesn't arrive all at once. It quietly gathers momentum until there is no way back.

"When Lohi narrated the story, we were completely overwhelmed," Dinesh said. "We knew it was a beautiful script. Sibi was the one who confidently said it would become a huge hit."

The film's emotional weight rested on Mohanlal, but Dinesh believes one character gave Sethumadhavan's journey its terrifying urgency.
"Lal asked us only one thing before agreeing to do the film. He wanted to know who would play Keerikkadan Jose," he recalled. "That role couldn't be ordinary. Lohithadas often used to say Keerikkadan was the backbone of the film, and Mohan Raj gave the character exactly the kind of intimidating presence it needed."

If Keerikkadan Jose represented fear, Achuthan Nair represented everything Sethumadhavan stood to lose. The father-son relationship remains the soul of 'Kireedam', and the scenes between Thilakan and Mohanlal continue to be regarded among the finest performances either actor has delivered.

"You don't always realise you're witnessing something special while you're on the set," Dinesh said. "But when we watched the jail scene on screen, where Thilakan's character confronts Sethumadhavan, it left all of us speechless. Lal was always pushing himself to perform better, and watching those two actors together was simply unforgettable."

For all its emotional power, 'Kireedam' almost had a different ending.
The film's bleak climax, where its hero is led away instead of celebrated, worried some within the industry. At a time when audiences expected Mohanlal to emerge victorious, ending the story in defeat was considered a commercial risk.

"There were discussions about changing the climax," Dinesh said. "Lohithadas stood firm because he believed the character couldn't be rewarded after everything he had gone through. Distributor Seven Arts Vijayakumar initially wanted a more heroic ending, but eventually agreed to keep the original."

That decision would define the film's legacy. "When the film was released, some people felt it had too much violence and wouldn't appeal to family audiences," Dinesh recalled. "We always believed it would succeed because of the team behind it, but we never imagined it would become what it eventually did. Ironically, it was families who embraced the film and made it their own."

Thirty-seven years later, that affection has only deepened. As clips from the restored version continue to circulate online, Dinesh says the response from younger audiences has surprised him the most.

"I honestly didn't expect this kind of excitement from a generation that wasn't even born when the film first released. Seeing them welcome 'Kireedam' with so much love has been incredibly moving."

The re-release is also an emotional reunion with those who helped create the classic but are no longer around. Thilakan, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Cochin Haneefa, Sankaradi and Mohan Raj have all passed away since the film's release.
"We became a family while making 'Kireedam'," Dinesh said. "Bringing it back to theatres now feels like a tribute to everyone who was part of that journey."

Perhaps that is why 'Kireedam' continues to endure. It wasn't built around a larger-than-life hero or a triumphant ending. Instead, it dared to tell the story of an ordinary man trapped by circumstances beyond his control, and trusted audiences to sit with the pain rather than escape it. Nearly four decades later, that honesty still lingers, making every revisit to Sethumadhavan's story feel as devastating as the first.