Harikrishnans

Harikrishnans
Poster
Directed byFazil
Written byFazil
Dialogues by
Produced bySuchitra Mohanlal
StarringMammootty
Mohanlal
Juhi Chawla
Kunchacko Boban
Innocent
CinematographyAnandakuttan
Edited byT. R. Shekar
K. R. Gaurishankar
Music byOuseppachan
Production
company
Distributed byPranavam Arts
Release date
  • 4 September 1998 (1998-09-04)
Running time
172 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget2.5 crore

Harikrishnans is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language mystery buddy comedy film written and directed by Fazil. The film was produced and distributed by Suchitra Mohanlal under the production company Pranavam Arts, starring Mammootty and Mohanlal in the title roles. Juhi Chawla, Innocent, Shamili, Nedumudi Venu, Cochin Haneefa, Jagadish, Maniyanpilla Raju and Kunchacko Boban play the supporting cast. The film received a great pre-release hype due to the combined screen presence of Mammootty and Mohanlal after 8 years. It was released theatrically on 4 September 1998, coinciding with Onam, to critical acclaim and emerged as a commercial success. It was the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. It was later dubbed into Tamil with the same name.

The film initially had two endings when released, where the heroine chose Mammootty in one version and Mohanlal in the other one. This was an attempt by the filmmakers to satisfy the fanbases of both Mammootty and Mohanlal, who were each popular in different regions of Kerala. However, only one version was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for censorship approval. The producers were embroiled in legal actions after that, but the gimmick helped the film to bring in millions of rupees. This was an upturn for the Malayalam film industry, which had been generating unsuccessful films for quite some time.