Sandesham, Vellimoonga and more - 5 Malayalam political satire films to watch before Perilloor Premier League

Perilloor Premiere League, the highly anticipated political comedy web series, is now gearing up for a grand release, on Disney+ Hotstar. The project, which is helmed by debutant Praveen Chandran, features a stellar star cast including Nikhila Vimal, Vijayaraghavan, Sunny Wayne, Ashokan, and Aju Varghese, in the lead roles. Perilloor Premiere League will be available for streaming in seven languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali, from January 5, 2024.

Now, let’s have a look at the 5 Malayalam political satire films to watch on OTT, before Perilloor Premiere League...

Panchavadi palam

This KG George directorial, which hit the theatres in 1984 and featured a stellar star cast including Bharath Gopy, Nedumudi Venu, Thilakan, Sukumari, Jagathy Sreekumar, Srividya, Sreenivasan, and others in pivotal roles, has been considered one of the best political satire films ever made in the country. Panchavadi Palam revolves around the panchayath president Dussasana Kurup and his desire to build a new bridge in the village, in his name. This one of its kind movie, which set the benchmark so high for the satires later made in Malayalam, is available for streaming on YouTube.

Sandesham

This cult classic politican satire film, which was released in 1991, focused on the journeys of two brothers who believe in different political ideologies. The Sathyan Anthikad directorial, which is written by Sreenivasan, featured the scenarist himself in the lead role along with Jayaram. Sandesham, which took major digs at the political scenarios of Kerala in the early 1990s, eventually earned the cult classic status and has been regarded as one of the most relevant Malayalam films of all time. You can watch this film online on Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video.

Vellimoonga

This 2014-released film is on the favourites list of many Malayalam cinema lovers, who like political comedies. Biju Menon played the central character CP Mamachan, a 40-something-old politician who uses all hooks and crooks to become a minister and marry the woman of his dreams. This Jibu Jacob directorial portrayed the current scenario of Kerala politics to near perfection and made us laugh uncontrollably. The movie features Siddique, KPAC Lalitha, Aju Varghese, Nikki Galrani, Lena, and others in key roles, and is currently available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Perilloor Premier League trailer, release date out: Nikhila Vimal, Sunny Wayne's web series promises a Kunjiramayanam-style laughter riot 

Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans

This 1993-released political satire film was a different outing from the renowned writer-director duo Renji Panicker and Shaji Kailas, who are best known for high-voltage thrillers. Jagadeesh played the role of a young newspaper delivery man named Gopalakrishnan, who became the Home Minister of Kerala. The movie criticised the political environment of Kerala, with a touch of humour. Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans, which emerged as a major commercial success of the year, is now available for streaming on Sun NXT and YouTube.

Also Read: Exclusive | Each of the 125 characters in Perilloor Premier League has a quirky trait, says director Praveen Chandran 

Doctor Innocentanu

This 2012-released Ajmal directorial featured veteran actor Innocent as the central character Dr Bharagavan Pillai, a homeopathic practitioner. Doctor Innocentanu revolves around how Dr Bhargavan’s life changes upside down after he decides to contest the panchayath elections upon the insistence of party workers, who had many hidden agendas. The movie, which featured Sona Nair, Jagathy Sreekumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Lena, and Nithya Menen in key roles, is available to watch online on YouTube.

Watch Koose Munisamy Veerappan, Kadak Singh, Scam 2003, Chaaver and more on OTTplay, by subscribing to the Jhakaas monthly pack which provides access to 19 OTTs at just ₹49 for the first month