Nadodikkattu

Sathyan Anthikad's 1987 Malayalam film is a comedy built on unemployment. Dasan and Vijayan lose their jobs and, with no door opening in Kerala, decide to slip away to Dubai; the boat they pay for lands them not abroad but in Madras. Their realising this and trying to survive in the city is the film's first great joke, after which they become entangled, without knowing it, in the business of a criminal organisation. The comedy comes less from situation than from character: Dasan thinks himself cleverer than he is, Vijayan accepts everything without question, and the mismatch between them carries the film. The screenplay is by Sreenivasan and a criticism of labour migration sits underneath the jokes. It is among the most quoted films in Malayalam cinema. Who it's for: viewers who like Malayalam comedy and Indian cinema of the eighties. Who it's not for: anyone without the cultural background; some of the jokes are local.