In Harihar Nagar is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film written and directed by Siddique-Lal.
The film, set in the fictional locality of Harihar Nagar follows four unemployed bachelors: Mahadevan (Mukesh), Govindan Kutty (Siddique), Thomas Kutty (Ashokan) and Appukuttan (Jagadish) who attempts to woo their new neighbour Maya (Geetha Vijayan), who is in town to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of her brother.
It also stars Rizabawa, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Rekha, with Suresh Gopi and Sai Kumar making cameo appearances.
[1][2] The film is widely celebrated as one of the most popular Malayalam comedy films ever and has over the years gained a cult following, spawning two sequels — 2009's 2 Harihar Nagar, and 2010's In Ghost House Inn — and remakes in Hindi (Parda Hai Parda and Dhol), Kannada (Nagaradalli Nayakaru), Tamil (MGR Nagaril), and Telugu (Madhura Nagarilo).
Its success also spawned a series of unrelated low budget comedy films featuring the principal cast, in the years that followed.
The movie starts with an incident that takes place in Bombay, where a burglar named John Honai breaks into a house to look for a briefcase.
Maya, a girl from Kannur, and her grandparents relocate to Harihar Nagar, and happen to be Mahadevan's new neighbours.
She attempts to murder Govindan Kutty the next day, and Appukuttan's plan fails when Maya's grandfather is injured.
Thomas Kutty meets her at the boxing club, faking that he is a boxer after knocking down the other three men who now fear Maya's grandparents because they suspect them.
They fight back the henchmen after letting Thomas Kutty get beaten up for a while because of his betrayal of them, and Maya believes them because they fake tears and sadness.
Hearing that the four men are friends of Sethu, Honai kidnaps them to retrieve the briefcase on the pretext that he would let them leave in ten minutes.
After trying to find Andrew's mother, Honai unknowingly lights a lighter near the lit gas stove and burns to death.
After directing the blockbuster Ramji Rao Speaking – which dealt with issues like unemployment and poverty, relevant social factors affecting Kerala of the 1980s, Siddique-Lal chose to set their second film, in a more laid back and fun environment.
The story was developed by Siddique and Lal from a thought which came to their minds, about a group of friends who gets mixed up in an issue due to the lies they make up, to woo a girl.
[4] Siddique and Lal had developed a story called Kallila Kolangal during their days in Mimics Parade.
Initially, Siddique and Lal had decided on Mukesh as Mahadevan, Jagadeesh as Appu, Appa Haja as Thomas and Ashokan as Govindan.
Since the directors didn't have phones at the time, they sent the executive producer to talk to the actors and book their dates.
[6] The role of John Honai was originally planned for Raghuvaran, but since he had clashing dates it was eventually given to Kalabhavan's Rizabawa, who was a well-known theatre and mimicry artiste.
[14] In 2019, Neelima Menon of The News Minute wrote: "It's how Siddique and Lal sneak in comedy at the most improbable scenes that makes In Harihar Nagar such a riot.
Plus the goofy characters – each with their own brand of silliness, played with aplomb by Mukesh, Jagadeesh, Asokan and Siddique.
[17] Another Tamil version of the film, titled Idhu MGR Illam, was under production, but it did not materialize and was cancelled.