Punjabi House is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin.

It stars Dileep and Harisree Ashokan as Unni and Ramanan with Mohini, Jomol, Lal, Cochin Haneefa, Thilakan, Janardhanan and N. F. Varghese in other pivotal roles.

It revolves around Unni, a debt-ridden entrepreneur who attempts suicide by jumping into the sea so that his family can use the insurance money to repay his debts.

However, he survives and is rescued by two debt ridden fisherman, who keep him as a servant in the house of a Punjabi family of moneylenders, so that they can repay the sum at a later time.

Punjabi House was released on 25 September 1998 and was a box office success, completing a 150-day run in theatres.

Due to torment from his many creditors and lack of solace from his family, he decides to commit suicide (faking it as an accident) so that his debts can be repaid with the insurance money.

He jumps off the pier into the sea only to be rescued by fishermen from a distant coast, named Gangadharan and his employee Ramanan.

Back at home, his family is denied insurance, stating unconfirmed death (owing to lack of body), putting them in a difficult situation on repaying the debt.

The situation demands Unni and Ramanan to work at their home until he can repay the sum.

She finds out that he is not deaf or mute and considers him to be a fraudster, but later sympathises with him after learning his situation.

They find him and demand him to come back, as Sujatha who was in love with him, still waits for him living as his widow.

Rafi and Mecartin initially got the idea for a story from an incident that happened while on a train journey.

To escape the confrontation, the student started to act dumb and ran away, taking the food with him.

[6] After writing the script, Rafi-Mecartin decided to cast a younger actor for the role.

[5] In the original script, the main location of the film was the drawing room of the house where the Punjabi families lived.

Mecartin then asked Peters to compose a Malayalam version for Mughilenna Mazhaiyenna from Minnal.

He recalled in an interview with Kaumudy TV, that a producer had approached him asking for a sequel to Punjabi House, but he declined it.