Pathemari (2015)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 0. Including: Filmfare Award for Best Film – Malayalam

Pathemari (transl. Dhow) is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language period drama film written and directed by Salim Ahamed and starring Mammootty in the lead role, with a supporting cast that includes Jewel Mary, Siddique, Sreenivasan, Salim Kumar, Shaheen Siddique, Viji Chandrasekhar, and Joy Mathew. The plot follows the life of Pallikkal Narayanan (Mammootty) who migrated to the Middle-East in the early 1960s when the Kerala Gulf boom was just beginning.

Production

In November 2013, Salim Ahamed announced that he would be directing a film that deals with the Gulf and various aspects of it and that it will star Mammootty in the lead, in his second collaboration with Ahmed after Kunjananthante Kada (2013). Madhu Ambat was reported to handle the cinematography with the sound recording done by Resul Pookutty. It was in 2013 that Ahamed narrated the story to Mammootty.

In September 2014, Jewel Mary a television anchor was cast as the heroine, in her feature film debut as Nalini, while Mammootty's character was revealed to be named Pallickal Narayanan. Sreenivasan was also confirmed to play the role of Moidheen, while Siddique, Salim Kumar, Joy Mathew, and Yavanika Gopalakrishnan were signed for other prominent roles. Actress Viji Chandrasekhar was confirmed to play the protagonist's mother.

Principal photography of the film commenced in October 2014 and was completed by April 2015, in three schedules in and around Khorfakhan, Fujaira, Dubai, Chettuva, Nattika, Thriprayar, and Bepur. In the third week of March, Mammootty joined the crew for a five-day schedule of filming in the UAE, which was mainly held in Bur Dubai, Jumeirah, and Rola Square in Sharjah.

Jothish Shankar designed the art for the film, collaborating with the director for the third time. Ninety percent of the scenes in Pathemari are sets, according to Jyothish. The set for Mumbai Airport of 1980 was erected at the parking area of Greater Cochin Development Authority Building in Marine Drive, Kochi. Every scene taking place abroad except the outdoors was shot in Ernakulam.

It was during the shoot of Kunjananthante Kada that Resul Pookutty, the Academy Award winning sound designer, was roped in the project by Salim Ahamed. For the film, sounds of air conditioners, traffic and its changing over time in the Gulf were used by Resul in order to portray the development and transformation of the surroundings.

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