This Malayalam movie released with 2 climaxes and almost shot the 3rd one with Shah Rukh Khan

Filmmaker Tarun Mansukhani’s Housefull 5 has been in the news for its unique approach of having two climaxes. The movie has been the talk of the town ever since its producer Sajid Nadiadwala announced that the murder mystery comedy will be released with two climaxes simultaneously revealing two different killers at the end.

 

This Malayalam movie released with 2 climaxes and almost shot the 3rd one with Shah Rukh Khan

 

This brings back memories of a Malayalam movie that had released with two climaxes, although it wasn’t a murder mystery. In 1998, filmmaker Fazil’s Harikrishnans starred two Malayalam heavyweights Mohanlal and Mammootty along with Juhi Chawla, who made her debut in the language with this film.

 

The movie showed the characters of both Mohanlal and Mammootty falling in love with Juhi’s character. It becomes difficult for the girl to choose one among them. Along with Juhi’s character, filmmaker Fazil too was also not sure with which actor should the girl go in the end. He knew very well that both Mohanlal and Mammootty had their respective fan bases, which landed him in a sticky situation.

 

Hence, Fazil came up with an out-of-the-box idea about shooting two different climaxes for the same film with one showing Mohanlal winning over the girl while in the other version she goes with Mammootty. He then released the version where Mohanlal wins the girl in south Kerala, which has his larger fan base. Similarly, he released the version where Juhi’s character goes with Mammootty in north Kerala, where the latter’s fan base is bigger. One source from Kerala confirmed the same with Bollywood Hungama.

 

Speaking about the same, Fazil was quoted by Indian Express from an old interview saying, “When making the film, I didn’t want people saying I favoured Mohanlal or Mammootty. At the same time, I had to consider their fans as well. The real dilemma was, who would end up with Juhi Chawla’s character? If Mammootty got her, Mohanlal’s fans would be upset, and vice versa. The idea of two endings came from that curiosity. You could even call it a mischief. We shot one version where Mohanlal gets her, another where Mammootty does. We also filmed a version where it wasn’t revealed who she chose. There were a total of 32 prints. I resolved the issue by saying, ‘Let Mohanlal get her in 16 prints and Mammootty in the remaining 16’.”

 

However, it is also reported that the makers didn’t certify the version where Mammootty gets the girl with the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) and yet released the film. Hence, it is said that the board sent notices to the makers to withdraw that version from the theatres.

 

Harikrishnans is currently available on YouTube and JioHotstar. In both the versions, Juhi’s character is shown choosing Mohanlal in a symbolic way.

 

But that’s not all. Fazil also thought of shooting a third climax in which Shah Rukh Khan gets the girl. The actor was in south at that time shooting for a Bollywood film and he used to meet Juhi on the sets of Harikrishnans in the evenings. This idea was, however, dropped by the director. But a picture of SRK with Mammootty, Mohanlal and Juhi Chawla is still available online.

 

Interestingly, if the makers had gone with the third climax, it would have been SRK’s debut in Malayalam cinema. But more importantly, that twist would have been exactly the same as the one in David Dhawan’s Deewana Mastana, which had released just a year ago in 1997. Amusingly, that film also had Juhi Chawla being persuaded by two men, played by Anil Kapoor and Govinda. In the end, she chooses Salman Khan.

 

Also Read: “Shah Rukh Khan is educated, wise, aware, and remembers people,” says Zeeshan Ayyub as he recalls working with him in Raees

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