Udayananu Tharam

Udayananu Tharam (English: Udayan is the Star) is a 2005 Indian Malayalam black comedy film directed by Rosshan Andrrews and scripted by Sreenivasan from a story by Andrrews. The film stars Mohanlal, Meena, Sreenivasan, Jagathy Sreekumar, and Mukesh. Udayananu Tharam presents the Malayalam film industry through a satirical viewpoint. The financial and artistic crisis which plagued the once glittering Malayalam film industry at the turn of the 21st century lies at the center of the story. It depicts the struggles of Udayabhanu (Mohanlal), who is an assistant director and screenwriter and who aspires to be a director. But he is thwarted in his attempts by a scheming friend and junior artiste, Rajappan Thengamoodu (Sreenivasan), who steals his screenplay to become superstar Saroj Kumar. Director Roshan Andrews changed his name to "Rosshan Andrrews" as per his astrologer's suggestion to ensure the success of the film. The film made the biggest ever opening until then in the history of Malayalam cinema. The film won two Kerala State Film Awards, for Best Debut Director and for Best Choreography. The film was remade into Tamil cinema as Velli Thirai in 2008, and into Bollywood as Shortkut in 2009. A spin-off titled Padmasree Bharat Dr. Saroj Kumar was released in 2012.