77% Critic Match

Mathilukal

“What is Freedom?”

7.7 / 10• 1990• 2h 0m•NR• Malayalam

RomanceDrama

Storyline

Mathilukal ('Walls') is a free adaptation of the novelette of the same name, written by the celebrated Malayalam writer, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Autobiographical in character, it is set against the background of India’s freedom struggle in the ’40s when he was serving a term of imprisonment in the Trivandrum Central Jail. When the film opens, we see Basheer in a police lock-up, quite at home in the company of a few petty criminals. He has been languishing there for more than a year now without a trial.

Cast & Crew

Mammootty

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer

Lead

Murali

Basheer's friend

Ravi Vallathol

Razzaq

Thilakan

Jail warder

Sreenath

Jailor

Karamana Janardanan Nair

Karamana

M R Gopakumar

—

K. P. A. C. Azeez

Inspector

What People Are Saying

4.0

“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Adoor Gopalakrishnan's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”

— Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

4.0

“Every frame feels alive. Mathilukal is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”

— Anthony Lane, The New Yorker