Nithyananda Shenoy, a don from Posoat near Kasaragod takes revenge against an ex-minister who swindles him on the hours before sudden demonetisation is made known to public. In the sideline at the underbelly of Kochi survival story of Muthuvel and his mother Sundari is shown.
A film with Mammootty and Ranjith uniting was reported in April 2016. Ranjith later confirmed the news and said the title was not confirmed. In November, the title was revealed as Puthan Panam, with its subject reported to be of black money and a cast including Iniya, Renji Panicker, Sai Kumar and Siddique. A tagline, 'The New Indian Rupee', is suffixed to the title, coinciding with the situation when the ₹1000 and ₹500 banknotes were demonetised in India by the Central Government. Filming began on 25 November 2016. Filming took place in Cochin, Calicut, Goa and Pollachi. Mammootty plays Nithyananda Shenoy, a middle-aged man who hails from Kumbala and speaks Kasargode dialect. Mammootty was trained in Kasargode accent with the guidance of dialogue writer P. V. Shajikumar. Ranjith called Shajikumar for writing dialogues in Puthan Panam as per the suggestion of Mammootty. Mammootty found Kumar on a Whatsapp group named 'Njatuvela' where both were members. When Shajikumar translated a poem, "Apolitical Intellectuals" by Otto René Castillo, in Kasargode dialect and posted on the group, Mammootty was impressed. Shooting lasted three months. Swaraj Gramika, a child artiste from a Thiruvananthapuram-based theatre group, who played a prominent role in the film, was selected after a casual meet with Ranjith in Kozhikode, whom he had earlier sent the details of his two short films and theatre productions. Shaan Rahmancomposed the soundtrack.
Reception
Critical
Deepa Soman of The Times of India rated the film three out five and concluded, "If you go expecting to watch a wholesome film on the blackmoney issue, you might not get your money's worth from this flick. But if all that you care about is to stay entertained through the length of the film, it is worth your ‘Puthan Panam’". Though appreciating Mammootty's characterisation saying, "You feel sorry for Mammootty, who plays his character with total dedication. He looks convincing and is his makeover is just brilliant," Moviebuzz of Sify stated, "Puthan Panam is lazily done and besides some casual references here and there, the connection with the demonetization drive is barely impressive. In short, after a good start, this one goes awry. Sad!"
