Thalayana Manthram (1990)

One of Andhikkad and Srinivasan’s comedies about middle-class Kerala, usually (e.g. Nadodikattu, 1987) but not always (eg. Sandesham, 1991) associated with the performances of Mohanlal. This one lampoons meek husbands who cannot control their spouses’ insatiable desire for consumer goods. Sukumaran (Srinivasan) is an honest construction supervisor, but his wife Kanchana (Urvashi) suffers from an inferiority complex vis-à-vis her brother-in-law’s educated daughter-in-law, a bank employee. Kanchana forces her husband to separate from the joint family and move into an unaffordably expensive residence where they spend all his savings on a car, a television set, jewellery, etc. Eventually Sukumaran is arrested for embezzlement.