Padakkalam

Story:

Manu Swaraj wrote and directed the 2025 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy fantasy film Padakkalam which starred Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sharaf U Dheen, and Sandeep Pradeep in the key roles. On May 8, 2025, Padakkalam was launched in theaters. At the box office, the movie proved a commercial triumph.

At Shri Kartika Thirunal College of Engineering, Jithin, Ramsad, Nakul, and Kannan are four students working toward their BTech degrees. Jithin writes down his sentiments on paper after his lover Jeevika confronts him about their relationship before one of Prof. Shaji’s courses. A student strike that calls into question the qualifications of the present Head of Department (HoD) abruptly interrupts the lecture. Prof. Shaji unintentionally brings Jithin’s note to the staff room in the hubbub.

Popular and gregarious faculty member Prof. Renjith steps in to break up the strike and openly backs the nomination of Shaji as the new head of department. However, Renjith controls Shaji and manipulates him into getting into a public fight by using an ancient relic that he secretly owns. As a result, Renjith becomes the new HoD and Shaji loses his bid.

Jithin tells his pals the truth after unintentionally observing Renjith activating the artifact while looking for the note Shaji snatched. They discover while studying the artifact that anyone can use it to manipulate others simply by putting their opponent’s blood on the game’s dice. They come up with a scheme to stop Renjith by stealing the relic. Renjith learns about the boys’ successful theft of the relic. He starts to take possession of Jithin as payback when Renjith found her blood on a dice. He starts to be tormented by Renjith, which damages both his academic career and reputation.

Kannan finds out that the only way to get Jithin out of Renjith’s hands is to use the artifact to finish a game, which calls for a unique lock that Renjith now has. In the CAD lab at their college, the group tries to 3D-print the lock, but the printed version is unable to unlock the artifact. Ramshad makes an unsuccessful attempt to recover the original locket because Shaji gets to it first, but he succeeds in persuading Shaji to join forces with him against Renjith. Renjith interrupts Jithin and Shaji as they start the game. A three-way body swap between Jithin, Shaji, and Renjith takes place amid the ensuing turmoil. Ranjith becomes Jithin’s body, Ranjith becomes Shaji’s body, and Jithin becomes Shaji’s body.

Renjith is shown to have been unintentionally manipulating Shaji’s body while attempting to possess Jithin. This leads to his getting into problems, which causes his wife Shobha to leave him and pushes him into a suicidal state. But after the body swap, Shaji starts to take pleasure in Renjith’s life and won’t give up the dice that are required to undo the body change. As a kind of blackmail, Renjith (in Jithin’s body) keeps getting Jithin into difficulties. When Jithin (in Shaji’s body) learns that alcohol has an impact on Shaji (now in Renjith’s body), they gain some slight power.

Renjith is shown to have been unintentionally manipulating Shaji’s body while attempting to possess Jithin. This leads to his getting into problems, which causes his wife Shobha to leave him and pushes him into a suicidal state. But after the body swap, Shaji starts to take pleasure in Renjith’s life and won’t give up the dice that are required to undo the body change. As a kind of blackmail, Renjith (in Jithin’s body) keeps getting Jithin into difficulties. When Jithin (in Shaji’s body) learns that alcohol has an impact on Shaji (now in Renjith’s body), they gain some slight power.

By consuming alcohol, Shaji subdues Renjith, which alters Renjith (in Jithin’s body) and permits Jithin to flee with the artifcat. After that, he and Shaji attempt to complete the game, but Renjith tries to stop them once more. In order to guarantee that Renjith is stopped permanently, Shaji (in Renjith’s body) leaps out of a high window at the final second after Jithin finishes the game and returns everyone to their original bodies.

Now that he has a more positive outlook on life, Jithin talks to Jeevika and they part ways peacefully, while Shaji makes amends with Shobha and his unborn child. The fall leaves Renjith hurt and unconscious, and the doctor says it’s not certain when or if he will wake up. After a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the boys destroy the relic and eventually resume their regular college lives. The doctor unexpectedly contacts the guys during the credits to inform them that Renjith has vanished from the hospital.