Mohanlal Once Slept In Serial Killer ‘Ripper' Chandran's Cell

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Mohanlal's Sadayam prison scenes were shot in a real cell with a dark past — it once held serial killer 'Ripper' Chandran.
When Sadayam released in 1992, it cemented Mohanlal's reputation for taking on complex and intense roles. Directed by Sibi Malayil and written by Jnanpith awardee M.T. Vasudevan Nair, the psychological drama became one of Malayalam cinema's most striking portrayals of a man on death row. However, behind the scenes, the production carried an unsettling real-life connection to a notorious criminal case.
For authenticity, key sequences were filmed inside the historic Kannur Central Jail. In the film, Mohanlal played Sathyanathan, a convict sentenced to death for killing two girls and two men. The cell chosen for his character had once housed 'Ripper" Chandran, a convicted serial killer who was executed there.
Mohanlal revealed that the rope used in a hanging scene was not a prop but the same one employed in an actual execution 13 years earlier. 'The film was shot in Kannur Central Jail, and the room I stayed in during the shoot was once occupied by Ripper Chandran, who was on death row. Before him, a man named Balakrishnan had stayed there. The speciality of Kannur Central Jail is that two people can be hanged at the same time. An official even said the rope placed around my neck for the scene had actually been used to hang someone 13 years earlier. I don't know how many actors have had such an experience," he said during the 2020 Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters.
The film's intensity left a strong impact on viewers, with Mohanlal recalling how some struggled to watch it. 'After the film was released, many people called me and told me not to act in such movies. They said they couldn't bear to watch it. Such was the feeling the film delivered. Many powerful scenes were later deleted, which made it even more intense in its original form," he noted.
Sadayam, which also featured Maathu, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, KPAC Lalitha, Janardhanan, Sreenivasan, and Murali, earned national recognition for its writing. M.T. Vasudevan Nair was honoured with the National Film Award for Best Screenplay.
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