Anarkali is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Sachy and produced by Rajeev Nair. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Biju Menon with Priyal Gor, Suresh Krishna, Arun, Sudev Nair, Kabir Bedi, and Samskruthy Shenoy in supporting roles. The music was composed by Vidyasagar. The plot follows Indian Navy officer Shanthanu who arrives at Kavaratti island.
Principal photography began in February 2015 and was shot mostly in Kavaratti, Bangaram, and Agatti in Lakshadweep. Anarkali was released on 13 November 2015. It received generally positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success.
Plot
Shanthanu Varma, a former navy officer, travels to Kavaratti, Lakshadweep to work as a deep-diving instructor. On reaching there, he meets Atta Koya who was awaiting his arrival. During the check in procedure by the coastal police, a man named Dheeraj Iyengar is found to have fake documents. He escapes from the police by jumping into the ocean. Shanthanu, on seeing this, jumps in and catches him. This turns out to be a planned mock drill called Gemini, conducted twice a year. Shanthanu befriends Dheeraj.
Shanthanu's friend Zachariah works as the lighthouse operator at Kavaratti. When Shanthanu goes to meet him, Zachariah hides due to the past issues between them. But Shanthanu succeeds in finding him regardless. Shanthanu pines over Nadira Imam, whom he loved 11 years ago. Due to Nadira being a minor at the time, he had to leave the Navy because of his affair with her. Seeing Zachariah's anguish in seeing him, Shanthanu reveals the real purpose of his arrival to Kavaratti- to find Nadira's brother Naseeb Imam, who works at the naval base in Kavaratti. On hearing this, Zachariah becomes upset that Shanthanu is still not over Nadira, but decides to help him find Naseeb. Atta Koya comes and asks them about their past issues. Zacharia narrates the story to him.
The movie cuts back to 11 years ago when Shanthanu and Zachariah were working in the navy. Shanthanu sees Nadira Imam, the daughter of Rear Admiral Jaffer Imam during a Navy Fest of 2004. Nadira, after performing her dance, gets impressed on Shathanu's melody performance. However Zacharia creates a scene in the hall after power cut happened between Shanthanu's performance. Hence both receive a red mark on their academic performance. One fine day, Shanthanu and Zacharia tells Nadira that there are rumours about their affair and she instantly falls for Shanthanu. However when she learns that he was pranking, she makes him seriously confess his love to her which was also a prank by her. They fall in love with each other. One day after swimming Shanthanu and Nadira kiss each other in the bathroom. Jaffer witnesses this and beats Shanthanu badly. Nadira tells him that she really loves Shanthanu. The next day Shanthanu and Zacharia are summoned to the court for the charges against them. It is then they both learn that Nadira is a 15 year old girl. They both plead non guilty. However Nadira tells the court officials that she loved Shanthanu and they were in a relation. They both are dismissed from the Navy. Nadira promises that she will wait for 5 years to confess the love to him.
Back to the present, Koya is shocked to learn that his niece Dua Miyan is going away with his boyfriend in a helicopter. However she refuses to go on seeing Koya's attitude. Dheeraj boards into the helicopter, gazing at Shanthanu. A suspicious Shanthanu learns that Dheeraj was none other that Naseeb Imam. The final hope to know about Nadira is being shattered. However Koya informs that he went on a ten days leave and his father's name is Jaffer Imam.
Then he narrates what happened after 5 years. For the first few years, Shanthanu and Nadira keep in touch through recorded CDs, which Jaffer eventually finds out and prevents her from sending. They lose all contact but Shanthanu still waits for her. Back in the present time Shanthanu is telling his story to everyone in Kavaratti. All of them sympathize with him. They tell him that they will help him find her. After some days Naseeb comes back and meets Shanthanu. He informs him that Nadira is still waiting for him, but she left home due to constant fights with her father.