Pranavam Arts International (formerly Pranavam Arts or Pranavams International) was an Indian film production and distribution company based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, founded in 1990 by Indian actor Mohanlal. Since then the company has produced a total of 11 films, including two of the most-expensive Malayalam films of its time—Kaalapani (1996) and Vanaprastham (1999). Vanaprastham was selected at the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. The company has won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film (Vanaprastham) and two Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film (Bharatham and Kaalapani). The company's distribution division was called Pranamam Pictures. History The company was named after the word Praṇavaṁ and its logo contains a figure of Nataraja. Pranavam Art's first production was the 1990 musical-drama film His Highness Abdullah directed by Sibi Malayil and written by A. K. Lohithadas, in which Mohanlal portrayed a contract killer who disguise as a singer to infiltrate a palace for killing the head of the family. His Highness Abdullah became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year and was one of the biggest hits in Malayalam cinema. The film won two National Film Awards. It was followed by another musical drama, Bharatham (1991), again from Malayil-Lohithadas team. The film was a critical and commercial success and won four Kerala State Film Awards and three National Film Awards, including the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film and Mohanlal won the National Film Award for Best Actor. The team collaborated once again for a musical drama, Kamaladalam (1992), which was also a critical and commercial success. In 1993, Pranavam produced the Priyadarshan-directed comical family drama Mithunam starring Mohanlal and Urvashi as a newly married couple struggling to find time for each other amidst continued issues in their disorganised joint family. The film was written by Sreenivasan. In the following year, Mohanlal produced and starred in Pingami, a drama thriller directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, in which he played Captain Vijay Menon who investigates the trail of a murder. Pingami was not a success in the theatres, but over the years, the film has achieved a cult following. The period drama Kaalapani was released in 1996, directed by Priyadarshan. It was based on the life of Indian freedom fighters incarcerated in the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during British Raj. With a budget of ₹2.5 crore, it was then the most-expensive