Udayananu Tharam () is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy satire film directed by Rosshan Andrrews and written by Sreenivasan based on a story he had co-written with the director. The film stars Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Mukesh, Jagathy Sreekumar and Meena. The songs featured in the film was composed by Deepak Dev, while Ouseppachan provided the background score. Udayananu Tharam presents the Malayalam film industry through a satirical viewpoint. The financial and artistic crisis which plagued the once glittering Malayalam film industry at the turn of the 21st century lies at the center of the story. It depicts the struggles of Udayabhanu (Mohanlal), who is an assistant director and who aspires to be a director. But he is thwarted in his attempts by a scheming friend and junior artist, Rajappan Thengamoodu (Sreenivasan), who steals his screenplay to become superstar Saroj Kumar. The film made the biggest ever opening until then in the history of Malayalam cinema. The film won two Kerala State Film Awards, for Best Debut Director and for Best Choreography. It is inspired by the 1999 movie Bowfinger. It was remade into Tamil cinema as Velli Thirai in 2008 and into Bollywood as Shortkut in 2009. Plot Udayabhanu is a hardcore worshipper of films and a talented assistant director, who learns to write and direct his own film at a time when the industry is filled with dubious filmmakers. Rajappan Thengummoodu is a rather crooked friend of Udayabhanu and an aspiring and failed actor. Udayabhanu finally prepares to shoot his first film based on his own script, he discovers to his horror that Rajappan has stolen his manuscript, and filming is underway with Rajappan playing the leading role, which eventually propels him to stardom. Udhayabhanu soon finds himself faced with a career and personal crisis, with his faltering relations with his actress wife Madhumati contributing to the latter. She leaves the house later after Udayan causes chaos in the house after getting drunk, saying that he lost everything. Later, with the help of producer Babykuttan, Udayabanu prepares to direct another film, but he is forced to cast Rajappan as the hero since he was the star with most market value at that time. Rajappan takes up the offer, since he is also at a plateau of his career, but refuses to co-operate and throws tantrums and causes maximum trouble when possible. He spends most of his time actively flirting