Sadayam () is a 1992 Indian Malayalam-language psychological drama written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Murali, Sreenivasan, Maathu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, and T. G. Ravi. The film was produced and distributed by G. P. Vijayakumar of Seven Arts Films. The film score was composed by Johnson. The story follows convict Sathyanathan (Mohanlal) who is awaiting capital punishment for the murder of two young girls and two men. Mohanlal's performance in the film is regarded as one of the finest in his career. Despite faring poorly at the box office, the film came to be appreciated years later for their cult following. M. T. Vasudevan Nair won the National Film Awards for Best Screenplay. Plot Sathyanathan is condemned to death for brutally murdering four persons – two adults and two young girls – and is awaiting his final call. He shows no remorse and is just as cheerful as a man who knows he has done no wrong. The prison doctor Dr. Nambiar's son Vijayan is one of Sathyan's victims; he wants to sign his death certificate and see the fear in his eyes as he is led up the gallows but the doctor is just as puzzled as to why the crime was committed. There are appeals in lower courts and petitions for pardons by the cops as a matter of routine but Sathyan has no great interest in living. Eventually, when he wishes to start life again on a fresh slate because he now wants to live, in an O Henry-sque moment, he's denied a pardon and on Sept 29th, 1991, two years after he is originally convicted of the multiple murders, he is hanged to death. In a series of flashbacks, the story unfolds focusing on Sathyan's past and recreates the chilling crime scene, explaining his actions. Sathyan is a ‘bastard’ who is bullied and abused in his childhood by the people around him until he is rescued by a priest who realizes that the kid is a talented artist. Under the aegis of Father, Sathyan becomes a painter who makes a living by painting sign boards and hoardings. As part of one of his assignments, he takes a rented house in Kozhikode next to a house of ill-virtue where Jaya and her two young sisters live with their aunts. They have no future to