Erlinda61E at 14:14, 2 May 2026

2026-05-02T14:14:21Z

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{{Short description|Indian film series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox media franchise
| title = Aadu
| creator = [[Midhun Manuel Thomas]]
| owner = [[Friday Film House]]
| films = ''[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]]'' (2015)<br>''[[Aadu 2]]'' (2017)<br>''[[Aadu 3]]'' (2026)<br>''[[Aadu 3#Sequel|Aadu 3: The Ride Ends - Part 2]]'' (TBA)
}}
'''Aadu''' is an Indian [[film series]] of [[Malayalam]]-language [[comedy film]]s created by [[Midhun Manuel Thomas]] and produced by [[Friday Film House]]. The series follows the misadventures of Shaji Pappan and his quirky gang in the Idukki hills, where the gang's fate is intertwined with the other main characters, which results in a comedy mess each time.

The first in the series was ''[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]]'' (2015), which was centered around a goat named "Pinky" which Shaji and his team won as a prize in a [[tug-of-war]] tournament and the chaos caused because of it.

The second installment in the series, ''[[Aadu 2]]'' (2017) is based on the [[2016 Indian banknote demonetisation]], where Shaji and his gang accidentally receive a note-printing design mistaking it for a medicine and the search for it by various people forms the crux of the story.

'' The third installment, [[Aadu 3]]'' (2026), is the first part of a two-part duology within the franchise. The film spans across three timelines, AD 1790 (past), 2025 AD (present) and 2370 AD (future) and how events in one timeline reach to Shaji Pappan and his gang. <ref>{{Cite news |title='Aadu 3' begins filming: Jayasurya returns as Shaji Paappan, Vijay Babu shares first look |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/aadu-3-begins-filming-jayasurya-returns-as-shaji-paappan-vijay-babu-shares-first-look/articleshow/121072455.cms |access-date=2025-06-05 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> which released on 19 March 2026.

The franchise is to be concluded by ''[[Aadu 3#Sequel|Aadu 3: The Ride Ends - Part 2]]'' (TBA).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-17 |title=Midhun Manuel Thomas, Jayasurya unite for Aadu 3; director calls it franchise's biggest film: 'Pappan syndicate is coming' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/midhun-manuel-thomas-jayasurya-unite-for-aadu-3-director-calls-it-franchises-biggest-film-pappan-syndicate-is-coming-9218888/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

==Feature films==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Film
!Released
!Director
!Writer
!Studio(s)
!Installments
!{{refh}}
|-
!''[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]]''
|6 February 2015
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" |[[Midhun Manuel Thomas]]
|rowspan="2"|[[Friday Film House]]
|First Installment
|rowspan="3"|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-31 |title=Jayasurya-starrer Aadu 3 gets a release date |url=https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/news/2025/Aug/31/jayasurya-starrer-aadu-3-gets-a-release-date |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=[[Cinema Express]]}}</ref>
|-
!''[[Aadu 2]]''
|22 December 2017
|Second Installment
|-
!''[[Aadu 3]]''
|19 March 2026
|Friday Film House<br> Kavya Film Company
|Third Installment, first part of a two-part film.
|-
|}

===''Aadu'' (2015){{efn|[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]] original title is "Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeeviyanu" (transl. Goat is a mysterious creature).}}===
{{Main|Aadu (film)}}
A local Tug-of-war tourney gifted Shaji Pappan and his gang, a cute but naughty little goat called 'Pinky'. Their attempts to dump the goat, unknowingly, interrupts few groups of smugglers, who are in race for the 'Neelakodiveli'.{{efn|[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]] is the first Malayalam film to introduce Intro/Theme music to all major characters.}}

===''Aadu 2'' (2017)===
{{Main|Aadu 2}}

Shaji Pappan and his gang try to redeem their arts club through a game of tug-o-war. Meanwhile, Pappan's back pain has become a bigger problem, so they orders an Ayurvedic medicine from North India. Chaos erupts when Pappan and his gang miscarries the counterfeit note design thinking as Medicine for his back pain. As the half-witted gang gets entangled in a bigger conspiracy.{{efn|Aadu 2 is based on 2016 demonetisation which was to curb Black money and to stop counterfeit notes.}}

===''Aadu 3'' (2026)===
{{Main|Aadu 3}}

In Aadu 3: One Last Ride - Part 1, Shaji Pappan and his legendary gang from the High Range return for a chaotic adventure that unexpectedly shatters the boundaries of time and logic. What begins as a signature "Aadu" style scramble for a mysterious object quickly escalates into a mind-bending historical fantasy, bridging the gap between a 1700s royal conflict involving Maharaja Padmanabha Thampuran ("Past version of Shaji Pappan") and a high-stakes struggle in the present day. As the lines between ancestors and their modern-day descendants blur, the gang finds themselves caught in a sprawling "temporal loop" where every slapstick mishap could rewrite history itself. The film serves as a massive, visually ambitious setup for a grand conclusion, leaving audiences balanced on a cliffhanger that questions if Shaji Pappan's luck can survive a battle across centuries.

==Additional crews==
{|class="wikitable"
!Film
!Producer(s)
!Cinematographer
!Music
!Editor
|-
!''[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]]''
|[[Vijay Babu (actor, born 1976)|Vijay Babu]], [[Sandra Thomas]]
|rowspan="2"|[[Vishnu Narayanan]]
|rowspan="2"|[[Shaan Rahman]]
|rowspan="3"|[[Lijo Paul]]
|-
!''[[Aadu 2]]''
|Vijay Babu
|-
!''[[Aadu 3]]''
|Vijay Babu, Venu Kunnappilly
|Akhil George
|[[Shaan Rahman]], [[Dawn Vincent]]
|}

==Main cast and characters==

{|class="wikitable"
!rowspan="2"|Character
!colspan="3"|Films
|-
!''[[Aadu (film)|Aadu]]'' (2015)
!''[[Aadu 2]]'' (2017)
!''[[Aadu 3]]'' (2026)
|-
!Shaji Pappan
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Jayasurya]]
|-
!Arakkal Abu
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Saiju Kurup]]
|-
![[Sub-inspector|SI]] Sarbath Shameer
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Vijay Babu (actor, born 1976)|Vijay Babu]]
|-
!Saathan Xavier
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Sunny Wayne]]
|-
!DUDE
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Vinayakan]]
|-
!Captain Sachin Cleetus
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Dharmajan Bolgatty]]
|-
!Kuttan Moonga
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Vineeth Mohan]]
|-
!Krishnan Mandaram
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Bhagath Manuel]]
|-
!Lolan
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Harikrishnan (Malayalam actor)|Harikrishnan]]
|-
!Bastin Pathrose
|align=center colspan="3"|Unni P. Dev
|-
!P.P Sasi Aashan
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Indrans]]
|-
!Kanjavu Soman
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Sudhi Koppa]]
|-
! Ponnappan
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Aju Varghese]]
|-
!Mary
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Srinda]]
|-
!Battery Simon
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Biju Kuttan]]
|-
!Dragon Paili
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Nelson Sooranad]]
|-
!Thomas Pappan
|align=center colspan="3"|[[Renji Panicker]]
|-
!High Range Hakkim
|align=center colspan="1"|[[Chemban Vinod Jose]]
| colspan=2 {{cEmpty}}
|-
! Constable Pavithran
|align=center colspan="2"|[[Pradeep Kottayam]]
| colspan=1 {{cEmpty}}
|-
!Kaippuzha Kunjappan
| colspan=1 {{cEmpty}}
|align=center colspan="2"|[[Vineeth Thattil David]]
|-
! Kuttan Moosa
| colspan=2 {{cEmpty}}
| align="center" | Krishna Jeev
|-
! Kate Lara
| colspan=2 {{cEmpty}}
| align="center" | Alleya Bourne
|-
|}

==Music==
[[Shaan Rahman]] composed the [[soundtrack]]s and [[Film Score|film scores]] for entire ''Aadu'' franchise.

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Film franchises introduced in 2015]]
[[Category:2015 establishments in India]]

Aadu film series - Revision history

Erlinda61E at 14:14, 2 May 2026