The Malayalam movie Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam starring Rima Kallingal and Jithin Puthenchery will hit theatres in the United States on Friday, July 9. Directed by Don Palathara, Neeraja Rajendran also plays an important role in the movie. Produced by Shijo K George, Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam (Joyful Mystery) is a single shot 85-minute movie set in the backdrop of the COVID-19 situation. Revolving around the story of live-in couple Maria and Jithin, the entire movie is presented through a car journey that the couple take together.
The movie had its premiere at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) held in February and was shown at the Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) held in April. Having won critical acclaim at the IFFK, at MIFF the movie was selected under the main competition category. Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam was the only Indian entry out of the 14 films that were contesting under the category. Shot completely inside a car with the camera fixed on the dashboard, it has been lauded for being a one-of-its-kind experimental Malayalam movie. In the US, the movie will be released in Serra Theatres, Milpitas, CA, Digimax Theatres, Atlanta, GA, Bellmore Playhouse, Bellmore, NY, Galaxy Theatres, The Colony, TX, and Star Cinema Grill, Missouri City, TX.
Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam has cinematography by Saji Babu and is written by Don Palathara. The location sound was done by Adarsh Joseph Palamattam. Dialogues are written by Don Palathara, Rima Kallingal and Jithin Puthenchery. The song ‘Pakalukal’ was composed by Basil CJ. Sherin Catherine is the lyricist of the song sung by Sithara Krishnakumar. Swapna Roy is the costume designer and Arun Varma is the sound designer. Dan Jose did the sound mixing while Sherin Catherine was the script consultant. Jenson TX was the associate cameraman, Liju Prabhakar the colourist and the publicity designs were by Dileep Daz.