Thiruvananthapuram: “Four prisoners escaped from Tihar Jail”, this was an exclusive report carried only by the New Delhi Diary newspaper in 1987. The news broke in the morning edition, even though the jailbreak had happened at night. But in reality, the wall that was climbed belonged to Poojappura Central Jail, and the ground they landed was supposedly outside Tihar Jail!

This was New Delhi, one of the biggest hits in Malayalam cinema and the film that transformed Mammootty’s career. With its making style and full-fledged Delhi-based story, the film captivated audiences. However, many scenes were actually shot in Thiruvananthapuram, which “stood in disguise” as Delhi.

Murder of VIPs in the Mascot Hotel corridors

Malayali viewer’s first larger-than-life glimpse of Delhi was through the lens of Joshiy and Dennis Joseph’s creation New Delhi. The producer who took up the challenge of shooting in the nation’s capital was Jubilee Joy Thomas. “We completed New Delhi by spending the amount that could have made two films at that time,” said Jubilee Joy.

When he asked why the story had to be set in Delhi, Dennis listed the reasons: “This is the story of a criminal genius who creates news just to get media attention. If we set it in Kerala, the audience would doubt whether such things could ever happen here. But Delhi has an image of being a city where anything can happen. If we tell an unbelievable story against the backdrop of Delhi, credibility comes automatically.”

Even then, many scenes had to be shot in Thiruvananthapuram. In the first half of the story, Mammootty’s character, Krishnamoorthy, aka GK,is imprisoned in Tihar Jail. But permission was not granted to shoot inside Tihar. Finally, all interior prison scenes were shot inside Poojappura Central Jail. Junior artists filled the prison as North Indian inmates. Exterior prison shots, however, were filmed in Tihar.

In the second half, Jagannatha Varma’s villain character travels alone to Nainital. The scene where GK's team reaches there and murder him, earning thunderous applause in theatres. But the murder did not take place in Nainital, the room in the guesthouse was actually in Thiruvananthapuram, inside a house near Sreekaryam. Only the exterior shots were from Nainital.

All of GK’s meticulously planned murders were carried out under the cover of night. The VIPs, ranging from a foreign king to a judge, who “shook Delhi” by their deaths, actually fell in the dark corridors and back passages of Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. The crucial scene where Thyagarajan’s character gets shot was filmed in the hotel’s swimming pool.

Surf powder for poster; Climax from a newspaper

“If people must pay money to buy our newspaper, we need to offer something special, something no other paper has!”

This dialogue by GK in the film reflected the conviction of scriptwriter Dennis Joseph himself. While struggling to find a unique climax, one morning in Kerala House they came across a news story in an English daily: a print operator had lost his hand in a press accident, and his blood had splattered across two printed pages. At that very moment, Dennis Joseph fixed the climax, the villain’s blood itself would form the news of his death.

The film also introduced innovations in title design. Since the story was set in Delhi during January, snow had to be shown. In an era without graphic design, title designer Gayathri Ashokan wrote ‘New Delhi’ using Surf washing powder, photographed it, and thus created the snowy effect for the title card.

Republic Day Parade Shoot

The Malayalam association in Delhi promised the crew that “anything is possible” for filming. That is how the team set off for Delhi. Production manager Manakkad Ramachandran recalls how Palakkad native Joseph’s mess even carried essentials like salt, chili, and coconut oil by plane.

The film includes a majestic sequence where Mammootty’s character records the grandeur of the Republic Day Parade. With special permission directly from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s office, the team shot the actual parade.