Sulaikha Manzil
Sulaikha Manzil is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Ashraf Hamza under the banner Chembosky Motion Pictures. It stars Lukman Avaran, Anarkali Marikar and Chemban Vinod Jose in lead roles. The film was released on 21 April 2023 and received positive reviews from critics.
Plot
The movie begins with a music video shot in a spoof-like manner, which can be related to the visual grammar of popular Malayalam music albums of the 2000s. It can be seen that the lead actors of the movie are acting in the song, where Haala is in love with a guy named Ashiq against her family's will. Eventually, Ashiq dies in a road accident.Haala's brother Sameer is an NRI, who works in the UAE and has been in search of a groom for Haala for many years. Haala and Sameer are not on good terms for undisclosed reasons, and she rejects every proposal brought by Sameer. She finally agrees to marry Ameen, who also works in the UAE. Sameer and Ameen meet each other in the UAE and arrange the marriage on very short notice. Ameen is visibly confused about the short notice but agrees anyway.
Ameen wants to get acquainted with Haala before marriage, but she does not seem to care. Ameen calls her the day before marriage and discovers she hasn't even saved his contact information on her phone and he discusses the matter with his friend Anwar. Meanwhile, Haala discusses with her cousin Amina that she just lacks the "excitement" but is okay with the marriage. Ameen called Haala again, but she couldn't answer the phone. When she returned the call, Ameen said he wanted to meet her, and Haala agrees. But she couldn't make it as she was trapped with her relatives. Angered, Ameen calls Haala and scolds her while she is on speakerphone, and Amina and Bathool get involved. Amina asks Haala whether she wants to call off the wedding. Bathool, Haala's sister-in-law, however, suggests waiting sometime, and if Ameen calls back and says sorry, Haala should hear him. Haala agreed to this, and Ameen called back and expressed his regret. Now that both are happy, Ameen asked her again, and she said to come to her house secretly in the evening.
Ameen couldn't escape from his house but managed to get in a car with his friends and drive to Haala's house. He met Haala in her backyard and discussed his concerns. Haala said she can't get close with someone on such short notice, but she is trying. Ameen agrees initially but eventually starts a fight. Ameen decided to call off the wedding, and Haala is seen confused. Ameen and friends got in the car, but got stuck as it partially fell into a drainage canal. Guests and relatives from Haala's house came to the rescue and learned it was Ameen. They invited him to the house, and Ameen couldn't resist.
At Haala's house, celebrations have begun as Ameen came to the house unexpectedly and surprisingly. They asked Ameen to perform on stage, but a depressed Ameen stood still. Ameen decides to announce his decision but suddenly learns that everyone is so happy and he doesn't want to spoil the mood. He abandons his decision to call off the wedding at the moment and meets Haala. Haala asks why he changed his mind, and Ameen replies that he doesn't want to ruin people's happiness and will disclose the matter to Haala's family once he gets home. Haala clears Ameen's mind and says Ameen's decision to not ruin others' happiness is the best quality that she imagined in her life partner, and they both return happily.
The next day, at Haala's house, the Nikkah ceremony is about to begin. The priest asks Sameer whether he had his sister's permission for the wedding. Sameer remained silent, and the priest insisted that he do it formally in front of everyone. Sameer, overwhelmed with feelings, walks towards Haala and hugs her, and breaks the ice between them.