5 Sundarikal
Promotional poster
Directed by	Shyju Khalid Sameer Thahir Aashiq Abu Amal Neerad Anwar Rasheed
Screenplay by	Shyam Pushkaran Muneer Ali Siddharth Bharathan Sijoy Varghese Abhilash S. Kumar Unni R. Hashir Mohamed
Story by	M. Mukundan Sijoy Varghese Amal Neerad Feng Jicai Hashir Mohamed
Produced by	Amal Neerad
Starring	Anikha Surendran Chethan Jayalal Isha Sharvani Kavya Madhavan Reenu Mathews Asmita Sood Nivin Pauly Biju Menon Jayasurya Jinu Ben Dulquer Salmaan Fahadh Faasil
Cinematography	Alby Shyju Khalid Rajeev Ravi Renadive Amal Neerad
Edited by	Vivek Harshan Praveen Prabhakar
Music by	Gopi Sundar Bijibal Prashant Pillai Yakzan Gary Pereira
Production company	Amal Neerad Productions
Distributed by	August Cinema
Release date	21 June 2013 (2013-06-21)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

5 Sundarikal (English: 5 Beautiful Women) is a Malayalam romantic anthology film. It contains five short stories on love^[1] about five types of women.^[2] The stories are directed by Shyju Khalid, Sameer Thahir, Aashiq Abu, Amal Neerad, and Anwar Rasheed,^[3] and feature an ensemble cast.^[4] The film was produced by Amal Neerad Productions.^[5] The music directors were Gopi Sundar, Bijibal, Prashant Pillai and Yakzan Gary Pereira.^[6][7] The film reached theatres on 21 June.^[8] A promo song by popular Kochi-based rock band Black Letters was also released.^[9]

The featurette Sethulakshmi is an adaptation of M. Mukundan's short story "Photo" while Kullande Bharya is based on a Chinese story, "The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband", by Feng Jicai. It is narrated by Dulquer Salmaan.

Sethulakshmi (Baby Anikha), a schoolgirl, collects the photos of newly married couples from newspapers and pastes them in a notebook. Her close friend (Chethan Jayalal) learns about her interest in photography. They decide to go to a studio nearby to take their photos and this changes their destiny. They go to the photo studio and have their picture taken only to find out that it will cost them Rs. 25. They are asked to bring the money in two days. They come up with only Rs. 6.50 and two eggs (the two eggs brought by Sethulakshmi's close friend). The studio owner tells them that he will go to their school and get the balance from their teacher. Both the children state that it is a bad idea. This sends the studio owner into a rage demanding his money. After a moment, he calms down and asks Sethulakshmi to come into the film room to take a picture. While there he asks her to strip; she cries wanting to go home. Sethulakshmi has nightmares of that incident that night but does not disclose anything to her parents. She is taken to school by her father the next day as she exhibits feverish conditions. After school, as Sethulakshmi and her friend walk home, they see the scooter that belongs to the studio owner. He hands the picture to Sethulaksmi's friend but pulls Sethulakshmi aside and threatens her that he will put her picture on the school wall if she does not immediately accompany him. Sethulakhsmi's friend demands to know where the studio owner is taking her, but the studio owner tells him to go home. Sethulaskhmi's friend is left alone as he watches the studio owner and Sethulakskmi leave on his scooter.

This episode of love opens with a husband and wife preparing to leave for a party on New Year's Eve. While the man is non-chalant about it, the woman is concerned about leaving their daughter Theresa (Isha Sharvani) at home. She is concerned about her safety and her shenanigans. After the couple leaves, the daughter becomes aware of someone inside the house. By then, it is too late as she wakes up tied to a chair in her house. She then notices that the thief has on a mask and after a few attempts at trying to free herself, the thief asks her to calm down. After Theresa continues to struggle, it is revealed that she has asthma and asks the thief to get her the inhaler which is in her bag. While getting the inhaler, the thief (Nivin Pauly), inadvertently removes his mask. He threatens her to be quiet after she asks to be untied. As the thief begins to search drawers, Isha lets him know in which drawer the house valuables are. After taking all the jewels in the house, the thief is set to leave when Theresa proposes an idea. She tells the thief that if he were to spend New Year's Eve with her at home, she would show him more of the expensive stuff in the house (it is revealed here that Theresa's mother is really her step-mother and she harbours resentment against her). So, the thief releases Theresa. While she is excited about this stealing adventure, the thief is only interested in the valuables. As the night moves on, Theresa gets very comfortable with the thief, even seducing him. They celebrate the New Year on the terrace with some intimate moments. At this point, it is obvious that the thief is drunk from the wine that belonged to Theresa's father and Theresa uses this to her advantage and ties the thief to the very chair she was confined to. The true suspense is revealed to the audience after this as she is not the actual daughter. She is Isha, another thief who came before Nivin and tied up the actual daughter.

The short film tells the love story of a married couple living in a hill station. After legalising their love affair through a registered marriage, Gauri (Kavya Madhavan) and Jonathan Antony (Biju Menon) choose the place to begin their married life. Jo is crazy about trekking while Gauri is a dancer and teaches art to her students. On their anniversary, Jo leaves home before sunrise and goes for trekking. Gauri wakes up hours later to find a note on their bedside table which seems to be a fun scavenger hunt set up by Jo to get rid of her boredom. She sets out to find the clues while doing her daily routine. As soon as she finds the third note, Jo's guide knocks on the door and lets her know that Jo has fallen from a cliff. Gauri is devastated and is in denial of Jo's death. Years later, a man comes to look at the same property and learns that Gauri had killed herself that night and the bungalow has been empty ever since.

A newlywed couple comes to stay in an apartment. The husband (Jinu Ben), who is only 5 feet 1 inch while the wife (Reenu Mathews) is 6 feet tall. Their neighbours begin to gossip about them. As the couple lives happily, they expect their baby to add to the joy, but destiny has something else in store for them. The whole film is pictured from the point of view of a person who is bedridden after an accident (played by Dulquer Salmaan). It is reminiscent of the photographer in wheelchair observing his neighbours in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.^[10]

A businessman, Ajmal (Fahadh Faasil), faces a row of events during his journey from Malappuram to Kochi. His affectionate wife (Asmita Sood) tries to keep him awake during the drive by asking a few tricky questions. The nocturnal journey becomes eventful and changes the course of his life.

• Anikha Surendran as Sethulakshmi
• Chethan Jayalal as Abhilash
• Guru Somasundaram as Photographer
• Gopalakrishnan as Achan
• Anjali Nair as Amma
• Unnimaya Prasad as Teacher
• Baby Aavani as sister

• Isha Sharvani as Theresa
• Nivin Pauly as Jinu/Santa
• Deepak Sharaf as Teresa's father
• Sujatha as Teresa's mother
• Pradeep Kottayam as Police Constable

• Kavya Madhavan as Gauri
• Biju Menon as Jonathan Antony
• Shine Tom Chacko as Servant
• Tini Tom
• Rimi Tomy
• Jayasurya as buyer

• Reenu Mathews as Kullante Bharya
• Jinu Ben as Kullan
• Dulquer Salman as Injured stuntman
• Dileesh Pothen as Security
• Soubin Shahir
• Muthumani as Sicily
• Pauly Valsan as Molly Chechi
• Mano Jose as Sugunan
• Shirly Somasundaran as Annamma Chacko
• Jayaraj as Chacko Mash
• Sankar T. K. as Sicily's husband
• Ajith Vijayan as Ambiswamy
• Shanthi Sunil as Ambiswamy's wife
• Karan Rahul as Schoolboy

• Asmita Sood as Aami
• Fahadh Faasil as Ajmal
• Honey Rose as Nancy
• Chemban Vinod Jose as Joshy
• Vinayakan as Chandran

The first film Sethulakshmi was by cinematographer Shyju, debuting as a director.^[11] The film was an adaptation of the story "Photo" by M. Mukundan.^[7] Two child artists, Baby Anikha and Chethan, played the lead in his segment.^[12] Tamil theatre actor Somasundaram, who acted in Aaranya Kaandam, was signed to play a photographer in the film, setting foot into Malayalam films.^[13]

Sameer Thahir cast Isha Sharvani opposite Nivin Pauly in his segment.^[14] Isha, who made her Malayalam debut with this film, said that Sameer's story - written by Sijoy Varghese - explores the love between two strangers.^[15] This segment was completed in January 2013.^[2]

Aashiq Abu's featurette Gauri (earlier titled Naayika) is a period film about a group of people going in search of a promised land.^[16] Biju Menon and Kavya Madhavan were signed to play the lead. Singer Rimi Tomy stated that she would be acting opposite Tini Tom, making her acting debut.^[17] In March 2013, Jayasurya was also signed up for a role.^[18] The shoot of the portion was held in Munnar and other locales.^[16]

Amal Neerad cast Dulquer Salmaan and Reenu Mathews, who acted in Lal Jose's Immanuel, as the lead pair for his portion. Debutante Jinu Ben was given a prominent role. Neerad said that the story was loosely based on an ancient Chinese short story, "The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband".^[19]

Fahadh Faasil stated that he and Rima Kallingal would pair up in Anwar Rasheed's segment of the anthology.^[20] Rima Kallingal was replaced, and Honey Rose and Asmita Sood played the lead female roles in this film. Anwar said that the story unfolds on an eventful night and can be called a road movie.^[7]

The directors pitched in for each other as well. Anwar Rasheed's portion was filmed by Amal Neerad; Shyju Kahlid handled the camera for Sameer Thahir's film; Aashiq Abu's film was shot by Rajeev Ravi; Amal Neerad chose his assistant, Ranadive, to operate the camera.^[21]

• Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist - Anikha Surendran

• 5 Sundarikal at IMDb
• "An English translation of M. Mukundan's Photo" (appeared in Malayalam Fiction Special edition of Guftugu)
• Five star experiment (The Hindu)
• Stories from the heart (The New Indian Express)
• Review (Malayala Manorama)
• Review (Sify.com)
• Review (Rediff.com) ()
• Review (Nowrunning.com) ()