Aadu is an Indian film series of Malayalam-language films 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 (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. which released on 19 March 2026.
The franchise is to be concluded by Aadu 3: The Ride Ends - Part 2 (TBA).
Feature films FilmReleasedDirectorWriterStudio(s)InstallmentsAadu6 February 2015Midhun Manuel ThomasFriday Film HouseFirst InstallmentAadu 222 December 2017Second InstallmentAadu 319 March 2026Friday Film House, Kavya Film Company Third Installment, first part of a two-part film.
Aadu (2015)
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'.
Aadu 2 (2017)
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.
Aadu 3 (2026)
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 FilmProducer(s)CinematographerMusicEditorAaduVijay Babu, Sandra ThomasVishnu NarayananShaan RahmanLijo PaulAadu 2Vijay BabuAadu 3Vijay Babu, Venu KunnappillyAkhil GeorgeShaan Rahman, Dawn Vincent
Main cast and characters
CharacterFilmsAadu (2015)Aadu 2 (2017)Aadu 3 (2026)Shaji PappanJayasuryaArakkal AbuSaiju KurupSI Sarbath ShameerVijay BabuSaathan XavierSunny WayneDUDEVinayakanCaptain Sachin CleetusDharmajan BolgattyKuttan MoongaVineeth MohanKrishnan MandaramBhagath ManuelLolanHarikrishnanBastin PathroseUnni P. DevP.P Sasi AashanIndransKanjavu SomanSudhi Koppa PonnappanAju VargheseMarySrindaBattery SimonBiju KuttanDragon PailiNelson SooranadThomas PappanRenji PanickerHigh Range HakkimChemban Vinod Jose colspan=2 Constable PavithranPradeep Kottayam colspan=1 Kaippuzha Kunjappan colspan=1 Vineeth Thattil David Kuttan Moosa colspan=2 Krishna Jeev Kate Lara colspan=2 Alleya Bourne
Music Shaan Rahman composed the soundtracks and film scores for entire Aadu franchise.
Notes
References