When Malayalam cinema romanced the Anna Flyover in Chennai

There is something hilariously absurd, yet quietly telling about the scene in the Malayalam film Nadodikaattu (1987) where Mohanlal and Sreenivasan, as the iconic duo Dasan and Vijayan, walk along Chennai’s Anna Flyover in Arabic robes, tricked into believing that they were in Dubai.

Chennai, once fondly referred to as Madirashi by Malayalis, was the city many turned to in search of better opportunities.

Malayalam cinema of the ’80s and ’90s often captured this connection with Chennai. The Anna Flyover, known then as the Gemini Flyover, became a familiar landmark in several films, frequently appearing as an establishing shot or a setting for tense escape scenes.

Films like Mukunthetta Sumithra Vilikkunnu (1988), which unfolds on a Chennai street, and No. 20 Madras Mail (1990), a classic crime thriller starring Mohanlal and Mammootty, are cases in point. In other words, the flyover became a kind of cinematic shorthand and an instant way to tell Malayali audiences: this is Chennai.

An aerial view of the flyover, the first in Chennai and India’s longest at the time, under construction at Gemini Circle in Mount Road on June 9, 1973
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

The flyover, opened in 1973, was the first in Chennai, and at the time, the longest in the country. Built in 21 months by East Coast Constructions and Industries at a cost of ₹66 lakh, it employed an innovative hollow-box slab design. It rose over Gemini Circle, named after Gemini Studios, which was once a major hub for South Indian cinema. The studio’s influence was such that the name carried over to the new flyover.

Trademark dispute

In 1996, the flyover was officially renamed Anna Flyover after former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai. Around the same time, the word ‘Gemini’ became part of a trademark dispute when a private company claimed the rights to use it commercially. Even after the case was settled, the old name continued to live on in everyday conversations. Today, both names are used interchangeably, each carrying a piece of the city’s history.

After the flyover turned 50 in 2023, it underwent a major renovation: improved lighting, open walls, murals, and a statue of Annadurai — costing over ₹10.85 crore. Despite the changes, Anna Flyover continues to be a familiar part of Chennai, seen as much in everyday commutes as in movie scenes.

For many Malayalis, its most vivid image is still tied to two hapless men squinting in the Chennai sun, moments after they wonder why there is a bus to Paris (read Parry’s) from Dubai.