Kannur Deluxe

Kannur Deluxe is a 1969 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film, directed by A. B. Raj and produced by T. E. Vasudevan who wrote the story under the pseudonym V. Devan. It is the first road movie in Malayalam which pivots on a theft that occurs in a bus and stars Prem Nazir, Sheela, Adoor Bhasi. The film was released on 16 May 1969.

Cast

 * Prem Nazir as Thirumeni /CID Officer
 * Adoor Bhasi as Chanthu, Thirumeni's Assistant/Assi. CID Officer
 * K. P. Ummer as Venu, K. B. Pillai's Son
 * Sankaradi as Kammath, a Passenger
 * Sheela as Jayashree / Lady on the Bus
 * N. Govindan Kutty as KBS Nair
 * Jose Prakash as Gopalakrishnan, the thief
 * T. R. Omana as K G Pillai's wife
 * Nellikkodu Bhaskaran as Bus Conductor
 * G. K. Pillai as K. B. Pillai
 * Paravoor Bharathan as K B Pillai's company manager
 * P. Sreekumar K R Radha a Job aspirant
 * Ammini
 * Abbas
 * Kottayam Chellappan
 * Paappi
 * K. Radhakrishnan
 * M. Radhakrishnan

Production
The film is perhaps the first road movie in Malayalam. A real life incident that occurred at Cherthala in Alappuzha district of Kerala inspired the modus operandi used to arrest the thief in the film. Major portions of the film were shot inside Kannur Deluxe, a KSRTC bus service between Trivandrum and Kannur that was started in 1967 and is still on. The indoor portions were shot at Vahini, Arunachalam, and Newton Studios. I. V. Sasi worked as assistant director in the film.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy and the lyrics were written by Sreekumaran Thampi.

Historical importance
The film helped the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to win a trademark case against the Karnataka Road Transport Corporation by submitting its scenes with the KSRTC logo as prime evidence. The scenes were used to prove that the Transport Corporation existed in Kerala even before the Karnataka RTC.