Malayalam films / music thread - മലയാള സിനിമ / സംഗീതം...

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wikipedia says :

Most critics and audiences consider the period from the late 1980s to early 1990s as the golden age of Malayalam cinema.

Fortunately for me, I was at Palakkad during this period and happened to watch many of those movies / listened to much of the MFM of that period

Let us discuss Malayalam movies that should not be missed in one's lifetime and MF songs that should be heard at least once!

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One of my top recommendations from this time period is this Padmarajan classic :

thoovAnath thumbikaL

It's a Mohanlal / Sumalatha / Parvathy starrer which is strictly for mature audience IMHO. It is quite shocking here and there but overall a joy ride, thoroughly enjoyable! Mohanlal & Sumalatha are such an enjoyable pair, with nice seeNdals. So is the Mohanlal - Parvathy romance. As widely written about, rain is a character in the story...

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Just for hype, Prabhu Ram aka P_R (famous dakalti in the hub / twitter / blog etc) appreciated Lal's performance in thoovAnaththumbikaL

So, all the 29 registered ones of this forum are hereby requested to watch (if not done already) and please post at least one comment

(Sorry, music is not IR but two great songs by Perumbavoor Ravindranath and a decent BGM score by Johnson)

[plum]

App - I havent watched it in full. ippO dhAn d2h connection pOtturukkEn - main aim was to get as many mallu channels as possible(I am not a DVD man, nor do I like to watch on computer. enakku oru vichitra pazhakkam - i will not search for movies, movies should search me-nuttu. So, TV-la adhuvA nAn pAkkaRachE vandhA dhAn pAppEn ) so that the chance of me getting it is higher

Problem is I made a mistake in selecting the package and ended up with more gult channels and very few mallu ones. Only get Asianet plus and thee market is such that classics get aired only on weeekday afternoons. Need to subscribe more Mallu movie channels.

adhu pOga, can you make a list of 80s and even 90s classics of Malayalam one by one here...my sister wanted referencest o buy DVDs. I have watched many but cannot remember names...some I can remember are:

Sanmanasullavarkku Samaadhanam
Varavelppu
Kireedom
What's that one with Mammootty slowly going insane and the climax which Bala suttufied for Nandha?
The one which Compli wrote about involving surrogate mother and Mohanlal?
Season
Namakku Paarkaan
Koodevide
Kaathathe kilikoodu

etc
etc

Do make a list with brief notes on cast, director, theme if possible..

[V_S]

App,
I have watched this movie and even posted my thoughts in that forum. Very nice movie. I liked the initial scenes, especially that bar scenes, college scenes with Parvathi; Mohanlal was terrific. When Mohanlal writes the letter (as if a father writes to bring her to that town) to Sumalatha and the rain at the background with windows open; beautiful and wonderful! Once Sumalatha enters (I know they purposefully lie to her to bring in for prostitution), I get little confused. Mohanlal has a principle (what a principle!) that he cannot sleep with a woman who is a virgin, unless she is his wife. Once Mohanlal realizes that Sumalatha was a virgin, he then wants to marry her, but she escapes/absconds one day (may be because of guilt, that she is a prostitute). I didn't understand the reason (may be because I didn't understand malayalam fully, so could not closely follow the dialogues). If she had only slept with Mohanlal how can she consider herself like that?. Suddenly she comes back one night and spends with him and leaves early in the morning. Again what is the reason for her coming back and why she has to leave immediately? I think that was unnecessary. In the climax, suddenly she gets married with someone else and comes back with a child. This is again for Mohanlal to get married with Parvathy, so that he will not think of her. I somehow felt, if her role was not written clearly or there is something unnatural/thrust to her role. Neverthless very engaging movie and whenever Mohanlal and Sumalatha meets rain comes and goes. May be Padmarajan portrayed her role with rain as metaphor (comes and goes).

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V_Sji,

The Lal char is quite an interesting one - who "arranges" for associates but never himself does the thing - wanting it only inside marriage. His first uRavu as 'thadi contractor' is with Clara under unusual circumstances, where he gets into a "mayakkam" (under the spell of rain) and momentarily lets his "principle" fly off. Wants to repair it by marrying her etc.

Clara character is more interesting! The "father letter" is only to cheat the relatives / neighbors - and not the girl herself, she comes with her mom knowing what she's getting into, with total compliance! What's more, she's even looking forward to the "fun" lifestyle That's why she didn't want to get restricted by a typical, traditional lifestyle (which is the expectation of the Lal char,as seen in the 'mEgham pooththu thudangi' song).

These kind of unusual characters are the big thing about the movie, IMO.

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The one which Compli wrote about involving surrogate mother and Mohanlal?

dasharatham - WOW, what a movie!

The 'always azhumoonji looking' kadalOrakkavidhaikaL Rekha is the apt choice for the surrogate mom.

The last scene was fantastic -esp Lal & Sukumari, one of the best ever on screen! (My housemate used to repeat that dialog 'kai veRakkunnadhu kaNdallE? uLLichchellAnuLLa samayam Ayi' whenever he felt like we should have a drink )

The whole movie is on youtube (decent video quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxpW2wEDBpA

BTW, I love that 'mandhArach cheppundO' song too

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What's that one with Mammootty slowly going insane

Do you mean 'thaniyAvarththanam'? It's known as a classic, though I haven't watched it yet

(Another Logithadas - Sibi Malayil film, like dasharatham)

[Bala (Karthik)]

One of my top recommendations from this time period is this Padmarajan classic :

thoovAnath thumbikaL

It's a Mohanlal / Sumalatha / Parvathy starrer which is strictly for mature audience IMHO. It is quite shocking here and there but overall a joy ride, thoroughly enjoyable! Mohanlal & Sumalatha are such an enjoyable pair, with nice seeNdals. So is the Mohanlal - Parvathy romance. As widely written about, rain is a character in the story...

இது உட்பட ஏகப்பட்ட மலையாளப்படங்க பார்க்கவேண்டியது இருக்கு (thanks to P_R, Murali Sir and others)..... முடிக்கணும், எல்லாத்தையும் முடிக்கணும்....

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Do make a list with brief notes on cast, director, theme if possible..

Good exercise, let's start...

1. thoovAnaththumbikaL - already posted / discussed (there are even spoilers here and there). Watched only on DVD.

Directed by : Padmarajan
Actors : Mohanlal, Sumalatha, Parvathy, rain
Two beautiful songs (nicely picturized as well) : mEgham pooththu thudangi (Lal / Sumalatha) & onnAm rAgam pAdi (Lal / Parvathy), decent BGM
My age-rating : For mature audience only (no nudity but pAluRavu / pAliyal thozhil etc forming a sizeable part of narration)
My movie-rating : Must Watch!

2. dasharatham - again already posted about, complete movie's youtube link also in a post Watched on both theater & small screens

Directed by : Sibi Malayil (written by Logitha Das, friend of Jayamohan & Meera Jasmine, supposedly inspired by some western movie featuring surrogate mom and child custodial rights thingy)
Actors : Mohanlal, Murali, Sukumaran as the doctor (Prithviraj's dad), Rekha, Sukumari
Song MandharachcheppuNdO is terrific, don't think there's any other song...BGM is decent
My age-rating : For mature audience only (no nudity but artificial insemination could make it complicated to watch with kids - especially if they start asking about how is the "non-artificial" one done )
My movie-rating : Must Watch!

3. ente upAsana - once upon a time posted about in the hub, watched only on DVD

Directed by : Bharathan (written by Thoppil Bhasi based on a novel)
Actors : Mammootty / Suhasini
Don't remember any song from the movie (there was a decent sounding number) but BGM was quite decent, Johnson
My age-rating : PG13 (rape / resultant pregnancy forms the main story, teens perhaps can get educated if not already knowledgeable)
My movie-rating : OK (of course better than most TFs that one gets to watch nowadays)

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4. chithram - the movie "most times watched by me in theaters", even a recent watch on youtube had me in splits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sy_JsyA6qo
(The video quality is so-so, even though it claims HD. Also, at least one important scene is missing - where Ranjini says 'andhakkazhuthayakkooda viLichchOLu' and Venu responds with a smile, lazily telling 'kazhudha' - this scene was nAn 'Avaludan ethirpArththadhu')

Directed by : Priyadharshan (his best, IMHO)

Actors : Mohanlal, Ranjani, Lizy, Nedumudi Venu, Srinivasan, Poornam Viswanathan

Music - the catchy songs by Kannur Rajan were somewhat influenced by IR, perhaps one of the best efforts of MG Srikumar as the singer. BGM was by Ouseppachchen and the 'thakita thakita' sequence for the intro scene of Lizy was fabulous and keeps playing in my mind as I type this! The couple of semi-classical numbers featuring Lal, Venu & Poornam are so enjoyable!

My age-rating : U
My movie-rating : Must watch, should not be missed!

[plum]

Nice thanks App. Will let this thread grow and then link to my sister.

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5. nAdOdikkARRu - got remade in Thamizh as kadhA nAyakan with Pandiyarajan / S V Sekar and had equal success I think. Famous for the "arabic" costume of the hero and comedian. (In MF, they land in Chennai with that costume, tricked by a conman and it was possibly in Kerala in the case of kadhA nAyakan). Yes, plum's oft-quoted 'avaLude rAvukaL' scene with Srinivasan / Seema chEchi is in this movie

Directed by : Sathyan AnthikkAd (There's some masAlA pre-climax which is kind of dated but otherwise a great film and funny to the very last "police" scene with Shobana)

Actors : Mohanlal, Shobana, Srinivasan, Innocent and other regulars of this team

Music : Shyam has my personal all-time-fav 'vaishAka sandhyE' song in this movie. 'karai kANAkkadalala mElE' is lovely too. BGM is sodhappal as usual, he should have sub-contracted it.

Age rating : Obviously U / G
Movie-rating : Must watch!

[plum]

Yes, plum's oft-quoted 'avaLude rAvukaL' scene with Srinivasan / Seema chEchi is in this movie

- hilarious scene! Recently saw it again. Despite knowing the punch line, could not help bursting in laugther. ennamO ilayathalavalikkellAm comedy timingnu pEsikkaRAnga. Timingna idhu dhAn timing,

Ppl should watch real humour like this - standards in TF are abysmal these days.

[2040]

poraamai...

[plum]

You say poRamai. I say "Contempt".

[2040]

...puippam'num sollalaam... neenga solramaadhiriyum sollalaam...

[plum]

sollalAm. nandRAga naanoru muRai sollalAm

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6. panchAgni - perhaps the first movie for the Hariharan-MTV combo which went on to make some more classics. Couldn't enjoy much during my first-time watch as I was just getting accustomed to the MFs (possibly the 3rd MF ever watched, still learning the language, felt too slow etc). Appreciated much during later watches.

BTW, PLEASE DON'T READ WIKIPEDIA of the movie as it gives away the whole story. Will take away all the shock value I don't want to give any spoilers here either. Briefly, interesting story of a naxalite girl (nicely done by Geetha) on parole.

Directed by : Hariharan (written by M T Vasudevan Nair)

Actors : Geetha (The 'vAn pOlE vaNNam koNdu' dancer in such an unbelievably serious role), Nadhiya, Mohanlal (smart without meesai), nalleNNei Chithra, Murali

Music : Bombay Ravi starting his sparkling innings in MF field with those sweet 'A rAthri mAnju pOyi' & 'sAgarangaLE'. My love for non-IR-MFM started with these songs by KSC & KJY - what lovely numbers!

Age-rating: Only for mature audience, there are some shocking scenes not suitable for kids IMHO.

Movie rating: Must watch! Quintessential example of "serious" 80's movie!

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Just look at the names of those 6 directors posted so far :
-Padmarajan
-Sibi Malayil
-Bharathan
-Priyadharshan
-Sathyan Anthikkad
-Hariharan

All top class artists working during the same time period!

summA illai calling this period as 'golden age'!

[suresh2]

A_E has a good list there. I'll try to supplement.

IMO since there are way too many to list, a better way to approach both the cult classics and the commercial hits of 'middle-stream cinema' of the 70s & 80s would be to categorise by the director. I say this also because Malayalam cinema of that era was defined by its makers - directors & story/script writers - more than the 'stars'. An MTV or KG George had more pull than the big M's. Much more pronounced than in Thamizh, where too there was a parallel movement in which the likes of Mahendran, Balachander, Balu M, Bharathiraja et al could get away with the Vijayan's and Sudhakar's. Truly, content was king. Ok, end digression.

Let me start with KG George, one of the harbingers of good cinema of the period. George must have done about 15 films in his career of 2 decades, I'll pick the top 3 that I would rate must-see.

1 Yavanika - starring Bharath Gopi, Mammootty, Thilakan, Ashokan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy, Jalaja. A taut suspense thriller in the backdrop of a travelling drama troupe with an ensemble cast that were to become the greatest actors of all time in Malayalam cinema. Mammootty plays an investigative cop probing the disappearance of the vagabond alcoholic tabla player (played by Gopi). A surprise commercial hit then, this is a film rich in sub-text and an informed aesthetic.

2 Panchavadi Palam - starring Bharath Gopi, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Srividya, Sreenivasan, Sukumari - is a brilliant satire capturing the corruption and sleaze in Kerala's political system. The tussle between two political groups to build a bridge in a village forms the backdrop of this film which appears more relevant in the contemporary political scenario. You may need to understand rural Malayali culture of the times to appreciate the nuances in this one.

3 Mattoral - Mammootty, Karamana Janardhanan Nair & Seema star in this intense family drama that traces the troubled life of Susheela (Seema) who, unsatisfied by her simpleton husband Kaimal, strays into a physical relationship with a car mechanic Giri (played by Mammootty) leading to her eventual elopement with him. The ripples it creates in their middle-class family setting, the trauma that ensues in Seema's life with the abusive & crude Giri, her attempt at return and the tragic denouement are masterfully constructed.

Other notable films include Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback (based on Shoba's tragic suicide), Adaminte Variyellu (chronicling the unhappy lives of 3 urban women) and Irakal (that explores the ruthless violence of a rubber baron).

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Nice post, suresh2!

I have not seen any of those 3 you've listed

Going by the brief content, it looks like I need to wait for an opportunity when no other family member is at home, to watch these

For plum's listing purpose, I'll consider those three catalogued by you as #7, #8 & #9 and continue further posts with running serial numbers :-)

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#10. kireedam - Fantastic movie where the hero gets pushed into a "corner" by the society, including his beloved father...remade in Thamizh with the same name. Per wiki, this got remade in other major film fields as well (Hindi / Telugu / Kannada). Stunned by the movie when I first watched in theater at the time of release - couldn't sleep that night

Directed by: Sibi Malayil (written by Lohitha das)

Actors : Mohanlal, Thilakan, Parvathy, Jagathy, Hanifa

Music : Johnson - the song 'kaNNeerppoovinde' captures the emotions in a terrific manner. The picturization too is one of the best. Decent BGM too.

Age rating : Strictly for adults, too violent for kids

Movie rating : Of course, must watch!

[Wizzy]

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[Wizzy]

App/Suresh2 nice recos though I wouldn't club Priyan with the doyens you had listed ,
he is what Santhana Bharathi/Sunder.c :Tfi viz-a-viz popularity by mere association anything from Aravindhan? was blown by his work in Chidambaram//

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