''Moonnam Pakkam'' ( en, The Third Day) is a 1988 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

-language sentimental

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and directed by Padmarajan. It stars

Thilakan Palappurathu Kesavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appearan ...

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasional ...

, Kirti Singh,

Jagathi Sreekumar Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decades ...

Rahman Rahman (Arabic: or ) may refer to: *Rahman, one of the names of God in Islam *Ar-Rahman, the 55th sura of the Qur'an People *Rahman (name), an Arabic male personal name **Short form of Abd al-Rahman * Rahman (actor) (born 1967), Indian actor * ...

, Ashokan and Ajayan. Kirti and Ajayan made their debut in this film. The film was a commercial success and has one of Thilakan's most memorable performances.

Plot

Thampi (

), who retired as an accountant from Indian Railway in mid-1980s following his son's death leads a solitary life in his ancestral house. Thampi's grandson Bhasker Pachu (

) had completed his medicine studies from Bangalore. Thampi is excited when his grandson Pachu, comes along with his friends - Lopez (

), Renjith Menon ( Ashokan) and Krishnankutty (Ajayan) to spend his vacation with grandpa. Their presence brings joy and happiness into Thampi's house. Pachu is engaged to a girl, Bhadra (Kirti Singh) who happened to be the granddaughter of Thampi's friend. During the vacation Pachu and his friends often go to the nearby beach for a swim. During one such visit Pachu and Lopez gets pulled into the ocean and only Lopez manages to escape. The Police and the locals conduct a rescue operation in the ocean but in vain. It is believed among the locals that whatever that is taken by the ocean is returned on the third day (as meant by the title of the movie). Thampi refuses to acknowledge the fact that Pachu is dead and puts on a brave face, consoling Pachu's mother, his friends and Bhadra. Eventually the body is found on the third day. The funeral is held on the same day and Pachu's friends get ready to leave the day after. They all visit the beach one last time to say goodbye to Pachu where they see Thampi arriving with priests to perform the funeral rites of Pachu. While performing the "bali", Thampi, who lost all hope, takes the rice ball/"balichoru" in his hands proceeds to the sea. To everyone's shock Thampi, along with the "balichoru" submits himself to the sea and commits suicide.

Cast

as Thampi / Karnavar *

as Bhasker / Bhasi / Pachu *Kirti Singh as Bhadra *

as Lopaz * Ashokan as Ranjith *Ajayan as Krishnankutty *

as Kavala *

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

as Bhanu (Pachu's mother) *

Venu Nagavally Venu Nagavally (16 April 1949 – 10 September 2010) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagav ...

as Jayan (Pachu's father) *

Soman Soman (or GD, EA 1210, Zoman, PFMP, A-255, systematic name: ''O''-pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a nerve agent, interfering with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system by inhibiti ...

as Kurup

Crew

*Story, screenplay, dialogue and direction -

P. Padmarajan P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, a ...

*Producer - Balan *Banner and distributor - Gandhimathi Films *Cinematography - Venu *Editor - B. Lenin *Art - Kurian Sabarigiri *Stills - Surya Jones *Make-up - Mohandas *Costume design -

Indrans Indrans is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films.His mentor was Shiyas M S, a law college student. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough in 1994 with the ...

*Music -

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one o ...

*Lyrics -

Sreekumaran Thampi Sreekumaran Thampi (born 16 March 1940) is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer, and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel ...

Production

Major parts of the film were shot in

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

and surrounding places. The locales include Colachel (where the ancestral house is set) and Vatta Kottai (where the fort scene and the song "Thamarakkili" were picturised).

Soundtrack

G. Venugopal Gopinathan Nair Venugopal (born 10 December 1960), popularly known as G. Venugopal, is an Indian playback singer known for his works in Malayalam films. He started his singing career in the film '' Odaruthammava Aalariyam'' (1984). Since then he ...

won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer The Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer is an honour, established in 1969, and presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India for best female and male playback singer in Malayalam cinema. The first recipients of the award were P ...

for the song "''Unarumee Gaanam''".

References

External links

*
More about the film
{{Padmarajan 1988 films 1980s Malayalam-language films 1988 drama films Films with screenplays by Padmarajan Films directed by Padmarajan Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja