''Thalayana Manthram'' () is a 1990 Indian

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

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Sathyan Anthikkad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

and written by

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such a ...

. The film stars Sreenivasan,

Urvashi Urvashi (, ) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the ''Vedas'', the epics ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', as well as the ''Puranas''. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert danc ...

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

, and Parvathy.

's performance as Kanchana received widespread acclaim and is considered one of the best in her career.

Plot

Sukumaran, his brother, Mohanan, and their mother belong to a middle-class family and live happily. Sukumaran is a supervisor in a construction company named JK Constructions, and Mohanan is a shopkeeper. Mohanan has recently married Shailaja who is a bank employee and is from a rich family unlike Sukumaran's wife Kanchana. Shylaja's fortunate life with money and a job makes Kanchana envious of her. Kanchana slowly starts causing problems in the family by finding unnecessary issues which affects the smooth running of a peaceful family life. Finally, Sukumaran leaves their family house and starts living in a rented house with Kanchana and their daughter at Kanchana's request. The rented house is located in a posh colony wherein the residents are very rich. Soon, Kanchana finds that living in luxury is not conducive to the economic situation of Sukumaran who is just a supervisor in a company. To match their social status, Kanchana lies to her new neighbours that her husband is an engineer in a construction company. Kanchana pushes Sukumaran with demands, like buying expensive home appliances, arranging a dance master for their daughter, sending her to an English medium school, buying an old car (in which Sukumaran would meet with an accident, thereby increasing their medical expenses and car repair charges), etc. The huge economic demands slowly crush Sukumaran and finally, affect him in the manner of creditors demanding their money back. In order to meet their financial requirements, Sukumaran decides to cheat his employer by forgery. The authorities come to know about the truth and one day, when Sukumaran is already under heavy economic pressure, the police arrive and arrest him. The next day, because of the ill reputation caused by the family, the house owner drives Sukumaran's family out of their rented house. At this point, Mohanan comes to their rescue knowing about the situation where his brother has been led by the ill advice of his wife Kanchana. Mohanan arranges money by selling his wife's gold ornaments and repays the creditors. Sukumaran is finally released from jail. In the end, the family is re-united when Kanchana understands her mistakes.

Cast

as Sukumaran *

as Kanchana, Sukumaran's wife *

as Mohanan * Parvathy as Shylaja, Mohanan's wife *

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is prior to the sense of legal guilt and is a primal emotion connected with the sense of self. It is often confused as being the op ...

as T.G. Daniel *

K. P. A. C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest ...

as mother of Sukumaran and Mohan *

Mammukoya Mamukkoya (5 July 1946 – 26 April 2023) was an Indian actor known for his work predominately in Malayalam cinema. He mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of Kozhikode dialect and style marked his presence in the industry. In a c ...

as Kunjananthan Mesthiri *

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...

as Sulochana Thankappan *

Philomina Philomina (1926 – 2 January 2006) was an Indian actress, who worked in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. She acted in more than 750 films in her career. She played mostly character and comedy roles, besides that of mother and gra ...

as Paruammayi, Sukumaran's father's sister's husband's brother's wife *

Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...

as Jiji Daniel *

Sankaradi Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 70 ...

as Thankappan *

T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (7 November 1935 – 9 October 2024) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He began acting at age 40 and appeared in over 600 films. Initially known for playing antagonistic roles, he transitioned t ...

as Manager *

Oduvil Unnikrishnan Oduvil Unnikrishnan (13 February 1943 – 27 May 2006) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has portrayed supporting roles in both dramatic and comedic roles.The HindMalayalam film actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan dead He is a four- ...

as Pothuval Mash *

Paravoor Bharathan Vadakkekarayil Koran Bharathan (16 January 1929- 19 August 2015), better known as Paravoor Bharatan was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He started his career in movies during the 1950s. Bharathan is known as a versatile actor and ...

as Damodharan Pillai *

Jagadish P. V. Jagadish Kumar, Born On (12 June 1955) mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and television presenter. He has starred in over 400 Malayalam films and two Hindi films. He is best known for his comic and character rol ...

as Bhasurachandran (Cameo) *

Kollam Thulasi Kollam Kanjaveli Kuttilazhikathu Thulasidharan Nair is an actor in Malayalam cinema, who is better known as Kollam Thulasi relating to the name of his birthplace Kollam to his first name as customary in some parts of Kerala Kerala ( , ...

as Dhamodharan Kartha (Cameo) *Sindhu Manu Varma as Jojo Daniel

Music

Awards

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards w ...

- Urvashi

Box office

The film was a commercial success.

References

External links

* {{Sathyan Anthikad 1990s Malayalam-language films Films with screenplays by Sreenivasan Indian drama films Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films directed by Sathyan Anthikad Films scored by Johnson Indian comedy films 1990 comedy films 1990 films