''Peruvazhiyambalam'' is a 1979 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 2 ...

-language

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

written and directed by P. Padmarajan, based on his novel of the same name. The film was Padmarajan's directorial debut and the acting debut of Ashokan, who played the central character, Raman. The film is an incisive examination of how violence or totalitarianism works in our society; it dealt with disturbing questions relating to masculinity and how people adore and dread it at the same time. It was one of the last black-and-white Malayalam films. ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' described this film as one of the finest films in Malayalam. It won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of seve ...

. The film was included in

IBN Live Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

's list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.

Plot

Fifteen-year-old Raman ( Ashokan) lives alone with his older sister Bhagyam, their parents having died several years prior. The town bully Prabhakaran Pillai (

K. P. A. C. Azeez Azeez (27 November 1934 – 16 July 2003) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 100 films. He came into the movie industry as a villain, later he started doing character roles, such as police officer, jailer, and ministe ...

) is killed by Raman. He escapes from murder charges by hiding from the police with the help of a teashop owner Viswambharan ( Bharat Gopy) and a prostitute (

K.P.A.C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in Malyalam. She started her acting career with K. P. A. C., a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a caree ...

Cast

* Ashokan as Raman/Mani * Bharat Gopy as Viswambharan *

Jose Prakash Jose Prakash (14 April 1925 – 24 March 2012) was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was a singer turned actor who had appeared in more than 300 films mostly in antagonist roles. He was awarded with the J. C. Daniel ...

as Paramu Nair * Sukumari as Paramu Nair's wife *

as Prabhakaran Pillai *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

as Prabhakaran Pillai's wife * K P A C Lalitha as Kunnumpurath Devayani, the prostitute * Krishnan Kutty Nair as Vaidhyan *Valsala Premdevdas *Chandrika *Santhosh Kumar *Muthukulam K.G. *Giri *George Joseph *A.N. Nair *V.T. Thomas *Rathi *Bobby *Madhavikutty

Accolades

; National Film Awards * Best Feature Film in Malayalam ; Kerala State Film Awards * Second Best Film * Best Story –

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 ...

References

External links

* {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Malayalam 1970s Malayalam-language films 1979 crime drama films 1979 directorial debut films 1979 films Best Malayalam Feature Film National Film Award winners Films based on Indian novels Films directed by Padmarajan Films with screenplays by Padmarajan Indian crime drama films