''Thazhvaram'' () 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 2 ...

-language

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Bharathan and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. It stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

Salim Ghouse Salim Ahmad Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Early life Salim Ghouse was born ...

Sumalatha Sumalatha (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress, politician who is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She has acted in more than 220 films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. She gained ...

, Anju and Sankaradi. It tells the story of Balan (Mohanlal), who's on the lookout for Raju (Salim Ghouse) for taking revenge for murdering his wife Raji (Anju). Bharathan also composed the only song featured in the film, the background score was provided by

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

. Set in the backdrop of a remote village across a valley in

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

, the film is made in the style of a Spaghetti Western film, and has achieved a cult status in Kerala since its release. it was both a critical and commercial success, with many critics praising Mohanlal’s performance. it is considered to be one of Mohanlal’s best performances in his career.

Plot

Balan is in search of Raju and the search takes him to a remote village in a valley. Balan reaches a house in the hills, where he is welcomed wholeheartedly by both Nanu, the house owner, and Kochutty, his daughter. Balan realizes that Raju stays with them as Raghavan. Balan learns that Nanu has helped Raju to start farming and that Nanu intends to have his daughter marry Raju. Balan decides to wait for Raghavan / Raju. Raju, on his arrival, smells his enemy. The film progresses in with the two having to pretend before Nanu and Kochutty that they are good friends. The film cuts to a flashback, where Raju and Balan are close friends. He, in greed for money, killed Balan's wife, Raji, on their wedding night and ran away with Balan's hard-earned money. Balan is now back in search of Raju to avenge the death of his wife. Raju attacks Balan in one of the numerous encounters the duo had and almost kills Balan. Balan survives the attack to save Nanu and his daughter from Raghavan.

Cast

as Balan *

as Raju / Raghavan *

as Kochootti * Anju as Raji * Sankaradi as Nanu * Balan K. Nair as Kanarettan, Raji's father

Production

This is Bharathan's second film with M. T. Vasudevan Nair after '' Vaishali'' in 1988. This is the second collaboration of

and Bharathan after Kattathe Killikudu. Bharathan and Sasi Menon and Gayathri Ashokan did the poster designs.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of this film had only one song composed by Bharathan himself to the lines written by

Kaithapram Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum K ...

and rendered by K. J. Yesudas.

Reception

Upon release, the film, initially a slow starter, garnered widespread positive reviews and became a success both critically and commercially. The camera work of

Venu The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

is considered the highlight of the film. ''Thazhvaram'' had just a handful of characters and the plot was so well developed that it was a visual treat for the viewers. The fighting in the climax amidst violent vultures is considered one of the best climax scenes in Malayalam cinema. The film is considered a cult classic in Malayalam and the performance of

is considered one of his best in his acting career by the critics.

Awards

*The film won Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam received by V.B.K. Menon 38th Filmfare Awards South

References

External links

* {{Bharathan 1990s Malayalam-language films 1990s thriller films 1990s crime films 1990 drama films 1990 films Films shot in Palakkad Films scored by Bharathan Films directed by Bharathan Films with screenplays by M. T. Vasudevan Nair Indian films about revenge