''Irupatham Noottandu'' () is a 1987 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 ...

-language

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by K. Madhu, written by S. N. Swamy and produced by M. Mani. It stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter and politician who is currently serving as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Minister of Tourism since June 2024. He was ele ...

, and Ambika. The film's music was composed by Shyam. In the film, Sagar alias Jacky, a maverick youth, runs a gold smuggling racket with Sekharankutty, the son of the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Inchakadu Ramakrishna Pillai. Jacky and Sekharankutty's relationship stains after Sekharankutty brings

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

into the business. ''Irupatham Noottandu'' was released on 14 May 1987 and enjoys a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

. It was remade in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as ''Jackey'' (1989) and in Telugu as '' 20va Sathabdam'' (1990).

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted ...

and Suman reprised Mohanlal's role in the Kannada and Telugu versions, while

Devaraj Devaraj (born 20 September 1953) is an Indian Film actor, actor and theatre actor who works in Indian film industry. He has largely featured in Kannada cinema, Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and ...

portrayed Suresh Gopi's role in both versions. A sequel titled '' Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' was released in 2009.

Plot

Sagar alias "Jacky", a maverick youth, turns to gold smuggling due to financial situation and inspiration from the media glorifying the Bombay underworld. He is partnered with Shekharankutty, the son of the ruling

Inchakadu Ramakrishna Pillai. The Custom officers are provided with an information about one of the cars among the rally

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

s, a blue Maruti car is being used in gold smuggling. Suddenly, the car sways from the pack, where Jacky and his aide Lawrence hide the gold in the car's spare wheel. They pass the customs checking and reach Shekharankutty's house. Jacky, Shekkarankutty and their aides; Qasim, Tony and Chanakya relaxes in a room at Chanakya's hotel. Qasim and Tony are about to smuggle the gold tonight. Shekarankutty warns Qasim that there is a traitor among them. Unfortunately, Qasim turns out to be the traitor, who escapes with the gold after killing Tony. He is then caught by Jacky and is drowned to death. The next day, Qasim's body is recovered by the police and Chanakya is sent to investigate, where he meets Ashwathy, a reporter for a

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

investigating the connection between politics and crime in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. At the scene, Ashwathy meets Jeevan, the current investigating officer. Jacky visits Kayikka, a fellow smuggler and reveals that they killed Qasim. Kayikka reveals that his eldest son Shahul has turned to selling

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

. Jacky turns him away for the better and sees Janakiyamma, who is the mother of his love interest Jyothi. Jyothi is actually in prison for murder. Ashwathy is drawn to Jacky's life and tries to get his attention by releasing an article stating that the CM is connected with Jacky. With his influence, Sekkarankutty bails others and learns that Jacky had informed the police. Pillai demolishes Jyothi's place, but Jacky threatens him and demands to build those houses. Shekarankutty is enraged, where he kills Lawrence and hits the car which had Jacky and his mother. Jacky's mother dies and Pillai asks Shekharankutty to leave for

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

with full police protection, but Jacky finds a way to sneak into the airport disguised as a pilot, where he chases Shekharankutty and kills him. Jacky gets arrested and imprisoned on the day of Jyothi's release.

Cast

as Sagar alias "Jacky" *

as Shekharankutty * Ambika as Aswathy Varma * Santhosh as Lawrence, Sagar's Partner and Friend *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He is known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in over 300 mov ...

Inchakattu Ramakrishna Pillai, Shekarankutty's Father *

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 ...

as Jyothi, Sagar's Ex-Lover *

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar Achary (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 deca ...

as Chanakyan, Sagar, Shekarankutty and Lawrence's Friend *

Sreenath Sreenath Thoppil Inchora (26 August 1956 – 23 April 2010) was an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in many Malayalam films, including '' Shalini Ente Koottukari'', '' Ithu Njangalude Katha'', '' Sarvakalashala'', '' Oru CBI Diar ...

as ASP Jeevan IPS * Janardhanan as IG Issac Thomas IPS *

Kaviyoor Ponnamma Kaviyoor Ponnamma (10 September 1945 – 20 September 2024) was an Indian actress who appeared in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She also acted in TV serials and c ...

as Meenakshiyamma, Sagar's Mother *

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 Janakiyamma, Jyothi's Mother *

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), professionally credited by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director. He was mostly cast as a sidekick to protagonists, particularly Prem Nazir. His comedic roles were w ...

as Varma, Aswathy's Grandfather *

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 CI Pothen * K. P. A. C. Sunny as Koshy *

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 Balakrishnan *

Mamukkoya 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 Kayikka *

Jagannatha Varma K. N. Jagannatha Varma (1 May 1939 – 20 December 2016) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also a Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also an artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a film d ...

as Pillai, Opposition Leader *

Jose Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...

as Santhosh, Customs Officer and Jeevan's Brother * Kollam Thulasi as Police Officer *Vishnuprakash as George *Tony as Finance Minister Sethu * Kollam Ajith as Kasim *Dr. Jayan as Johny

Production

Writer S. N. Swamy got the idea for the film from a photograph featured in an English-language Sunday magazine published from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Swami recalled in an interview that it was the time when

mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

bosses had a glorified image in the country after the national emergency period in India (1975–1977). That was the time when public began to learn about

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

-based mafia leaders such as

Haji Mastan Haji Mastan, popularly known as Sultan Mirza, was an organised crime gang leader, originally from Tamil Nadu and based in Bombay. He was one of the infamous trio of mafia gang leaders in Bombay for over two decades from the 1960s to the early 1 ...

, Yusuf Patel,

Varadarajan Mudaliar Sathuvachari Varadarajan Mudaliar (9 October 1926 – 2 January 1988), also known as Vardhabhai and Vardha, was an Indian crime boss. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, he was, along with Karim Lala and Haji Mastan, one of the most powerful m ...

among others. The magazine had an article on Mastan and a photograph featuring much respected actor

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

and his wife Saira Banu touching Mastan's feet for giving ''

pranāma ''Pranāma'' (Sanskrit: प्रणाम; IAST: praṇāma; meaning: "obeisance, prostration or bowing forward") is a form of respectful or reverential salutation (or reverential bowing) before something or another person – usually one's elde ...

''. It was shocking for Swami, he never imagined a mafia leader would be respected as such. It inspired the plot for ''Irupatham Noottandu'' and the character Sagar Alias Jacky. The lengthy climax of the film was shot in a single day. Vipindas was the cinematographer.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Shyam and the lyrics were written by Chunakkara Ramankutty.

Box office

The film was released on May 14, 1987, and grossed ₹2.5 crore with a distributor share of ₹1 crore.

Sequel

A sequel titled '' Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' directed by

Amal Neerad Amal Neerad (born 13 February 1978) is an Indian film director, cinematographer and producer who mainly works in Malayalam cinema. He attended the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata (first batch). He was awarded the National F ...

was released on 26 March 2009.

References

External links

* {{S. N. Swamy 1980s Malayalam-language films Indian gangster films Indian crime thriller films Films about organised crime in India Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films about the illegal drug trade Cultural depictions of the Mafia Films about the Narcotics Control Bureau Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram %Jacky1 Malayalam films remade in other languages Films directed by K. Madhu 1987 crime thriller films