''Joker'' is a 2000 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

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by A. K. Lohithadas. The film stars

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, comedian and entrepreneur who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada films. He has ...

, with Manya,

Nishanth Sagar Nishanth Balakrishnan (born 8 June 1980), known professionally by his stage name Nishanth Sagar , is an Indian actor who works primarily in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in over 50 films. Career Nishant Sagar made his Malayala ...

Bahadoor Padiyath Kochumoideen Kunjalu (1930 22 May 2000), better known by his stage name Bahadoor, was an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films, primarily in comedic roles. He, along with Adoor Bhasi, were the two major comedians in Malayalam ...

, T. S. Raju,

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 ...

, and

Bindu Panicker Bindu Panicker is an Indian actress who has more than 200 films to her credit. She has played both comedy and character roles in Malayalam cinema. Critically acclaimed for her performance in 2001 for Soothradharan. She was a member of the Asso ...

in supporting roles. The film was edited by A. Sreekar Prasad. The songs were composed by

Mohan Sithara Mohan Sithara (born 30 May 1959) is an Indian music composer. He received the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Music Director (2009) for the songs in Priyanandan's ''Soofi Paranja Kadha''. Since 1986 he has been an active musician in the Mal ...

, while S. P. Venkatesh provided the

background score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

. The plot revolved around a broke circus company whose owner has promised his daughter's hand to Babu, a clown who supervises the circus. However, things change when new member Sudheer Misra arrives. ''Joker'' was the last film appearance of Bahadoor. The film was a commercial success at the box office.

Plot

Royal Circus, owned by Govindan, is on rocks. With the help of his manager Khader, Govindan just manages to run the company, though not in a satisfactory manner. All the members of the troupe live as a family, sharing intimate bonds of love and camaraderie. Abookka, once a clown, has turned insane. As he still insists on putting up the make-up and entering the ring, he is caged, when the show goes on. Babu, the favourite of the troupe is the clown of Royal Circus. Abooka has trained him to become the perfect clown. And he has learned the perfect art of masking his sorrows behind the clown's ever laughing mask. He has been there in the troupe ever since his childhood, looking after the other children, especially Govindan's daughter Kamala. Govindan has always been saying that Babu is to be his heir and is to marry Kamala. And of course Babu, deep in his heart, has feelings of love for Kamala. The movie takes a turn when Sudheer Misra, the young son of Padmini, a former member of the troupe makes his entry into the camp. Sudheer's arrival marks the beginnings of change. He steers the company out of its crisis and gives it a new form and name as New Royal Circus. Sudheer falls in love with Kamala instantly, but Kamala disagrees to marry him. Babu loves Kamala a lot but is ready to sacrifice Kamala for the good of the troupe and its members. Vanaja, a performer in the team was earlier betrayed by Sudheer. She decides not to let Sudheer ruin the life of Kamala and Babu. Sudheer wants to have revenge on Babu since Kamala loves him. But towards the end, Sudheer decides to forget Kamala and have Vanaja back in his life. But Vanaja unaware of this, creates an accident during the

Trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes, metal straps, or chains, from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or ...

, killing Sudheer. Babu and Kamala are united in the end.

Cast

as Babu * Manya as Kamala *

as Sudhir Mishra/Sudhakaran, Main antagonist * T. S. Raju as Govindan, Circus company owner *

as Khader, Circus company manager *

as Abookka *

Mala Aravindan Mala Aravindan (15 January 1939 – 28 January 2015) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his work as a comedian and character artist in Malayalam films. He has acted in over 500 films. Early life Aravindan was born at Vadavucode in th ...

as Kumarettan *

as Susheela *

Zeenath Zeenath A. P. (born 29 December 1964) is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. She was a prominent supporting actress during the 1990s in the Malayalam film industry. Background Zeenath married Malayalam drama director and producer K. T. Mu ...

as Jameela * Anitha Nair as Vanaja * Reena as Padmini *

Guinness Pakru Ajay Kumar (born 31 August 1976), better known as Guinness Pakru, is an Indian actor and television personality, who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, and some Tamil films. He has also served as a judge on several Malayalam television comedy ...

as Dwarf Joker * Nadirsha * N. L. Balakrishnan as Usthadu Ranjan Pappa * Dhanya Menon * Sreehari as Shekarettan

Soundtrack

The background score was done by S. P. Venkatesh.

Reception

A critic from ''Kerala Talkies'' wrote that "A highly watchable film if you like a simple, straight forward story with some good music, comedy and emotions mixed and matched in good proportion". A critic from ''Indiainfo.com'' praised the work of the cast and crew.

Awards

;2001

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

*Best Music Director - Malayalam - Mohan Sithara

References

External links

* * {{A. K. Lohithadas 2000s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Mohan Sithara 2000s romantic musical films Indian romantic musical films Circus films Films about clowns Films with screenplays by A. K. Lohithadas Films directed by A. K. Lohithadas 2000 musical films