''Kaliyattam'' () is a

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

film directed by Jayaraj. It stars Suresh Gopi, Lal (in his acting debut), Biju Menon and Manju Warrier. The film is an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'', set against the backdrop of the Theyyam performance of

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 ...

. The film's screenplay is written by Balram Mattannur. Suresh Gopi plays Kannan Perumalayan, the equivalent to

, Lal plays Paniyan, the equivalent to Iago, Manju Warrier plays Thamara, the Desdemona version, and Biju Menon plays Kanthan, Cassio's role. Suresh Gopi's role as Kannan Perumalayan was critically acclaimed and was considered one of the finest acting performances in his career. In 1998, Suresh Gopi received the

National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

for Best Actor and

Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a cinema of kerala, motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs (Kerala), Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and sin ...

for Best Actor for his critically acclaimed performance. Jayaraj won the award for Best Director for his work on the film. The film was a critical and commercial success.

Plot

This is an adaptation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

'', revolving around Kannan Perumalayan, a Theyyam artist who corresponds to

, and Thamara, the beautiful daughter of the village head. While Unni Thampuran hates Kannan because he had a crush on Thamara, and Paniyan, who plays a Komali, covets the role of Theechamundi which Perumalayan holds. Paniyan plants the seeds of doubt about Thamara's

fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of '' fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word , meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London financial m ...

in Kannan's mind, making him suspect that Thamara and his assistant, Kanthan, are having an affair. Kannan spots a silk robe which he had presented to Thamara in Kanthan's hands. Kannan, out of grief and anger, takes Thamara's life by suffocating her with a pillow. On the same night, Paniyan plans to get Kanthan killed by Unni Thampuran. But the plan goes awry, and Thamburan is killed. Amidst these events, Kannan is told of his mistake by Paniyan's wife, Cheerma, before Paniyan murders her. Kannan overpowers Paniyan, crushing his legs with a stone, and leaving him to live the rest of his life crippled. Kannan Perumalayan gives the ''''Perumalayan'''' role to Kanthan and commits suicide in the Theyyam ritual fire.

Cast

* Suresh Gopi as Kannan Perumalayan (

) * Lal as Paniyan ( Iago) * Biju Menon as Kanthan ( Cassio) * Manju Warrier as Thamara ( Desdemona) * Bindu Panicker as Cheerma ( Emilia) *

Narendra Prasad Raghava Kurup Narendra Prasad (26 December 1946 3 November 2003) was an Indian actor, playwright, director, teacher and literary critic. He was born at Mavelikkara in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore. Appreciated for his body language a ...

as Thamburan ( Brabantio) * E. A. Rajendran as Unni Thampuran ( Roderigo)

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards 1997

*Best Actor – Suresh Gopi *Best Supporting Actor – Lal

Soundtrack

The music and lyrics were composed and written by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 films 1990s Malayalam-language films Films based on Othello Films shot in Palakkad Films featuring a Best Actor National Award–winning performance Films scored by Kaithapram Viswanathan Namboothiri Films whose director won the Best Director National Film Award

Plot

Cast

Awards

National Film Awards 1997

Filmfare Awards 1997

Kerala State Film Awards 1997

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards 1997

Soundtrack

References

External links