''Janakan'' () is a 2010 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

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

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 N. R. Sanjeev and written by

S. N. Swami Sivaram Narayana Swamy is a screenwriter, director and actor who works in the Indian film industry predominantly in the Malayalam cinema. Having born in Kochi, Kerala Swamy is particularly known for scripting films in the thriller (genre), thr ...

, starring

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The music was composed by M. Jayachandran. It was released on 8 April 2010 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 ...

and was distributed by Maxlab Entertainments. ''Janakan'' is credited as the 200th film appearance of Suresh Gopi. The film won the Kerala state Film Award for Best playback singer - Female for

Rajalakshmy Rajalakshmy is a playback singer and made her mark in the Malayalam film music industry by winning the Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a cinema of kerala, motion picture made in Kerala. The ...

for the song "Olichirunne".

Plot

Vishwanathan is a man who murdered three people who raped his only daughter Seetha alias Anu, a college-going girl. Anu is raped by her boyfriend Reji and his uncle's Kuttiyachan and ACP Vikraman after he cheats her and forces her to come to their house. She is raped for a few days and gets killed by Vikraman in the hospital, through carbon dioxide poisoning. Suryanarayanan, is an advocate who comes to the Vishwam's rescue. Surya is one of the best lawyers in the country and is known to have a way with words. Suryanarayanan takes it upon himself to release Vishwam from the clutches of the judiciary, because he is convinced of the man's justice. Monai and Pazhani are Vishwam's friends, who accompany him to visit Suryanarayanan. The rest of the story is how Suryanarayanan saves Viswam and his friends from punishment.

Cast

Production

Director N. R. Sanjeev, also known as Saji Paravoor, had previously worked on movies like ''

Mazha ''Mazha'' () is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran based on the short story ''Nashtappetta Neelambari'' by Madhavikkutty. It stars Biju Menon, Samyuktha Varma, and Lal. The music was composed b ...

'' (2000), ''

Makante Achan ''Makante Achan'' () is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by V. M. Vinu, written by Samjad Narayanan, and produced by Seven Arts International. It stars Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan and Suhasini in the lead roles ...

'' (2009), ''

Sethurama Iyer CBI ''Sethurama Iyer CBI'' is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language mystery crime film directed by K. Madhu and written by S. N. Swamy. It stars Mammootty in the title role, alongside Mukesh and Jagathy Sreekumar in supporting roles. Shyam composed ...

'' (2004), '' Mahasamudram'', ''

Nerariyan CBI ''Nerariyan CBI'' () is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language mystery film directed and produced by K. Madhu and written by S. N. Swamy. The fourth installment in the franchise of CBI investigative thrillers, Mammootty reprised the role of Sethu ...

'' (2005) and ''

Yes Your Honour ''Yes Your Honour'' is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language courtroom thriller film directed by V. M. Vinu. The film stars Sreenivasan in the lead role. The film had musical score by Deepak Dev. Plot Advocate Ravishankar is an idealist who is pr ...

'' (2006), and had assisted several well-known directors. The script was written by

, known for his thriller screenplays. Sajeev Shanker was the cinematographer, and editing was done by B. Murali. The music was composed by music director M. Jayachandran and lyrics were by

Gireesh Puthenchery Girish Puthenchery was a noted Malayalam lyricist, poet, scriptwriter and screenwriter, esteemed for his pivotal role as a lyricist in Malayalam cinema. He was often hailed as the aristocratic lyricist of Malayalam and was admired for his uniqu ...

. Mahadevan Thampi was the still photographer of this movie. Malayalam Serial actress Sree Kutty stated through her YouTube channel that she was actually called for the daughter role. Unfortunately, she rejected the role as she had already signed as a heroine for Tamil film. ''Janakan'' was filmed in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

and surrounding areas in

Soundtrack

Music for the film was composed by M. Jayachandran with lyrics by

. The film contains one song "Olichirunne" sung by

. The soundtrack album was released by

Satyam Audios Satyam Audios is an Indian music company headquartered at Kochi, Kerala. Satyam audios are one of the leading music company in Kerala, Ernakulam. They have covered a larger portion of the music labels of Kerala. These label has produced and di ...

. # "Olichirunne",

– 4:06

Release

The movie was released on 8 April 2010.

Reception

Sify.com Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and a ...

'' gave a "watchable" verdict and said "There are no real experiments here, true, but the film has its moments and as they say, the heart at the right place. Though the film is just above two hours, it could have been more enjoyable, if it was shorter by some 20 minutes or so". ''Indiaglitz.com'' stated it "above average" and added "With a relevant message and above average narratives, 'Janakan' may find needed audiences, to end up as a safer movie at the Box Office.". Paresh C Palicha of ''Rediff.com'' rated 2.5 out of 5 and said "Janakan is promising. In short, this film heavily depends on the actors to pull it off after the initial excitement dies down. So, Mohanlal has to use his aura to the maximum which he does, making his fans happy. Suresh Gopi in the subdued rustic role wins hands down. Biju Menon and Harisree Asokan are mostly mute supporters. It is pleasantly surprising to see Harisree not in a separate comic track. Jyothirmayi, in the meaty role of Dr Rani Mathew, does well.". ''Ibnlive.in.com'' rated 2.5 out of 5 and concluded "Director Sanjeev has tried to give a new angle to a story that's already been told several times, but he has failed to use class actors Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Biju Menon up to their potential. A watchable movie, if you don't expect much!". ''Nowrunning.com'' gave an average rating of 2 out of 5 and said "Janakan tells a new age story that's already been told. There is no denying the societal renovation that it aims at, but perhaps it needed to reinvent its modes of delivery.".

Box office

The film was a moderate success at the box office.

Awards

* Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Rajalakshmy * Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Popular Film

References

External links

* {{S. N. Swamy 2010 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Indian crime thriller films Indian rape and revenge films Films about rape in India Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films scored by M. Jayachandran