''Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans'' is 1993

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 Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

political thriller film directed by

Shaji Kailas Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film '' Dr. Pasupathy'' (1990). He is best known for his action films with main ...

and written by

Renji Panicker Renji Panicker (born 23 September 1960) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, film producer, and journalist known for his works in Malayalam films. He made his debut as a director with '' Bharatchandran IPS'' in 2005. Early life He di ...

. The film revolved around the current affairs 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 ...

in 90s and was a commercial success. It severely criticized the political establishments and exposed the unholy equations of politics, whereby inviting strong opposition from different political quarters.

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 ...

, who played the role of a common man, accidentally becoming the home minister of the state was well received by the audience, where the film is considered as a turning point in Jagadish's career, who was until hooked up in comedy roles. Suresh Gopi made a cameo appearance in the film. Shooting for the film began on 7th November 1992.

Plot

Lying on the suburbs of the city, the ''Hindustan Colony'' is an Indian colony, populated mainly by middle-class and lower-class people who are busy with their own day-to-day issues. The problem of

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

has been a serious issue, which has been neglected by the ruling class for several years for their political gains. Gopalakrishnan, a resident of the colony, is an educated youth, who works as a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

delivery man. Along with his group of friends, Gopalakrishnan is active in all social and cultural activities, and is in love with Gowri, the daughter of Poomukhath Kurup, a corrupt business contractor, who happens to be his uncle too. Kurup has been instrumental in the death of Gopalakrishnan's father, giving rise to their bittern enmity. The

State politics is in great flux turmoil at this time with group factionalism and party infighting, where CM Govinda Menon is in all efforts to retain power, despite strong opposition from within his own party. Kunhikannan Nambiar, a seasoned and cunning politician, is all set to take up power by usurping the CM's position. The sudden death of a minister named Marukandam Madhavan, after being forced into a swimming pool by his wife, demands a re-election, which is crucial for the ministry to survive. Kunhikanan Nambiar uses his political clout and demands the vacated seat for one of his loyalists. Govinda Menon had to reluctantly agree with Nambiar to choose the candidate for the seat under a set of conditions. Nambiar decides to field Gopalakrishnan, who enjoys a strong influence among the people, on request of the party workers from the Hindustan Colony. Gopalakrishnan, who has no political experience, thus becomes a candidate with the support of his friends and wins the election with a stunning majority, but Nambiar doesn't ends his game with this. In the party meeting, Nambiar argues for a ministry and makes Gopalakrishnan as the state's

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

. With a lethal mindset and mysterious underworld connections, Nambiar wants the home ministry in his hands to ensure the easy flow of weapons through the state, but Gopalakrishnan starts performing in his own capacity, which shocks Nambiar thereby scattering his own plans. Gopalakrishnan wins the heart of Govinda Menon, where he announces a free policing system and cleansing law and order. Mohammed Iqbal, a young and dynamic

police commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

, is assigned the task of cleaning up the city, where he arrests the goons of Nambiar, annoying him to the best. Nambiar's order to release the goons is ignored by the Minister. Nambiar also prevents the plans to ignite

communal violence Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, where the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, ri ...

in the city, but he decides to start a revolt from Hindustan Colony itself. Nambiar's plan to divide the people of the Hindustan Colony into communal lines shows results, which creates minor scuffles in the peaceful colony. Subair, Gopalakrishnan's childhood friend, who is on leave from the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, tries to mediate and settle issues. Several

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and mosques are now raided by police on special order from the Home minister, whereby several deadly weapons, including guns and bombs, are found by police. This issue creates problems in the state. Nambiar masterminds a huge communal violence in the city, mainly at Hindustan Colony. In the riots, Nambiar's goons set fire to several houses, and attacks several women, including Subair's sister. In an attempt to save her, Subair is killed. During his visit to the colony, Gopalakrishnan faces a severe protest from the people, including his dear ones, who accuse him of being a

mass murderer Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

. Gopalakrishnan resigns, but Govinda Menon does not approve of his resignation, where he asks Gopalakrishnan to show his power at this moment by exposing the real culprits in front of society. Along with a mob, Gopalakrishnan raids the stores and garages of Nambiar, seizing several explosives. The mob goes violent and attacks Nambiar and sets him on fire, along with his partners.

Cast

as Home Minister Gopalakrishnan * Suresh Gopi as Subair, Gopalakrishnan's Childhood Friend (Extended Cameo) *

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 Kunjikkannan Nambiar * Siddique as SP Mohammed Iqbal IPS *

Suchitra Suchitra Ramadurai, known mononymously as Suchitra, is an Indian radio jockey, popular playback singer, songwriter, composer, voice artist, dubbing artist and film actress. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Malayalam, and T ...

as Gowri, Gopalakrishnan's Cousin and Love Interest (Voice by Bhagyalakshmi) * Geetha as District Collector Suja Cherian IAS (Voice by Anandhavalli) * Janardhanan as

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 ...

Govinda Menon * Maniyanpilla Raju as Thankachan, Gopalakrishnan's Friend * Baiju as Siyad, Gopalakrishnan's Friend and Subair's Brother * Mammukoya as Kumaran, Gopalakrishnan's Friend * Vijayaraghavan as MP Jayapalan *

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 "Coccus" Salim, Chief Minister's P. A * K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Prasannan, Gouri's Brother * Rajan P. Dev as DYSP Sadanandan * Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Poomukhathu Kurup, Gopalakrishnan's Uncle and Prasannan and Gouri's Father * Suvarna Mathew as Thankachan's Sister and Subair's Lover (Voice by Sreeja) *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur tow ...

as Saraswathi, Gopalakrishnan's Mother (Voice by Valsamma) * Beena Antony as Radha, Gopalakrishnan's Sister (Voice by Ambily) * Santha Devi as Subair's Mother *Suma Jayaram as Kousu, Subair's Sister (Voice by Ambily) * Usharani as Kurup's Wife and Gopalakrishnan's Aunt * Paravoor Bharathan as Food and Civil Supplies Minister * Kozhikode Narayanan Nair as Hassan Bhai *

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

as Devan * Kunchan as

Police Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an police officer, officer within a police ser ...

Sadiq Sadiq may refer to: Places * Sadiq (town), Faridkot district, Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the ...

as Colony Neighbour * Vettukili Prakash as Colony Neighbour *Pavithran as Colony Neighbour * Subair as Bahuleyan * James as Imthiyas * Krishnan Kutty Nair as Ex-Home Minister Marukandam Madhavan * Lalithasree as Marukandam Madhavan's Wife * Biyon as Chief Minister's Grandson *

Politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

*Vinod Kozhikode as Rajan, Nambiar's Henchman

Reception

Upon release, ''Sthalathe Pradhan Payyans'' broke several records in collections and completed 150 days in major centers. This film took both

and

to new heights. This film got released within weeks after the

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

issue and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

communal riots, and the similar scenes shown on screen, created a sensation in the state.

References

External links

*
''Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans''
at Oneindia.in {{Shaji Kailas 1990s Malayalam-language films 1993 action thriller films 1993 films Indian political thriller films Indian action thriller films Films shot in Kozhikode Films directed by Shaji Kailas 1990s political thriller films