''Thacholi Ambu'' is a 1978 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

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film directed and produced by Navodaya Appachan under Navodaya Studio. It was the first anamorphic

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

film in Malayalam. Starring

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

in the title role, alongside

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...

, Ravikumar and

Jayan Krishnan Madhavan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, born as the son of Madhavan Pillai (Kerala title), Pillai and Bharathiyamma in Kollam district, Kollam, was an Indian actor, Officer (armed forc ...

. Made on a cost of , the film grossed more than ₹1 crore at the box office.

Plot

Thacholi Ambu's uncle, the great warrior Thacholi Othenan speaks to him through an oracle to go to Ponniyam Parunthunkalkotta. Ambu befriends the poor ferryman Mayan Kutty and his grandson Kunjali and learns that Parunthunkalkotta Panicker had murdered his uncle and implicated Mayan Kutty's son Bappu as the assassin. Bappu and his family flees from the bloodthirsty mob. But as he saves his eldest son from a crocodile, the mob catches up with Bappu and kills him. The child is lost and the bereaved Mayan Kutty manages to pack the rest of the family to a safe shore. Thacholi Ambu learns that he can't conquer the fort unless he recovers the magic amulet which his uncle Thacholi Othenan had left with his wife Kunjitheyi, the sister of Parunthunkalkotta Panicker. He disguises himself and makes his way to the Fort to participate in a Grand Festival along with Mayan Kutty and Kunjali. There he meets his aunt Kunjitheyi and cousin Kanni with whom he promptly falls in love. Meanwhile, Mayan Kutty is stuck by how much Kutty, the army chief and younger son of Parunthunkalkotta Panicker resembles his own dead son Bappu. In fact Kutty is Bappu's lost eldest son. By the time the truth is known Kutty had already declared a duel with Kunjali, his biological brother who had threatened his villainous adoptive elder brother Ithiri. Kutty is torn between his loyalty to his adoptive family and his biological family who have truth on their side. Ambu makes his way to the fort to save Kunjali from the duel.Kutty makes sure that the magical amulet reaches his aunt who will restore it to the rightful owner, Thacholi Ambu. A furious Mayan Kutty shoots Parunthunkalkotta Panicker with the same gun with which he had murdered Thacholi Othenan all those years ago.

Cast

as Thacholi Ambu, Othenan's Nephew *

as Thacholi Othenakkurup *

as Bappu and Kutty (Bappu's Son) *

K. P. Ummer Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer (11 October 1930 - 29 October 2001) was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from the early sixties until the lat ...

as Kathiroor Gurukkal *

Balan K. Nair Balakrishnan Kuttiraman Nair, more popularly known as Balan K. Nair (4 April 1933 26 August 2000) was an Indian actor known for his roles in Malayalam cinema. Although he appeared as a villain in most films, he was also noted for his performanc ...

as Mayan Kutty, Bappu's Father * N. Govindan Kutty as Parunthunkalkotta Panicker, Othenan's Brother-in-law * M. N. Nambiar as Ittiri, Parunthunkalkotta Panicker's eldest Son * G. K. Pillai as Payyampalli Chanthu, Othenan's Friend * Ravikumar as Kunjali, Bappu's other Son *

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki, better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya, is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than six decades in South Indian cinema. ...

as Kunjitheyi, Othenan's Wife *

Unnimary Unni Mary is an Indian actress who works mainly in Malayalam films. She has also worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Kannada films, where she used the screen name ''Deepa''. Personal life Unnimary was born 12 March 1962 to Augustine Fernandes ...

as Kanni, Othenan's Daughter * Vijaya Lalitha *

Alummoodan Dominic Alummoodu, known by his stage name Alummoodan (15 March 1933 3 May 1992) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam films. He acted in more than 100 films and mainly did comedy roles. Background Alummoodan was born as Dominic to Rosa ...

* Usilai Mani * Ushakumari *

Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...

as Ambu's mother and Othenan's sister

Production

''Thacholi Ambu'' is the first Malayalam film in

. Sivaji Ganesan ventured to enact the film's action scenes without the use of a stunt double. During the filming of one such scene, he fell from a height of six feet. A shield fell on his hand and injured him severely, resulting in him being hospitalised for many days.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by K. Raghavan and the lyrics were written by Yusufali Kechery.

Reception

Kousigan of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' wrote Kerala civilisation, tradition, hairstyling, costumes, palace, choreography, mode of war have been depicted realistically. Despite appearing only for few scenes, Sivaji Ganesan delivered a memorable performance. The film performed well at the box office. Made on a cost of ₹30

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

(₹3 million), the film grossed more than ₹1

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

(₹10 million).

References

External links

''Thacholi Ambu''
at the Malayalam Movie Database * {{IMDb title 1970s historical drama films 1970s Indian films 1970s Malayalam-language films 1978 films Films directed by Navodaya Appachan Films scored by K. Raghavan Films shot in Kannur Films shot in Kozhikode Films shot in Thalassery History of Kerala on film Indian historical drama films