''Thakara'' is a 1979 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 drama film directed by

Bharathan Bharathan Parameshwara Menon Palissery (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) Known mononymously Bharathan was an Indian people, Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film ma ...

and written by Padmarajan. It stars Prathap Pothan, Surekha,

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in M ...

and K. G. Menon in pivotal roles. The film was a breakthrough in the career of Bharathan and Venu. It was remade in Tamil as '' Aavarampoo'' (1992).

Plot

Thakara ( Prathap Pothan) is an orphan. He is mentally immature, but clean hearted. He has a close relationship with the fickling Subhashini (Surekha), the dream girl of the village, who often confuses men with her sexual teasing. Thakara was betrayed by the words of Chellappanashari (

) and indulges in a physical relationship with Subhashini. Subhashini's father Mathu Mooppan (K. G. Menon) finds out their relation and beats Thakara unconscious and injures him severely. Thakara, fully filled with revenge on Mooppan, runs away. Once he earns enough money to buy a knife, he returns and kills Mooppan. Subhashini refuses to go with Thakara, who proposes to her after killing her father. With no way to escape, Thakara finds his end in front of a running train.

Cast

* Prathap Pothan as Thakara * Surekha as Subhashini (Voice dubbed by KPAC Lalitha) *

as Chellappanasari * K. G. Menon as Mooppan * Anirudhan as Pullai *

Sreelatha Namboothiri Sreelatha Namboothiri (born Anjilivelil Vasantha) is an Indian actress and playback singer who works in Malayalam cinema and television. She has acted in more than 300 films. ''Khadeeja'' in 1967 was her debut movie. She began her acting caree ...

as Kamakshi *

Santha Devi Damayanthi (1927 – 20 November 2010), better known by her stage name Kozhikode Santha Devi, was an Indian Malayalam film and stage actress. In a career spanning about sixty years, she acted in more than 1000 plays and about 480 films. Biog ...

as Subhashini's mother

Production

Initially, writer Padmarajan chose Bharat Gopy for the role of Maathu Mooppan, but he declined the offer saying he is not interested in doing "commercial films". Later, they had a discussion on the matter a day before the shooting of Padmarajan's '' Peruvazhiyambalam'' on which Gopy agreed to act on his insistence, after that meeting Gopy changed his views and began appearing in mainstream films as well. In his book ''Abhinayam Anubhavam'' published in 1994, Gopy recalls that, it was Padmarajan, who is younger than me, made me realise that there is no commercial or

art film An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...

, but only good and bad films.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan and the lyrics were written by

Poovachal Khader Poovachal Khader (25 December 1948 – 22 June 2021) was a Malayalam lyricist from Kerala who worked mainly in Malayalam film industry. His first movie as a lyricist was ''Kaattuvithachavan'' (1973) but his first released movie was ''Chuzhi'' (1 ...

Awards

* Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam won by V.V. Babu (1979)

References

External links

* 1979 films 1970s Malayalam-language films 1970s Indian films Films with screenplays by Padmarajan Films directed by Bharathan Films scored by M. G. Radhakrishnan Malayalam films remade in other languages {{1970s-Malayalam-film-stub