''Thanmathra'' () is a 2005 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 In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Blessy and 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 ...

, Meera Vasudevan and Arjun Lal. Based on Padmarajan's short story "Orma", it portrays the effects of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

on the life of Ramesan Nair (Mohanlal) and his family. The film collected three times its budget at the box-office and completed 150 days run. ''Thanmathra'' won five

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 ...

s, which includes the Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and a Special Mention Award for the debutant actor Arjun Lal. It also won the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 53rd National Film Awards.

Plot

Ramesan Nair is a Kerala government secretariat official, cocooned in his own small and happy world. An honest and sincere man, Ramesan's family consists of his loving wife Lekha, son Manu who is a plus-two student, and daughter Manju, a primary school student. His biggest ambition is to see that his son gets into the IAS (

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

), something he himself had failed to achieve despite being a brilliant student. Manu is a very loving son and an intelligent student who shares a strong emotional bond with his father. Ramesan starts to develop problems with his

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...

. What starts as commonplace omissions and absentmindedness, quickly grows into handicapping cognitive and behavioral impairments. The first time we notice this is when Ramesan misplaces a very important office file at his home, inside the

refrigerator A refrigerator, commonly shortened to fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermal insulation, thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to ...

. One day he arrives in office after buying a bag of vegetables and starts behaving as if he had reached home after his office hours. He begins acting strangely in the office, as if he has lost his sense of time and place. He is taken to the doctor by his family and close friend, Joseph. In the hospital, Ramesan is diagnosed with

Familial Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD), also called younger-onset Alzheimer's disease (YOAD), is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. Ab ...

, a disease which causes a gradual loss of memory and cognitive abilities. The news comes as a grave shock for the happy family and turns their world upside down. The family is devastated by the sad news, but tries to adjust to the situation with a lot of determination underscored by strong emotional bonds. How they cope up with the trauma, insecurity and uncertainty caused by Ramesan's plight, forms the gist of the movie.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music of this movie is composed by Mohan Sithara and the lyrics by Bharathiyar (''Kaatru Veliyidai'') and Kaithapram. Song mixing was done by Renjith Viswanathan.

Reception

A critic from ''

Sify 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 ...

'' wrote, "''Thanmatra'' is an intelligent, insightful and unconventional film. It is a touching, thought-provoking drama for sophisticated audiences". A critic from ''webindia123'' wrote, "It is a beautifully made film sure to touch the hearts of the people who see it".

Box office

The film was commercial success at the box office.

Awards

National Film Awards 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 ...

* Best Feature Film in Malayalam (Producer) - Raju Mathew Kerala State Film Awards * Best Film (Producer) - Raju Mathew * Best Director - Blessy * Best Actor -

* Best Screen Play - Blessy * Special Mention Award - Arjun Lal

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* Best Actor - Mohanlal * Best Director - Blessy Asianet Film Awards * Best Actor - Mohanlal * Best Director - Blessy * Best Supporting Actor -

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 ...

* Best Male Playback Singer : M. G. Sreekumar * Best Female New Face of the Year - Meera Vasudevan * Best Male New Face of the Year - Arjun Lal *Special Jury Award -

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 ...

* Best Child Artist - Baby Niranjana Vanitha Film Awards *Best Actor - Mohanlal *Best Director - Blessy Kerala Film Critics Awards *Most Popular Actor - Mohanlal

Amrita ''Amrita'' (, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali language, Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to i ...

Film Awards *Best Film (Producer) - Raju Mathew *Best Director - Blessy

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. ...

Film Awards * Best Actor - Mohanlal Kerala Film Audience Council Awards *Best Actor - Mohanlal J.C. Foundation Awards *Best Actor - Mohanlal *Best Director - Blessy *Best Child Artist - Baby Niranjana Kala Keralam Award *Best Actor - Mohanlal National Film Academy Award *Best Actor - Mohanlal

References

External links

* {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Malayalam 2005 films 2000s Malayalam-language films Films directed by Blessy Films scored by Mohan Sithara Indian films about Alzheimer's disease Indian drama films Films about memory erasure and alteration Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Ottapalam Best Malayalam Feature Film National Film Award winners