''Thazhvaram'' () is a 1990 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

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

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

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Narayanan Nair (15 July 1933 – 25 December 2024) was an Indian author, lecturer, Screenwriter, screenplay writer and film director. He was a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and was o ...

. It stars

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 ...

Salim Ghouse Salim Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Early life Salim Ghouse was born in Ch ...

Sumalatha Sumalatha Ambareesh (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress and politician. She has acted in over 220 films across multiple languages, primarily in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, with a few appearances in Tamil and Hindi cinema. She received ...

, Anju, and

Sankaradi Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 70 ...

. It tells the story of Balan (Mohanlal) who's on the lookout for Raju (Salim Ghouse) for avenging the murder of his wife Raji (Anju). Bharathan also composed the only song featured in the film, and the background score was provided by

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

. The film is set against the backdrop of a remote lawless village across a valley in

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

, symbolising themes and landscapes reminiscent of the

American Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the Geography of the United States, geography, History of the United States, history, Folklore of the United States, folklore, and Cultur ...

. The film has achieved a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

status in Kerala since its release. It was both a critical and commercial success with many critics praising Mohanlal's performance. It is considered one of Mohanlal's best performances in his career.

Plot

Balan is in search of Raju, and the search takes him to a remote village in a valley. Balan reaches a house in the hills where he is welcomed wholeheartedly by Nanu, the house owner, and Kochutty, his daughter. Balan realizes that Raju stays with them as Raghavan. Balan learns that Nanu has helped Raju start farming and that Nanu intends to have his daughter marry Raju. Balan decides to wait for Raghavan / Raju. Raju, on his arrival, smells his enemy. The story progresses with the two having to pretend before Nanu and Kochutty that they are good friends. The film cuts to a flashback, where Raju and Balan are close friends. He, in greed for money, killed Balan's wife, Raji, on their wedding night and ran away with Balan's hard-earned money. Balan is now back in search of Raju to avenge the death of his wife. Raju attacks Balan in one of the numerous encounters the duo has and almost kills him. Balan survives the attack to save Nanu and his daughter from Raghavan.

Cast

as Balan *

as Raju / Raghavan *

as Kochootti * Anju as Raji *

as Nanu *

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 Kanarettan, Raji's father

Production

This is Bharathan's second film with

after '' Vaishali'' in 1988. This is the second collaboration of

and

after Kattathe Killikudu.

, Sasi Menon, and Gayathri Ashokan did the poster designs.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of this film had only one song composed by

himself to the lines written by

Kaithapram Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannettante in 19 ...

and rendered by

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas ( /jeːʃud̪aːs/; born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian m ...

Reception

Upon release, the film, initially a slow starter, garnered widespread positive reviews and became a success both critically and commercially. The camera work of

Venu The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

is considered the highlight of the film. The film is considered a cult classic in Malayalam and the performance of

is said to be one of his best in his acting career by the critics.

Awards

*The film won Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam received by V.B.K. Menon 38th Filmfare Awards South

References

External links

* {{Filmfare Award for Best Film – Malayalam 1990s Malayalam-language films 1990 crime thriller films 1990 drama films 1990 films Films shot in Palakkad Films scored by Bharathan Films directed by Bharathan Films with screenplays by M. T. Vasudevan Nair Indian films about revenge