''Vartha'' () is a 1986 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 film, directed by I. V. Sasi and produced by P. V. Gangadharan. The film stars

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

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 ...

, Rahman, Seema,

Venu Nagavally Venu Nagavally (16 April 1949 – 10 September 2010) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagavally R. S. Kuru ...

K. P. A. C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest ...

and

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He is known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in over 300 mov ...

. The film has musical score by A. T. Ummer. The film was successful at the box office. The film was remade in Tamil as '' Palaivana Rojakkal'' (1986), and in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as ''Jai Shiv Shankar'' (1990), which never released.

Plot

Madhavankutty is a journalist who fights against the corrupted government system. His father is Keshavan Nair and his mother is Kunjulaksmi. Unnikrishnan is a violent college student constantly vandalizing school property and he has animosity towards his elder sister Radha Menon who is an IAS Officer and they have a younger sister named Vasanthi. One night, Unnikrishnan and his gang throw stones at Madhavnkutty's house and Radha slaps him after hearing about it. She demands Unnikrishhan to apologize to Madhavankutty which he reluctantly does the next day. Vasu known as 'Parol Vasu' is a goon working for Manikyam the corrupt businessman. Hamsa is Vasu's aide who is with him always. Vasanthi proposes to marry Madhavankutty but is declinded as he loved Radha One night and another, Vasu and his goons attacks Madhavankutty. Vasu and Unnikrishnan are friends and eventually Vasanthi starts liking Vasu and she eventually becomes Vasu's wife. Vasu tells Vasanthi about his past on how his mother was in a mental asylum and that his father was in central jail who is now bed ridden and how Vasu grew up in an orphanage and how he became a goon. Madhavankutty offers Vasu a job which the latter refuses at first because of his initial bitterness but he then changes his mind and becomes Madhavnkutty's right hand man. One night, Hamsa is killed by Inspector Francis. Upon hearing this, Vasu goes to beat him and is about to kill him but is stopped by Madhavnkutty who tells Vasu to let the court punish him. In the climax, Madhavankutty and Vasu are shot dead by unknown shooters which leaves Unnikrishnan, Radha and Vasanthi devastated. The film ends with a newspaper citing the investigation of their deaths.

Cast

as Madhavan Kutty, an upright journalist *

as Parol Vasu, a violent hired goon with a troubled past * Rahman as Unnikrishnan, a violent college student and younger brother of Radha * Seema as Radha Menon, a strict IAS Officer *

Nalini Nalini (Devanagari: नलिनी) is a female gender Indian people, Indian given name, which means "lotus", "goddess Gayatri","mother of Vedas", "sweet nectar", "Amrit", Feminine "lily" in Sanskrit.''Baby Names''"Nalini" Retrieved on 9 January ...

as Vasanthi, Unnikrishnan's and Radha's younger sister *

as Devan *

as Nambeeshan * Devan as Revenue Minister Philip * T. G. Ravi as Manikyam Kumar, the main antagonist and a corrupt businessman * Janardhanan as James *

as Kunjulakshmi *

Manavalan Joseph Manavalan Joseph was a Malayalam film actor. He is an actor who worked in many movies during the 1950s and 1960s. He died in 1986 Background Manavalan Joseph was born at Fort Kochi then in the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency of Britis ...

as Constable *

Jagannatha Varma K. N. Jagannatha Varma (1 May 1939 – 20 December 2016) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also a Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also an artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a film d ...

as Kurup *

Babu Namboothiri Babu Namboothiri (born 12 August 1947) is a retired Chemistry Professor and Head Of Department of Deva Mata College Kuravilangad and an Indian film and TV actor who has starred in more than 100 Malayalam films and various serials. He is famou ...

as Venu *

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri fr ...

as Keshavan Nair * K. P. A. C. Sunny as Enforcement Officer *

K. P. A. C. Azeez Azeez (27 November 1934 – 16 July 2003) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 100 films. He came into the movie industry as a villain, and later, he started doing character roles, such as police officer, jailer, and mi ...

as City Police Commissioner *

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 Forest Minister *

Kuthiravattam Pappu Padmadalakshan, better known by his stage name Kuthiravattam Pappu (24 December 1936 – 25 February 2000), was a popular Indian stage and film actor. His repertoire of acting was based on his unique style and use of the '' Kozhikodan'' dialect, ...

as Hamsa, Vasu's aide *

Kundara Johny Johny Joseph, better known by the stage name Kundara Johny (1 January 1952 – 17 October 2023), was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He additionally performed in Tamil films such as ''Vaazhkai Chakram'' and '' Nadigan''. Early life John ...

as Francis *

Paravoor Bharathan Vadakkekarayil Koran Bharathan (16 January 1929- 19 August 2015), better known as Paravoor Bharatan was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He started his career in movies during the 1950s. Bharathan is known as a versatile actor and ...

as Bharathan *

Kunjandi Kunjandi (1919–2002) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 50 films. He handled character roles as well as supporting roles. Background Kunjandi was born at Calicut. His first movie was ''Swargaraajyam'' in 1962 ...

as Pachu Pillai *

Nellikode Bhaskaran Nellikode Bhaskaran (21 April 1924 – 11 August 1988) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. His real name was Bhaskara Menon. He mostly played character roles and supporting roles. Awards Kerala State Film Awards: * Second Best Actor ...

as Radha's Relative * Sonia as Young Radha *

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 Ammukutty * K. T. C. Abdullah uncredited roll * Baskara Kurup as Hajyar * V. Ramachandran as Engineer Sahadevan

Themes

Sreedhar Pillai wrote for ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'', "''Vartha'' had overtly political themes, parodying events and politicians in a manner that left little to the imagination. I. V. Sasi told him, "I always have a rough commercial framework for my political films, Then I look around and talk to a lot of people about current political happenings. These, when mixed in the right proportion can give you an instant hit."

Release

The film was released on 12 February 1986. It was a commercial success, running for 150 days in theatres. The film was the third highest grossing Malayalam film of 1986.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by A. T. Ummer and the lyrics were written by

Bichu Thirumala Bhaskaran Sivasankaran Nair, popularly known as Bichu Thirumala (13 February 1942 – 26 November 2021), was an Indian lyricist and poet. He is known for creating the style of arranging beautiful words in Malayalam film songs. In Malayalam cinem ...

Awards

* Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam won by P. V. Gangadharan (1986)

References

External links

* {{Filmfare Award for Best Film – Malayalam 1986 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Indian political films Indian political thriller films Malayalam films remade in other languages Films directed by I. V. Sasi