Wow..what movie was that. The era of Thampurans and Madambis who were long expunged from the power centers of feudal Kerala now come back with a vengeance in this iconic Hero movie of Mohanlal. Every ingredient of it is just right. Here is a righteous man from pedigreed background who is also an ex IAS to boot, villains from the everyday world that we see around like corrupt Chitti company bosses with dirty political connections, policemen working as if they are the personal body guards of influential men, pliant women, hero worshiping bunch of men, strong father, righteous mother, justice, truth, non violence and some well executed fight scenes all mixed in this wonderous mass movie of all time, must watch for all Lal fans. The plum of the pudding was the short cameo role by Mammootty, who in his characteristic English delivers some lengthy cross questioning and towers over in that 20 minutes of appearance.
Credit must be given to Shaji Kailas who was before or after never quite attained the sort of direction mastery of a similar plot. Ranjith wrote from where he left off after Aram Thampuran, smarting from the disappointment that was Ustad.
One scene is well remembered. After Induchoodans initial fight scene with Bhaskaran in the market an angry Cheriammama (Jagathy) comes back from Guruvayur in haste, fully aware that further indiscretions of Induchoodan will land him deep in trouble. In a single shot -> camera facing from the inside of house towards courtyard characters come in go out, execute dialogs, jeep enter new characters join in. Induchoodan is playing with every one and is perceived much superior and arrogant but all the while likable in a single extended shot. Direction was art there. And there follows the famous "adipoli" song of all time right after...
The movies success can be analyzed also in this way. it combined plot of Spadikam, Kireedam (father son relationship), Aram Thampuran (one who comes back with a score to settle), Devasuram (parentage secrets in family) set in north central Kerala (Shoranur and Thrissur) where valluvanda malayalam rules. Dialogues are shorn of excessive philosophy (Aram Thampuran, Ustad) to make it simpler but is of much higher standard than typical mass fare. N F Varghese essayed a nuanced villain to perfection, sad to reflect that we lost a great talent. Sai and Raghu were all perfectly cast. Narendraprasad was grossly underutilised as Moopil Nair.
Credit must be given to Shaji Kailas who was before or after never quite attained the sort of direction mastery of a similar plot. Ranjith wrote from where he left off after Aram Thampuran, smarting from the disappointment that was Ustad.
One scene is well remembered. After Induchoodans initial fight scene with Bhaskaran in the market an angry Cheriammama (Jagathy) comes back from Guruvayur in haste, fully aware that further indiscretions of Induchoodan will land him deep in trouble. In a single shot -> camera facing from the inside of house towards courtyard characters come in go out, execute dialogs, jeep enter new characters join in. Induchoodan is playing with every one and is perceived much superior and arrogant but all the while likable in a single extended shot. Direction was art there. And there follows the famous "adipoli" song of all time right after...
The movies success can be analyzed also in this way. it combined plot of Spadikam, Kireedam (father son relationship), Aram Thampuran (one who comes back with a score to settle), Devasuram (parentage secrets in family) set in north central Kerala (Shoranur and Thrissur) where valluvanda malayalam rules. Dialogues are shorn of excessive philosophy (Aram Thampuran, Ustad) to make it simpler but is of much higher standard than typical mass fare. N F Varghese essayed a nuanced villain to perfection, sad to reflect that we lost a great talent. Sai and Raghu were all perfectly cast. Narendraprasad was grossly underutilised as Moopil Nair.
