''Abkari'' is a

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Malayalam movie Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

starring

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 cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

and

Ratheesh Ratheesh (1954–2002) was an Indian actor best known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He was a native of Kalavoor in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. He performed villainous roles during the 1990s. He had acted in 158 films with dire ...

in the title roles. It was written by

T. Damodaran T. Damodaran ( ml, ടി. ദാമോദരൻ; c. 1935 – 28 March 2012) was a screenwriter who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. Life Damodaran wrote the screenplays of films such as '' Angaadi'' (1980)'', Ahimsa'' (1981)'', John ...

and was directed by

I. V. Sasi Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1947 – 24 October 2017), better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. ...

Plot

Vasu and Chacko are working as drivers and low ranking workers for the ''Abkari'' contractor Sreekandan. Sreekandan is heavily involved in the smuggling of liquor from the neighbouring state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

in order to increase the already high profits in his business. Chacko once makes an incorrect move to seduce the wife of Sreekandan, hoping that she is just waiting for any new man to come into her love life. But she only wanted to have an affair with Vasu. Sreekandan learns of this, and Chacko is beaten black and blue and expelled from the organisation. For some time the jobless youngsters try illegal brewing of hooch. But the Excise soon rounds them up. Kaimal, an Excise officer who has a past enmity with Sreekandan, meets up with the two young men. He encourages them to join the liquor trade as ''Abkaris''. Kaimal takes the responsibility of helping them, even to generate the initial capital. Both Vasu and Chacko forms up a company "VASCO" and participates in the first ''Abkari'' range auction. Sreekandan who used to regularly win at the auction is defeated. The growth of VASCO is phenomenal and with good support from Excise officials the business is flourishing. Vasu and Chacko, who once lived in a slum, move into palatial bungalows and now live a life of luxury. Sreekandan introduces a double-agent (

Sankaradi Chandrashekaran 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 700 Malayalam films to his credit. He dominated the ...

) into their midst who promises them to make spurious

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

. On a festival day this spurious liquor is served and many people are maimed for life or die. Vasu and Chacko then get Sreekandan killed. The in-fighting, the criminal cases and the business pressures begin to take a toll on Vasu. Chacko in the meantime starts to like the rich life and squanders his wealth. Vasu always finds solace in Kunjappan, another ''Abkari'' contractor who wants the liquor business to be conducted in an ethical manner. Kunjappan, who came from humble origins, always reminds Vasu that he should never forget his past. Kunjappan, now rich, still maintains the small, old hut in which he was born, as a constant reminder of his past. Vasu and Chacko also step into the domains (''Abkari'' ranges) of other contractors. Until then, every contractor had his business area chalked out with others not contesting for these areas. But Vasu and Chacko started to bid for each and every possible range. The business understanding of ''Abkaris'' was broken. Soon the other contractors coalesced and plotted against Vasu and Chacko. Chacko, who is reckless in financial dealings, loses a huge sum of money when he pays in advance for spirit which is never delivered. Chacko's daughter falls in love with their chauffeur, who comes from humble surroundings. The chauffeur is threatened but he continues the affair. So an angry Vasu kills him. This murder lands Vasu in trouble, as well. With a severe financial crunch and a major criminal case, the partners of VASCO find their situation unrecoverable. Chacko commits suicide, and Vasu pleads guilty to the murder and goes to prison. VASCO, a once formidable business empire, collapses.

Cast

as Vasu *

as Chacko *

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' s ...

as Sridevi * Parvathy as Sharada *

Thiagarajan Thiagarajan Sivanandam (born 21 June 1946) is an Indian actor, director and producer in Tamil cinema. Beside Tamil, he has also acted in several Malayalam and Kannada films and a few Telugu films. He is the father of Tamil actor Prashanth and t ...

as KRC / Chidambaram *

M. G. Soman M. G. Soman (28 September 1941 – 12 December 1997) was an Indian actor and former Indian Air Force officer who appeared in Malayalam films. He was one among the leading star actors doing hero roles in Malayalam Cinema during the late 1970s an ...

as Kunjappan *

Balan K. Nair Balakrishnan 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 performances in stron ...

as Chathunny *

Jalaja Jalaja is an Indian actress in Malayalam films who was active during the 1970s and 1980s. She had won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1981 for the movie Venal directed by Lenin Rajendran. Perso ...

as Ammini *

T. G. Ravi T. G. Ravindranathan (born 16 May 1944), popularly known as T. G. Ravi, is an Indian actor, mainly noted for his roles as a villain in Malayalam cinema. He along with Balan K. Nair played most of the negative roles in Malayalam cinema during t ...

as Sreekandan *

Jayamalini Jayamalini (or Jaya Malini) is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi movies. Career She was introduced to Tollywood in 1975 by Vittalacharya in the movie he produced, ''Aadadani Adrustam ...

as Kanakam *

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, i ...

as Kumaran * Janardhanan as Karthikeyan * Devan as Jayaprakash (excise officer) *

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

as Kaimal (excise officer) *

Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

as Chandran, Police Officer *

Kundara Johny Johny Joseph with the stage name Kundara Johny is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 100 films. He has also done Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil films like ''Vaazhkai Chakram'' and ''Nadigan''. He surprised everyone wit ...

as Peethambaran *

as Govindan *

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 h ...

as Swamy * C. I. Paul as George *

Kunchan Kunchan is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Kunchan Nambiar Kunchan Nambiar was a prominent Malayalam poet of the 18th century (1705-1770). Apart from being a prolific poet, Nambiar is also famous as the originator of the da ...

as Mani *

Valsala Menon Valsala Menon (born 1945) is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam films. She has acted in over 200+ films. Currently she is active in Malayalam television serials. Early life Valsala Menon was born in 1945 to Raman Menon and Devakiyamma in ...

as Madhavi *Tony as Radhakrishnan *

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 town, ...

Release

The film was released on 14 April 1988.

Box office

The film was a Super Hit and trendsetter.

References

External links

* {{I. V. Sasi 1988 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Films directed by I. V. Sasi