''Adharvam'' (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

: അഥര്വ്വം) is a 1989 Indian

-language

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Dennis Joseph Dennis Joseph (20 October 1957 – 10 May 2021) was an Indian scriptwriter and director known for his work in Malayalam films. He was active during the 1980s and early 1990s. He frequently collaborated with directors Joshi (director), Joshi and ...

and written by

Shibu Chakravarthy Shibu Chakravarthy is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, and poster designer who works in Malayalam cinema. His ancestors were the rulers of Kurukkanmoola Dynasty, hence the name ''Chakravarthy'' (). His birthname was Shibu Rajav, later change ...

, 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 ...

Ganesh Kumar Keezhoote Balakrishna Pillai Ganesh Kumar (born 25 May 1966) is an Indian actor, television host, and politician. Ganesh Kumar is a proposed cabinet minister for the last 2.5 years in the ongoing 2nd LDF govt in Kerala and he is also the curre ...

Charuhasan S. Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian actor, director and retired lawyer who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He won the National Film Award for Best ActorSubha J Rao,Entertainment for a cause, The Hind ...

Silk Smitha Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati (2 December 1960 – 23 September 1996), better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. Smitha was part of seve ...

Thilakan Palappurathu Kesavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appearan ...

, and Parvathy. Mammootty played the role of Anantha Padmanabhan, an expert in mystic tantric rituals. The songs and background score of the movie were by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

Plot

Thevalli Namboodiri(

) is a renowned

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

. One day while helping the people of his village to find the root cause of some mishaps, Thevalli finds out that the problems are due to the

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

and other tantric kriyas performed by Mekkadan

Namboodiri The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Nampoothiri, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal e ...

. On the request of the villagers, Thevalli goes to meet Mekkadan, who is also a childhood friend, but Mekkadan does not value the words of Thevalli and moreover tells him that his illicit son born out of a low caste woman Malu (

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

) will become his disciple and practice these dark arts. Thevalli becomes concerned. During the

Upanayanam ''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' ...

of his actual son, he sees his illicit son also. Thevalli decides to teach both of them the 3 Vedas in order to make both sons illustrious, taking the advice of his mentor Thirumeni (

Jose Prakash Jose Prakash (14 April 1925 – 24 March 2012) was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was a singer turned actor who had appeared in more than 300 films mostly in antagonist roles. He was awarded with the J. C. Daniel ...

). Anantha Padmanabhan (

), who is the illicit son of Thevalli, becomes a master of vedas and Tantric painting. He loves the daughter of Putthedan Namboodiri (

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 dire ...

) who is an aristocratic

bramhin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru o ...

and loathes Anantha Padmanabha. Vishnu, the second son, studies in the city where he loves a woman named Usha ( Parvathy). One day while a Thevalli is doing a prashanam (astrological prediction) and asks Ananthan for an opinion in front of all the assembled nambodiris, Puthedan insults Ananthan based on his birth. Anathan leaves abruptly. He is followed by Mekkadan, who sympathises with him and welcomes him to study

atharvaveda The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and G ...

. Later Anathan and his lover are caught by the Putheddan, who drags his daughter away and beats up Ananthan and burns his house. Anathan's old mother is not able to escape and dies in the fire. This prompts Ananthan to seek vengeance and wreak havoc in his village. He seeks out Mekkadan, and offers to become his disciple; they move on to a remote location and practice dark magic. Later on Mekkadan dies, but Anathan continues his studies, which leads to severe calamities and deaths in his village. Anathan uses his power and magic to keep the tribals around his house happy and servile. The daughter of the tribal chief, Ponni (

), offers herself to Anathan, who maintains his celibacy and uses Ponni for advanced Abhichara Karma. To put a stop to all this, Thevalli asks his younger son to meet his elder brother and dissuade him from destroying the village. Vishnu, along with his friends, travels to the forests where the house of Ananthan is located, the tribals refusing to help them. Anathan himself comes and warns Vishnu not to interfere. Friends of Anathan hurt the village chief badly to make sure Ananthan leaves his house to treat the chief. While Anathan is away from his home, Vishnu and his friends enter the house and invoke counter tantric measures. In spite of Vishnu's warning, when his friend removes the magical protection which saves the house from the destructive powers of nature, he is killed by an entity. As a result, a storm wreaks havoc in the entire area. Vishnu places Usha inside a magical circle for her protection. Usha awakens the destructive powers of nature when she places a circle inside a Tantric kalam. This releases all the entities who were enslaved by Ananthan, who seek revenge. While returning Ananthan realizes that someone has entered his mansion. Crossing the river with Ponni, the boat overturns and she dies. Another friend of Vishnu is killed by tribals. Anathan reaches the mansion and finds all the entities enslaved by him are trying to get their revenge. After instructing Vishnu to seek the blessing of the Devi Idol in the basement of his house, Ananthan leads away all the powers to a remote place; understanding his mistake in using the power of nature to destroy, he offers himself to the

Goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

. Lightning strikes and burns him alive. The entities destroy the whole mansion of Ananthan. Vishnu and Usha, who seek refuge at the feet of the Goddess, are saved.

Cast

as Anantha Padmanabhan *

as Thevalli *

as Vishnu *

as Ponni * Parvathy as Usha *

as Malu *

as Mekkadan *

as Putthedan *

as Thirumeni *

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, Tam ...

as Thevalli's wife * Kiran Vergis as young Anantha Padmanabhan *

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 Subramani *Trichur Elsi * Baby Abhijit Venu as Mythreyan

Crew

* Direction:

* Screenplay:

* Story: Shibu Chakravarthy * Producer: Eerally Balan * Music:

* Editing: K. Shankunny * Cinematography: Anandakuttan,

A. Vincent Aloysius Vincent (14 June 1928 – 25 February 2015) was an Indian cinematographer and director known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi language films. From the mid-1960s on, he directed some 30 movies including the landmark Mal ...

, Ajayan Vincent * Art Direction:

Rajeev Anchal Rajiv Anchal (born 20 December 1956) is a film director, screenwriter, and sculptor who works in Malayalam language cinema. In 1997, he made ''Guru'', India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His fir ...

* Makeup: M. O. Devassiya * Stunts: A. R. Basha

Soundtrack

The songs were composed by

and lyrics were written by

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He receive ...

. #"Puzhayorathil" -

K. S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various In ...

#"Ambilikkalayum Neerum" - K. S. Chithra #"Om Midhye" -

P. Jayachandran Paliyath Jayachandrakuttan is an Indian playback singer and actor from Kerala. Jayachandran is best known for his captivating voice which gave him the title ''Bhava Gayakan'' by the music fraternity of South India. He has worked with many comp ...

, Ilaiyaraaja #"Poovayi Virinju" -

M. G. Sreekumar Malabar Gopalan Sreekumar (born 25 May 1957), better known as M.G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He has sung more than 2000 ...

, Ilaiyaraaja

Box office

The film did moderate business.

External links

*

{{Dennis Joseph 1980s Malayalam-language films 1989 films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films directed by Dennis Joseph