''Aryan'' is a 1988 Indian

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 ...

-language

action crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

and 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 ...

. The film stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

Ramya Krishnan Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970), also credited as Ramya Krishna (in the Telugu and Kannada film industries) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in over 260 films in five languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. Ramy ...

Sharat Saxena Sharat Saxena (born 17 August 1950) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films along with Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 250 Bollywood films. Saxena started his career in the early 1970s and has mainly played su ...

Shobana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ' ...

Gavin Packard Gavin Packard (9 June 1964 – 18 May 2012) was an Indian actor of Irish American, Irish American descent, noted for the villainous roles he portrayed in many Bollywood films of the 1990s like Sadak, ''Mohra'', ''Tadipaar'' and ''Chamatkar''. He ...

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 ...

and

Goga Kapoor Ravinder Kapoor (15 December 1940 – 3 March 2011), popularly known as Goga Kapoor, was an Indian actor, who appeared mostly in Bollywood films. He has acted in over 120 films, majorly known for playing supporting roles of that of villain's h ...

. It was produced by Mohanlal and Century Kochumon through the company Cheers Films. ''Aryan'' tells the tale of an underworld battle and family bonds through Devanarayanan who arrives in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

with nothing and rises to become a gangster in a powerful crime gang. ''Aryan'' was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It ran for over 100 days in theatres. Mohanlal won the

Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award The Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India. Winners See also * Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention The Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention is an ...

for acting. The film was dubbed in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as ''Aaryan Mera Naam''. ''Aryan'' was remade in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

as '' Dravidan'' (1989), in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''

Ashoka Chakravarthy ''Ashoka Chakravarthy'' is a 1989 Telugu-language action film produced by Smt. Kaaja Venkataravamma under the Sri Venkateswara Art Productions banner and directed by S. S. Ravi Chandra. It stars Nandamuri Balakrishna, Bhanupriya and music comp ...

''. It was remade in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

as ''Chakravarthy'' (1990). Saxena reprised his role in all the versions.

Plot

Devanarayanan (Devan) is a

Brahmin 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 ...

priest from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, who has to look after his entire impoverished family. He is in love with Aswathy, but her corrupt father Govindan Nair is against their relationship. The wicked local businessman Arumukhan, along with Govindan Nair, Inspector Chandrappan, and their coterie of corrupt men of influential positions falsely accuse Devanarayanan of the theft of the local temple's ''Thiruvabharana'' (Deity's ornaments) and fabricate him in the case. Devan's father loses his trust on his son and Devan is forced to leave his village. He reaches

where he gets shelter from Mohammad and his daughter Sainaba, who runs a tea shop. Some turn of events draws Devanarayanan into the underworld and he becomes the trusted aide of an ageing don Kareem, who had lost his wife, brother, and uncle in an underworld gang war decades ago. Sainaba is in love with Kareem's only son. Their marriage gets fixed when Devan convinces both Kareem and Mohammed. Nirmala, who is working for Kareem's gang, gets closer to Devanarayanan. Nair, who was a trusted secretary to Kareem, joins hands together with the rival don Majeed Khan after feeling jealous and dejected when Kareem starts giving more importance to Devan. Kareem's son and daughter-in-law Sainaba, along with Mohammed are shot dead by Majeed Khan, Nair, and their henchmen during the

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

celebrations, leaving Kareem on a path towards religion and leaving all underworld business for good. Majeed Khan and Nair plan to leave Bombay, but Devan successfully attacks them and gets them arrested. Devan is then sentenced to a five-year imprisonment. After he gets released, Devan along with his lover Nirmala leave for

. He proves his innocence to his parents and family and teaches a lesson to all those wicked men who had once fabricated him. But, by that time, Majeed Khan and Nair reach Kerala to take revenge from Devan and kill Nirmala. Devan kills both Khan and Nair. The film ends tragically with a furious Devanarayanan screaming at the judge in the court of law for having been imprisoned under fabricated accusations.

Cast

as Devanarayanan Namboothiri / Devan, a commoner-turned-gangster *

as Nirmala / Nimmi *

Shobhana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...

as Aswathy Antharjanam *

as Majeed Khan, a powerful underworld don in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

as Kareem Seth, an aged powerful underworld don in

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 Nair, ex-secretary to Kareem, later Majeed Khan's henchman *

as 'Sakhavu' Karunan, a corrupt politician *

as Arumukhan *

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

as Govindan Nair, Aswathy's father *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.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 Thampuratti, Devan's mother *

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 from t ...

as Namboothiri Thampuran, Devan's father *

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 Hassan *

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 Mohammad *

Monisha Monisha Unni (24 January 1970 – 5 December 1992) was an Indian actress, known for her works in Malayalam, Tamil cinema. Monisha was 16 when she became the youngest actress ever to receive the National Film Award for Best Actress for ''N ...

as Sainaba/Sainu, Mohammed's daughter *

as Martin, a local goon *

Priya Priya may refer to: * Priya (given name), a given name of Indian origin * Priya (actress) Karpagavalli better known by her stage name Priya is an Indian actress who worked on South Indian movies. She was a prominent lead actress during the ...

as Subhadra, Devan's younger sister * Sithara as Dhathrikutty, Devan's youngest sister *

Sreenath Sreenath (26 August 1956 – 23 April 2010) was an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in many Malayalam films, including ''Shalini Ente Koottukari'', ''Ithu Njangalude Katha'', ''Oru CBI Diary Kurippu'', and '' Kireedam''. Sreenat ...

as Unnikrishnan, Dhathrikutty's husband *

C.I. Paul C. I. Paul (1944 – 14 December 2005) was a Malayalam film and television actor. He was a member of the working party led by Fr. Vadakkan and came to acting through the famous dramas by V. L. Jose. He was well appreciated for his perform ...

as Inspector Chandrappan, a corrupt police officer and Aramukhan's accomplice *

Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri Padma Shri 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 Kannet ...

as Oikyan, Devan's 'Guru' * Milind Gawali as Kareem's son and Sainaba's husband *

Bob Christo Robert John Christo, was an Australian-Indian civil engineer and actor in Hindi films. Starting with Sanjay Khan's ''Abdullah'' (1980), he went on to act in over 200 Hindi films in the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Qurbani'' (1980), ''Kaalia'' ( ...

as a Goon

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Raghu Kumar P. K. Reghukumar (Raghukumar; 13 June 1953 – 20 February 2014) was a noted music composer from Kerala, India. His compositions first achieved prominence in the 1980s. Life and work Born into the prominent Pootheri family at Kozhikode in Ker ...

and the lyrics were written by

Kaithapram Padma Shri 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 Kannett ...

Box office

The film was a commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It ran for over 100 days in theatres.

Remake

''Aryan'' was later remade in

as '' Dravidan'' (1989) by

Suresh Balaje Suresh Balaji is an Indian film producer, primarily concentrating in Malayalam and Tamil films. He is the son of producer and actor K. Balaji. He has produced many successful ventures like ''Billa'', ''Vazhvey Maayam'', ''Gandharvam'', ''Ullad ...

, with

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...

playing the lead role. It was also remade in

as ''

'' (1989) starring

Nandamuri Balakrishna Nandamuri Balakrishna (born 10 June 1960), simply known as Balakrishna or Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, producer and politician. He appeared in more than 100 Telugu cinema, Telugu films over forty years in a variety of roles and establis ...

and unofficially as ''

Dhruva Nakshatram ''Dhruva Nakshatram'' () is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language film directed by Y. Nageswara Rao and produced by K. Ashok Kumar under Sri Usha Art Productions. It stars Venkatesh and Rajani, with music composed by Chakravarthy. The film, released o ...

'' (1989) both of which were released on the same day, and in

as ''Chakravarthy'' (1990) starring

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted in ...

References

External links

*
''Aryan'' on MalayalaChalachithram.com

''Aryan'' on MalayalaSangeetham.com

''Aryan'' on SpicyOnion.com

Article about the film in ''Deepika''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aryan (1988 Film) 1980s Malayalam-language films 1988 films Films directed by Priyadarshan Films with screenplays by T. Damodaran Indian gangster films Films about organised crime in India Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films shot in Mumbai Films shot in Kozhikode Malayalam films remade in other languages Films scored by Reghu Kumar