''Irupatham Noottandu'' () is a 1987 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
gangster film
A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...
directed by
K. Madhu
K. Madhu is an Indian film director and producer who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with '' Malarum Kiliyum'' and has directed over 30 feature films in various languages (Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu & Kann ...
, written by
S. N. Swamy
S. Narayana Swamy alias S. N. Swamy is a screenwriter and actor who works in the Indian film industry predominantly in the Malayalam cinema. Having born in Kochi, Kerala Swamy is particularly known for scripting films in the thriller genre. ...
and produced by
M. Mani. It 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 ...
,
Suresh Gopi
Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acti ...
, and
Ambika
Ambika may refer to:
Mythology
* Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti
* Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess
* Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, ...
. The film's music was composed by
Shyam Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include:
;Shyam
*Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor
*Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala
* Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...
. The plot follows Sagar Alias Jacky, a maverick youth who runs a
gold smuggling
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
racket for Sekharankutty, the son of the
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of
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 ...
. Their relationship stains after the latter brings
narcotics
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
into the business.
''Irupatham Noottandu'' was released on 14 May 1987 and became the highest grossing Malayalam film at that time and also enjoys a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
in
Malayalam cinema
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' ...
.
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 ''Jackey'' (1989) and 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 ''
20va Sathabdam'' (1990) with
Suman and
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 ...
reprising Mohanlal's role in the Kannada and Telugu versions, while
Devaraj
Devaraj (born 20 September 1953) is an Indian actor and theatre actor who works in Indian film industry. He has largely featured in Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and villainous character. He ha ...
portrayed Suresh Gopi's role in both versions. The film also has a
spiritual sequel
A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...
titled ''
Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded
''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Amal Neerad. It is the sequel of 1987 film ''Irupatham Noottandu'' and Mohanlal reprise his role as Sagar Alias Jacky. The film was written by S ...
'', which is released in 2009 and directed by
Amal Neerad
Amal Neerad (born on 7 October 1976) is an Indian film director, cinematographer and Film producer, producer who mainly works in Malayalam Cinema. He attended the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata (first batch). He was awarded ...
with Mohanlal reprising his role.
Plot
Sagar Alias ''Jacky'' is a maverick youth, who turned to gold smuggling due to financial situation and inspiration from the media glorifying the
Mumbai underworld
Organised crime in India refers to organised crime elements originating in India and active in many parts of the world. The purpose of organised crime in India, as elsewhere in the world, is monetary gain. Its virulent form in modern times is d ...
and its gangsters. He is partnered with Shekharankutty, who is the son of the ruling
CM Inchakadu Ramakrishna Pillai. The
Custom officers are provided with an information about one of the cars among the rally
race car
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...
s : A blue
Maruti car is being used in gold smuggling. Suddenly, the car sways from the pack where Jacky and his aide Lawrence hide the gold in the car's spare wheel and pass the customs checking and reach Shekharankutty's house. Jacky, Shekkarankutty and their aides: Qasim, Tony and Chanakya relaxes in a room at Chanakya's hotel.
Qasim and Tony are about to smuggle gold tonight. Shekarankutty warns Qasim that there is a traitor among them. Unfortunately, Qasim turns out to be the traitor, who escapes with the gold after killing Tony. He is then caught by Jacky and is drowned to death. The next day, Qasim's body is recovered by the police and Chanakya is sent to investigate, where he meets Ashwathy, who is a
reporter
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
for a
news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
investigating the connection between politics and crime in
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 ...
. At the scene, she meets Jeevan, the current investigating officer whom she studied with. Jacky visits Kayikka, a fellow smuggler and reveals that they killed Qasim. Kayikka reveals that his eldest son Shahul has turned to selling
weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...
.
Jacky turns him away for the better where he sees his love interest Jyothi's mother, who is actually in prison for murder. Ashwathy is drawn to Jacky's life and tries to get his attention by releasing an article stating that the CM is connected with Jacky. With his influence, Sekkarankutty bails others and learns that Jacky had informed the police. Pillai demolishes Jyothi's place, but Jacky threatens him and demands to build those houses. Shekarankutty is enraged where he kills Lawrence and hits the car which had Jacky and his mother, where Jacky's mother dies and Pillai asks Shekharankutty to leave for
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
with full
police protection
The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
, but Jacky finds a way to sneak into the airport disguised as a pilot where he chases Shekharankutty and kills him. Jacky gets arrested and is jailed on the day of Jyoti's release.
Cast
*
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 ...
as Sagar alias "Jacky"
*
Suresh Gopi
Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acti ...
as Shekharankutty
*
Ambika
Ambika may refer to:
Mythology
* Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti
* Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess
* Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, ...
as Aswathy Varma
*
Santhosh as Lawrence
*
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
CM Inchakadu Ramakrishna Pillai
*
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 Jyothi
*
Jagathy Sreekumar
Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decad ...
as Ashokan / Chanakyan
*
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 Jeevan
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
*
Janardhanan as
IG Thomas
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
*
Kaviyoor Ponnamma
Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing cred ...
as Meenakshiyamma
*
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 Janakiyamma, Jyothi's mother
*
Adoor Bhasi
K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), known by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director from Kerala. Adoor Bhasi was almost always cast as the man who stands next to the hero. His hilarious actions and role ...
as Varma
*
T. P. Madhavan
T. P. Madhavan (born 7 November 1935) is an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. He started acting at the age of 40. He has acted in more than 600 films. He came into the film industry playing villain roles; later he started doing com ...
as
CI Pothen
*
K. P. A. C. Sunny as Koshy
*
Jagadish
P. V. Jagadish Kumar (born 12 June 1955) known mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, television presenter and former politician. He has starred in over 375 Malayalam films and 2 Hindi films. He is best known for his comi ...
as Balakrishnan
*
Mamukkoya
Mamukkoya (born 5 July 1946) is an Indian actor known for his work in Malayalam cinema, and has also appeared in French film ''Flammens of Paradise''. He has mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of the Mappila dialect and style ma ...
as Koya
*
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 ...
as Pillai, Opposition leader
*
Jose
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
*Jose ben Abin
*Jose ben Akabya
* Jose the Galilea ...
as Santhosh, Customs officer
*Vishnuprakash as George
*
Kollam Ajith
Ajith Kollam (7 April 1962 – 5 April 2018) was an Indian actor, who predominantly appeared in Malayalam cinema. He had acted in more than 500 films in all South Indian languages. He mainly acted in villain roles. He acted in the Tamil movie ' ...
as Kasim
*Jayan as Tony
Production
Writer
S. N. Swamy
S. Narayana Swamy alias S. N. Swamy is a screenwriter and actor who works in the Indian film industry predominantly in the Malayalam cinema. Having born in Kochi, Kerala Swamy is particularly known for scripting films in the thriller genre. ...
got the idea for the film from a photograph featured in an English-language Sunday magazine published from
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
. Swami recalled in an interview that it was the time when
mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
bosses had a glorified image in the country after the national
emergency period in India (1975–1977). That was the time when public began to learn about
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- ...
-based mafia leaders such as
Haji Mastan
Mastan Mirza (1 March 1926 25 June 1994), popularly known as Haji Mastan or Sultan Mirza, was an Indian mafia gang leader, originally from Tamil Nadu and based in Bombay. He was one of an infamous trio of mafia gang leaders in Bombay for over ...
, Yusuf Patel,
Varadarajan Mudaliar
Sathuvachari Varadarajan Mudaliar (9 October 1926 – 2 January 1988), also known as Vardhabhai and Vardha, was an Indian crime boss. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, he was, along with Karim Lala and Haji Mastan, one of the most powerful mo ...
among others. The magazine had an article on Mastan and a photograph featuring much respected actor
Dilip Kumar
Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...
and his wife
Saira Banu
Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi language films. She was one of the most popular actresses in her heyday in the Indian film industry in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Career
Saira Banu was the ...
touching Mastan's feet for giving ''
pranāma
''Pranāma'' (Sanskrit: प्रणाम, praṇāma, "obeisance, prostration or bowing forward") is a form of respectful or reverential salutation (or reverential bowing) before something or another person – usually one's elders, spouse or t ...
''. It was shocking for Swami, he never imagined a mafia leader would be respected as such. It inspired the plot for ''Irupatham Noottandu'' and the character Sagar Alias Jacky. The lengthy climax of the film was shot in a single day.
Vipindas was the cinematographer.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by
Shyam Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include:
;Shyam
*Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor
*Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala
* Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...
and the lyrics were written by Chunakkara Ramankutty.
Box office
The film was released on 14 May 1987 and became the highest grossing Malayalam film at the time of its release.
Sequel
A
spiritual successor
A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...
sequel titled ''
Sagar Alias Jacky
''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Amal Neerad. It is the sequel of 1987 film '' Irupatham Noottandu'' and Mohanlal reprise his role as Sagar Alias Jacky. The film was written by ...
'' directed by
Amal Neerad
Amal Neerad (born on 7 October 1976) is an Indian film director, cinematographer and Film producer, producer who mainly works in Malayalam Cinema. He attended the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata (first batch). He was awarded ...
was released on 26 March 2009.
References
External links
*
{{S. N. Swamy
1980s Malayalam-language films
Indian gangster films
Indian crime thriller films
Films about organised crime in India
Films about the illegal drug trade
Cultural depictions of the Mafia
Films directed by K. Madhu
%Jacky1
Malayalam films remade in other languages
1980s crime thriller films
Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram
Films about the Narcotics Control Bureau