''Pakal'' is a 2006
Malayalam film
Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, 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, ...
directed by
M. A. Nishad, starring
Prithviraj and
Jyothirmayi
Jyothirmayi is an Indian actress, television presenter, and former model, who works in Malayalam cinema. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into television, working as an anchor and later starring numerous Television show.
Career
Jy ...
in the lead role.
Plot
''Pakal'' takes us into the world of farmers, of the high ranges of Wayanad District of Kerala, who are forced to commit suicide following financial problems. The story has a lot of potential with a relevant political issue and there are some political comments too—like hints at the failure of the government machinery and religious institutions, which ought to come to the aid of the peasants. The film opens with the protagonist Nandakumar (
Prithviraj), who is a reporter of the television channel ''Kerala Today'', being sent to ''Pannakamkudi '' to do a regular series on the plight of the farmers of the area. He alights on the mission with his cameraman Abu (Sudheesh) to the high ranges, delivering daily reports in the prime time news about the crop failure, low prices for agricultural products, inability to repay loans issued by banks and cut-throat interest rates charged by private financiers, which eventually force the peasants to commit mass suicides.
Nandakumar and his crew meet 87-year-old Kochuthekkethil Kunjappan (
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 ...
) in the verandah of the village office. He is one of the early settlers of the region and has been demonstrating before the village office since 14 years seeking justice from the authorities who seize his farmland, branding him a millionaire. And from the directives of the old man and the local priest Abraham Thekkilakkaadan, they meet Thenginthottathil Joseph (
T G Ravi) and his family members, who are in the grip of severe financial problems and on the brink of desperation and even suicide. Joseph's eldest daughter Merlin (Sreeja Chandran) works for a private exporting company and his second daughter Celine (
Jyothirmayi
Jyothirmayi is an Indian actress, television presenter, and former model, who works in Malayalam cinema. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into television, working as an anchor and later starring numerous Television show.
Career
Jy ...
) is a medical student who is currently pursuing her final year house surgeonship. The family and the villagers pin all their hopes on Celine, who will be the first doctor from the village. Joseph who had to borrow loans from four different banks for his daughter's educational expenses finds it hard to settle the accounts.
Slowly the media team becomes a part of the village, and their serialized investigative reports on Kerala Today, start to cause many people in the government circles and the local heartless money lender Ummachan (
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 ...
), lose their sleep. The crew faces many hardships in the village as many even manhandle the team. The media management goes a step further and asks Nandakumar to stop reporting on the issue and to return to the city. But he turns down the request and continues there. But as days pass by, the villagers’ plights become more hapless as many more suicides follow, including that of Merlin and Joseph. What follows in the film is how Nandakumar, with the support of Celine and other villagers, finds ways to rescue the villages from the chaos that they face.
Cast
*
Prithviraj as Nandakumar
*
Jyothirmayi
Jyothirmayi is an Indian actress, television presenter, and former model, who works in Malayalam cinema. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into television, working as an anchor and later starring numerous Television show.
Career
Jy ...
as Celine
*
Sudheesh
Sudheesh (born 7 December 1972) is an Indian actor and director from Calicut who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He won Kerala State Film Awards for Best Character Actor in 2021.
Personal life
Sudheesh is the only son of T. S ...
as Abu
*
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 ...
as Kunjappan
*
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 ...
*
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 Ummachan
*
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 Joseph
*
Shwetha Menon
Shwetha Menon is an Indian actress, model and television anchor. She won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides appearing in a number of Telugu and Tamil Language Fi ...
as Latha Mohankumar
*
Sreeja Chandran as Merlin
*
Seema G. Nair
Seema G. Nair (born 21 May 1968) is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and Malayalam Television, TV series. She has won the Kerala state television award for best actress in 2014 for the telefilm ''Moksham''.
Biography
Both Nair a ...
as Panchayat President
*
Zeenath
Zeenath A.P is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. She was a prominent supporting actress during the 1990s in Malayalam films.
Background
Zeenath was born to Abu Achippuram and Fathima in Nilambur, Malappuram district. She had her primary edu ...
*
Kanakalatha
Kanakalatha (born 24 August 1960) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in the Malayalam cinema.
Personal life
Kanakalatha was born to parents Parameshwaran Pillai and Chinnamma at Kollam, Kerala. She attended the Government Girls Sch ...
* Maya Viswanath
* Lishoy
* Anoop
* Ibrahim Vengara
* Althara
*
Jijoy Rajagopal
Jijoy P R ( ml, ജിജോയ് P R) is an Indian film and theatre actor. He is an associate professor at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and is currently serving as the Dean of the Films Division too. He is an inter ...
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 1102295, Pakal
2000s Malayalam-language films
2006 directorial debut films
2006 films
Environmental films
Films directed by M. A. Nishad