''Rajavinte Makan'' () is a 1986 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 and produced by

Thampi Kannanthanam Thampi Kannanthanam (11 December 1953 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed 16 films. Personal life Thampi was born on 11 December 1953 as the sixth son ...

and written 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 ...

. 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 ...

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

Vincent Gomes, and also features

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

and

Mohan Jose Mohan Jose is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He has acted more than 100 films. He came into movie industry portraying villains and later began acting in different comedy and character roles. He is the son of famous singer Pappukutty Bhag ...

in supporting roles. The plot revolves around the rivalry between an underworld don, Vincent Gomes and the Home minister of Kerala, N. Krishnadas. The music was composed by

S. P. Venkatesh S. P. Venkatesh (also credited as Sangeetharajan; born 5 March 1955) is an Indian music director and composer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He was at his prime in the late 80s and 90s, being reputed for his background scores and songs ...

. ''Rajavinte Makan'' was one of the major successes of the year 1986. The film was a milestone in the Malayalam film industry, achieving cult status 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 ...

. The film was significant in heightening the stardom of Mohanlal. The character became a

cult figure 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. A ...

and his dialogues became popular among the youth. It 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 ''

Makkal En Pakkam ''Makkal En Pakkam'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Karthik Raghunath. The film stars Sathyaraj, Rajesh, and Ambika. It is a remake of the 1986 Malayalam film ''Rajavinte Makan''. The film was blockbuster at box offic ...

'', and 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 '' Athiratha Maharatha'', with

reprising her role in both the versions. It was also remade 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 ''Ahuthi'' and in Hindi as ''

Kanwarlal ''Kanwarlal'' is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language action film, produced by G. Hanumantha Rao under the Padmalaya Studios banner, presented by Krishna and directed by S. S. Ravichandra. It stars Jeetendra, Raj Babbar, Sujata Mehta in lead roles and ...

''. Some critics consider the story to be a loose adaptation of the 1980 novel ''

Rage of Angels ''Rage of Angels'' is a novel by Sidney Sheldon published in 1980. The novel revolves around young attorney Jennifer Parker; as she rises as a successful lawyer, she gets into a series of ongoings that lead to intrigue with the mob and a rival ...

'' by

Sidney Sheldon Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy ''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer ...

Plot

The story begins with Krishnadas becoming the

Minister of Home Affairs. After college graduation, Krishnadas started working for the

Vincent Gomes. But soon, he cheats Gomes to gain favour among the people as well as the party. Thus, Krishnadas becomes the Home Affairs Minister of the state and becomes an enemy of Gomes. Gomes plans a payback and he successfully manages to do so by manipulating Nancy, an advocate who carries the case of his file which if submitted to the court may lead to imprisonment for several years. Gomes realises that Nancy has struggled a lot in life as an orphan and later, a single mother. However, because of Gomes's plan, Nancy loses her job. Gomes, now remorseful of his actions, makes amends to Nancy and become friends. He confesses to Nancy and tells her that he wants to halt all his activities, and asks for her hand in marriage. However, Nancy denies telling that she cannot accept anyone else as her husband. Krishnadas goes after Gomes with his political power and Gomes ends up losing all his wealth. Gomes plans to kill Krishnadas and entrusts the duty to Kumar and Peter, the trusted gangsters of Gomes. But Kumar and Peter get killed during the assassination attempt against Krishnadas. The loss of his trusted friends makes Gomes extremely violent and vengeful. He alone drives towards the

guest house A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use o ...

where Krishnadas resides, opens fire and kills many policemen and Krishnadas's political aides. When he was about to kill Krishnadas, Nancy begs for Krishnadas's life and proclaims that Krishnadas is the father of her child. While Gomes stands stunned, cops reach the site and shoot and kill him. He dies before Nancy could do anything. The story ends as Nancy stares at a picture of Vincent Gomes.

Cast

as Vincent Gomes, a

as Kumar, loyal accomplice to Vincent Gomes *

as Krishnadas C. K., Democratic Party member who becomes Minister of Home Affairs *

as Nancy, an advocate *

as Peter, loyal accomplice to Vincent Gomes *

K. P. A. C. Azeez Azeez (27 November 1934 – 16 July 2003) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 100 films. He came into the movie industry as a villain, later he started doing character roles, such as police officer, jailer, and ministe ...

as Panicker, Advocate of Vincent Gomes *

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 the priest / warden of the orphanage *

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 ...

Kundara Johnny 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 Tamil films like ''Vaazhkai Chakram'' and ''Nadigan''. He surprised everyone with the wide range of pe ...

as a gangster *

K. P. A. C. Sunny K. P. A. C. Sunny (1934–2006) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. He acted in more than 400 Malayalam films. He occupied the movie industry for four decades. Background Sunny was born as Sunny D'Cruz in Chavara, Kollam on 18 April 1934. ...

as K. Venkitachalam, Public Prosecutor *

Alex Mathew Mathew Mullasseril Alex (25 May 1959 – 23 June 2015), popularly known as Dr. M. M. Alex was an Indian actor and a Human Life Scientist. He was known for starring in blockbuster Malayalam films, ''Rajavinte Makan'' (1986) and ''Thoovanathumbi ...

as Student leader *

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 ...

as Chief Minister *

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 Krishnankutty *

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 ...

* Chaplin as Hotel Staff

Music

The soundtrack features three songs composed by

, with lyrics penned 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 ...

. Venkatesh got his break from this film.

Production

The role of Vincent Gomes was initially offered to

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 ...

but he rejected it due to some personal issues with director Thampi Kannanthanam.

Release

The film was released on 16 July 1986. The film was certified with a U certificate. The film was later remade in other languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

Reception

According to a trade analysis written by Sridhar Pillai and published in ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

'' on February 28, 1987, Rajavinte Makan had a production cost of ₹ 15 lakhs and was expected to collect ₹ 75 lakhs by the end of its run. A second article published by

Malayala Manorama ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

much later on 2 October 2018, on the event of Thambi Kannanthanam's passing, cites the production and distribution

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

as ₹40 lakhs, with a final gross of ₹85 lakhs at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

Legacy

''Rajavinte Makan'' is considered to be the turning point in

's career as it shot him into superstardom 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' ...

. Even the dialogues from the movie are still famous today, such as: "My phone number is 2255." This dialogue was referenced in the 2022 film '' Aaraattu''. The character of Vincent Gomes portrayed by Mohanlal has over the years attained a cult status in Malayalam cinema. In an interview, the writer Dennis Joseph states: "He is not one of those loud, flamboyant dons. He is soft-spoken yet menacing in an understated way. That’s what makes Vincent Gomez so iconic.”

Trivia

*Thampi Kannanthanam's dream to remake ''Rajavinte Makan'' didn't succeed due to his failing health. *Rajavinte Makan is also said to be a landmark film in

's career as the film established the actor as the new superstar of Malayalam cinema. In fact, it was in the same year (1986), Mohanlal delivered 28 super hits at the box office.

References

External links

* {{Dennis Joseph 1986 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Malayalam films remade in other languages Indian gangster films Indian crime drama films Indian action drama films Films with screenplays by Dennis Joseph Films directed by Thampi Kannanthanam 1980s action drama films 1986 crime drama films