''Janakan'' () is a 2010 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

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by N. R. Sanjeev and written by

S. N. Swami 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. ...

, starring

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

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 ...

. The music was composed by

M. Jayachandran Madhusoodanan Jayachandran is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he wo ...

. It was released on 8 April 2010 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 ...

and was distributed by Maxlab Entertainments. ''Janakan'' is credited as the 200th film appearance of Suresh Gopi. The film won the Kerala state Film Award for Best playback singer - Female for

Rajalakshmy Rajalakshmy is a playback singer and made her mark in the Malayalam film music industry by winning the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Playback Singer in 2011. Personal life Rajalakshmy was born on 13 October, in to a musical family in ...

for the song "Olichirunne".

Plot

Vishwam, a man who has murdered three monsters who raped his only daughter Seetha / Anu, a college-going girl. Anu is raped by her boyfriend and his uncles after he cheats her and forces her to home. She is raped for a few days and killed. Suryanarayanan, an advocate who comes to the Viswam's rescue. Surya is one of the best lawyers in the country and is known to have a way with words. Suryanarayanan takes it upon himself to release Vishwam from the clutches of the judiciary, because he is convinced of the man's justice. Monai and Pazhani are Vishwam's accomplices, who accompany him to visit Suryanarayanan. The rest of the story is how Suryanarayanan saves Viswam and his friends from punishment.

Cast

Production

Director N. R. Sanjeev, also known as Saji Paravoor, had previously worked on movies like ''

Mazha ''Mazha'' () is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran based on the short story ''Nashtappetta Neelambari'' by Madhavikkutty. It stars Biju Menon, Samyuktha Varma and Lal. The music was composed by ...

'' (2000), ''

Makante Achan ''Makante Achan'' () is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by V. M. Vinu, written by Samjad Narayanan, and produced by Seven Arts International. It stars Sreenivasan, Vineeth Sreenivasan, and Suhasini in lead roles, wit ...

'' (2009), ''

Sethurama Iyer CBI ''Sethurama Iyer CBI'' is a 2004 Malayalam-language mystery crime film directed by K Madhu.The movie is written by S. N. Swami, and The movie stars Mammootty in titular role. Actors Mukesh and Jagathy Sreekumar played important supporting roles ...

'' (2004), ''

Mahasamudram ''Mahasamudram'' () is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by S. Janardanan and produced by G. Suresh Kumar through Revathy Kalamandhir. It stars Mohanlal, Laila Mehdin, Innocent, Jagathy Sreekumar, and Rahman. The ...

'', ''

Nerariyan CBI ''Nerariyan CBI'' () is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language mystery film directed and produced by K. Madhu and written by S. N. Swamy. The fourth installment in the franchise of CBI investigative thrillers, Mammootty reprised the role of Sethu ...

'' (2005) and ''

Yes Your Honour ''Yes Your Honour'' is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by V. M. Vinu. The film stars Sreenivasan, Padmapriya and Innocent.The film had musical score by Deepak Dev. Plot Advocate Ravishankar is an idealist. He is practicing as t ...

'' (2006), and had assisted several well-known directors. The script was written by

, known for his thriller screenplays. Sajeev Shanker was the cinematographer and editing was done by B. Murali. The music was composed by music director

and lyrics were by

Gireesh Puthenchery Girish Puthenchery (1961–2010) was a noted Malayalam Lyricist, Poet, Scriptwriter and Screenwriter. He was always referred to as the aristocratic lyricist of Malayalam who had a distinctive writing style of his own. He also served as the direc ...

. Mahadevan Thampi was the still photographer of this movie. ''Janakan'' was filmed in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

and surrounding areas in

Soundtrack

Music for the film was composed by

with lyrics by

. The film contains one song "Olichirunne" sung by

. The soundtrack album was released by

Satyam Audios Satyam Audios is an Indian music company headquartered at Kochi, Kerala. The greatest stage is not the one where we perform, rather it is for those who create, shape, and mold to form a piece of music. Satyam audios are one of the leading musi ...

. # "Olichirunne",

– 4:06

Release

The movie was released on 8 April 2010.

Reception

Sify.com Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' gave a "watchable" verdict and said "There are no real experiments here, true, but the film has its moments and as they say, the heart at the right place. Though the film is just above two hours, it could have been more enjoyable, if it was shorter by some 20 minutes or so". ''Indiaglitz.com'' stated it "above average" and added "With a relevant message and above average narratives, 'Janakan' may find needed audiences, to end up as a safer movie at the Box Office.". Paresh C Palicha of ''Rediff.com'' rated 2.5 out of 5 and said "Janakan is promising. In short, this film heavily depends on the actors to pull it off after the initial excitement dies down. So, Mohanlal has to use his aura to the maximum which he does, making his fans happy. Suresh Gopi in the subdued rustic role wins hands down. Biju Menon and Harisree Asokan are mostly mute supporters. It is pleasantly surprising to see Harisree not in a separate comic track. Jyothirmayi, in the meaty role of Dr Rani Mathew, does well.". ''Ibnlive.in.com'' rated 2.5 out of 5 and concluded "Director Sanjeev has tried to give a new angle to a story that's already been told several times, but he has failed to use class actors Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Biju Menon up to their potential. A watchable movie, if you don't expect much!". ''Nowrunning.com'' gave an average rating of 2 out of 5 and said "Janakan tells a new age story that's already been told. There is no denying the societal renovation that it aims at, but perhaps it needed to reinvent its modes of delivery.".

Box office

The film was a moderate success at the box office.

Awards

* Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Rajalakshmy *

Kerala Film Critics Association Award The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...

for Best Popular Film

References

External links

* {{S. N. Swamy 2010 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Indian crime thriller films Indian rape and revenge films Films about rape in India Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films scored by M. Jayachandran