''Sphodanam'' () is a 1981 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 film directed by

P. G. Viswambharan Plamthottathil Gangadharan Viswambharan (1947 – 16 June 2010) was an Indian film director who worked in Malayalam cinema. Viswambharan directed 63 Malayalam films, in a career spanning close to four decades. Career For a decade, P. G. Vi ...

, starring

Sukumaran Edappal Ponnamkuzhi Veettil Parameswaran Sukumaran Nair (10 June 1948 – 16 June 1997), known mononymously as Sukumaran, was an Indian actor and producer of Malayalam films. Sukumaran became a popular film star in Malayalam cinema during the 1 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Ravikumar Ravikumar is Hindu given name, which means "Son of the Sun", combining the Sanskrit words "Ravi" (Sun) and "Kumar" (Son). The name may refer to: *Ravikumar (actor) (born 1953), Indian actor *Ravikumar (writer) (born 1961), Indian writer * Ravikumar ...

and Seema. The role of Sukumaran was initially intended for Jayan. However, he died before production began.

Plot

''Sphodanam'' is the story of two people who have to fight for justice against the landlord as they are the voice of the working class.

Cast

as Gopi *

as Surendran *

as Thankappan *

as Engineer * Seema as Lalitha *

Sheela Sheela Ravichandran (Born 22 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as h ...

as Devaki *

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 Muthalali *

K. P. Ummer Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer (Malayalam: കെ.പി. ഉമ്മർ) was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from early sixties until late ...

as Police Officer *

Prameela Prameela (T. A. Prameela) is a veteran Indian actress in South Indian films. She was a prominent lead actress during the 1970s and 1980s in Malayalam and Tamil films also acted in few Kannada and Telugu films as well. She was noted for her glamo ...

as Narayanapilla's wife *

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 Narayana Pilla *

Sankaradi Chandrashekaran Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 700 Malayalam films to his credit. He dominated the ...

as Krishnan *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

as Muthalali's wife * Shubha as Gouri *

Mala Aravindan Mala Aravindan (15 January 1939 – 28 January 2015) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his work as a comedian and character artist in Malayalam films. He has acted in over 500 films. Early life He was born in Vadavucode, Ernakulam d ...

as Vasu Pilla *

Jagathi 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 decades. ...

as Kuttan Pilla *

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 Gopi's mother *

Santo Krishnan Santo Krishnan, originally named Krishnan Nair, (12 May 1920 – 6 July 2013) born in Ottapalam was an Indian athlete and stuntsman. Having appeared in more than 1000 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Singala, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English. He di ...

as Kunjappi *KPAC Premachandran as Sankaran *Preman

Production

''Sphodanam'' was one of the earliest films of actor

, before he being turned a major star. In a late interview to a film weekly, actress

, who played the lead lady in ''Sphodanam'' and was also the producer of the film, recalled the events during the shoot. A scene wherein actors

, and Mammootty jumping across a prison wall was shot with a foam bed lying upon the ground on which the actors would fall. Mammootty, who was just a newbie actor at the time, was refused to have the privilege of a bed as a protection by the director

P. G. Vishwambharan Plamthottathil Gangadharan Viswambharan (1947 – 16 June 2010) was an Indian film director who worked in Malayalam cinema. Viswambharan directed 63 Malayalam films, in a career spanning close to four decades. Career For a decade, P. G. V ...

. Vishwambharan said a new face like Mammootty doesn't deserve such privileges, though Sheela argued with him against such a discrimination. Mammootty, however, jumped from the wall without the safety bed and suffered an injury to his leg. The actor completed his remaining parts and many other films with the fractured leg.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 a ...

and the lyrics were written by

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He receive ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0246945 1980s Malayalam-language films 1981 action films 1981 films Films directed by P. G. Viswambharan Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh Indian action films