''Thalavattam'' 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

, starring

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 ...

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 ...

and Karthika. The film is very loosely based on the 1975 movie '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' which was an adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born in ...

. The film features songs composed by

Raghu Kumar P. K. Reghukumar (Raghukumar; 13 June 1953 – 20 February 2014) was a noted music composer from Kerala, India. His compositions first achieved prominence in the 1980s. Life and work Born into the prominent Pootheri family at Kozhikode in Ker ...

and C. Rajamani, and a score by

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

. The story follows Vinod, an eccentric new patient at a mental asylum. The film was remade in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as ''

Kyon Ki ''Kyon Ki'' () is a 2005 Indian romantic drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Sunil Manchanda and Mukesh Talreja, with Orion Pictures serving as distributor. The film is a remake of Priyadarshan's own 1986 Malayalam f ...

'' (2005) by Priyadarshan himself and in Tamil as ''

Manasukkul Mathappu ''Manasukkul Mathappu'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Robert–Rajasekar. The film stars Prabhu, Saranya and Lissy, with Sarath Babu and Senthamarai in supporting roles. It is a remake of the 1986 Malayalam fi ...

'' (1988) by

Robert–Rajasekar Robert–Rajasekar was an Indian filmmaking duo consisting of Robert Asirvatham and S. Rajasekar. They were active in film direction and cinematography in Tamil cinema of the 1980s. The duo are regarded to have ushered a "new wave" in Tamil cin ...

Plot

Vinod (

) becomes mentally ill after his girlfriend Anitha ( Lizy) dies due to an electric short circuit accident during a rock concert. Vinod is admitted to a mental hospital managed by Dr. Ravindran (

), in

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

. Dr Ravindran is aggressive and mean who has a dislike for Vinod. With the help of Dr. Savithri ( Karthika), who is Dr. Ravindran's daughter, and Dr. Unnikrishnan (

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Ma ...

), a very old and close acquaintance of Vinod from his childhood, he slowly regains his memory and mental equilibrium. Savithri and Vinod fall in love. Dr. Ravindran has already arranged Savithri's marriage with Hari (

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It also means god of 3 worlds, heaven, hell & earth, which in turn represents Hindu god Shiva. It is commonly used as a male given name in India. Peopl ...

) and so he opposes the lovers. When he finds that Savithri and Vinod are

adamant Adamant in classical mythology is an archaic form of diamond. In fact, the English word ''diamond'' is ultimately derived from ''adamas'', via Late Latin and Old French . In ancient Greek (), genitive (), literally 'unconquerable, untameable'. ...

, Dr. Ravindran lobotomises Vinod and puts him in a state of coma. Dr. Unnikrishnan feels that death would be preferable over a vegetative life and kills Vinod. He confronts Dr. Ravindran and confesses to the

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. Savithri overhears the conversation, and loses her mental equilibrium. She is admitted into the same institution as a patient.

Cast

as Vinod Kumar ('Vinu') a mental patient and protagonist of film *

as Hari ('Chukkan'), Savithri's cousin *

as Dr. Unnikrishnan ('Unniettan') *

as Dr. Ravindran Varma, a cruel and aggressive man who has a hatred against Vinod * Karthika as Savithri, Dr. Ravindran's daughter, and Vinod's new love partner. * Lizy as Anitha, Vinod's Girlfriend *

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 Narayanan *

Cochin Haneefa Muhammed Haneefa (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010), better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to ...

as Antony, an Aggressive Hospital Attendant *

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 Nurse Rachel *G. P. Vijayakumar as Satheesh, Vinod's brother *

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 Retd. Judge Melepattil Govindan Kumar, Vinod's father *

KPAC Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in Malyalam. She started her acting career with K. P. A. C., a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a caree ...

as Subhadra kunjamma, a Mental Patient *

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri from t ...

as 'Appoopan', a Mental Patient *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.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 Thirumeni, a Mental Patient

Soundtrack

Reception

In 2002, comparing the film to '' One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'', S. Santosh of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote, "Director Priyadarsan's syrupy Malayalam adaptation of the classic, ''Thalavattam'', saw Mohanlal in his usual mainstream self. Had he seen the film, even

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

would have been surprised: after all, the Hollywood actor has not mastered the art of running around trees." ''Thalavattam'' was released in Kerala in 12 centres on 10 locations. The film performed well at the box office, becoming one the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It was made on a shoestring budget of ₹20 lakh. The film ran over 100 days in theatres.

Remakes

''Thalavattam'' was remade in Hindi as ''

'' directed by Priyadarshan himself in 2005. The film was also remade in Tamil in 1988 by Robert–Rajasekar as ''

'', with Prabhu and Saranya playing the lead.மோகன்லாலும், பின்னே தமிழ் ரீமேக்கும்... – Mohanlal movies and their remakes
Cinema.dinamalar.com (5 July 2015). Retrieved on 2021-09-26.

References

External links

* {{One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1986 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films shot in Ooty Malayalam films remade in other languages Films scored by Raghu Kumar Films scored by Rajamani Films directed by Priyadarshan