''Thazhvaram'' () is a 1990 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

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

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

Bharathan Bharathan (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) was an Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Padmarajan and K. G. George, in th ...

and written by

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

. 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 ...

Salim Ghouse Salim Ahmad Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Early life Salim Ghouse was born ...

Sumalatha Sumalatha (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress, politician who is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She has acted in more than 220 films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. She gained ...

, Anju and

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 ...

. It tells the story of Balan (Mohanlal), who's on the lookout for Raju (Salim Ghouse) for taking revenge for murdering his wife Raji (Anju). Bharathan also composed the only song featured in the film, the background score was provided 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 ...

. Set in the backdrop of a remote village across a valley in

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

, the film is made in the style of a

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

film, and has achieved a

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

status in Kerala since its release. it was both a critical and commercial success, with many critics praising Mohanlal’s performance. it is considered to be one of Mohanlal’s best performances in his career.

Plot

Balan is in search of Raju and the search takes him to a remote village in a valley. Balan reaches a house in the hills, where he is welcomed wholeheartedly by both Nanu, the house owner, and Kochutty, his daughter. Balan realizes that Raju stays with them as Raghavan. Balan learns that Nanu has helped Raju to start farming and that Nanu intends to have his daughter marry Raju. Balan decides to wait for Raghavan / Raju. Raju, on his arrival, smells his enemy. The film progresses in with the two having to pretend before Nanu and Kochutty that they are good friends. The film cuts to a flashback, where Raju and Balan are close friends. He, in greed for money, killed Balan's wife, Raji, on their wedding night and ran away with Balan's hard-earned money. Balan is now back in search of Raju to avenge the death of his wife. Raju attacks Balan in one of the numerous encounters the duo had and almost kills Balan. Balan survives the attack to save Nanu and his daughter from Raghavan.

Cast

as Balan *

as Raju / Raghavan *

as Kochootti * Anju as Raji *

as Nanu *

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 Kanarettan, Raji's father

Production

This is Bharathan's second film with

after '' Vaishali'' in 1988. This is the second collaboration of

and

after Kattathe Killikudu.

and Sasi Menon and Gayathri Ashokan did the poster designs.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of this film had only one song composed by

himself to the lines written by

Kaithapram Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannett ...

and rendered by

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

Reception

Upon release, the film, initially a slow starter, garnered widespread positive reviews and became a success both critically and commercially. The camera work of

Venu The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

is considered the highlight of the film. ''Thazhvaram'' had just a handful of characters and the plot was so well developed that it was a visual treat for the viewers. The fighting in the climax amidst violent vultures is considered one of the best climax scenes in Malayalam cinema. The film is considered a cult classic in Malayalam and the performance of

is considered one of his best in his acting career by the critics.

Awards

*The film won

Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, an ...

received by V.B.K. Menon

38th Filmfare Awards South The 38th Filmfare Awards South Ceremony honouring the winners of the best of South Indian cinema in 1990 is an event held on 11 August 1991 was an event held at the Kamaraj Memorial Hall, Madras. The chief guest of the evening was The Governor o ...

References

External links

* {{Bharathan 1990s Malayalam-language films 1990s thriller films 1990s crime films 1990 drama films 1990 films Films shot in Palakkad Films scored by Bharathan Films directed by Bharathan Films with screenplays by M. T. Vasudevan Nair Indian films about revenge