''Thakara'' is a 1979 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 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

Padmarajan P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, a ...

. It stars

Prathap Pothan Pratap Pothen (13 August 1952 – 15 July 2022) was an Indian actor and filmmaker who acted in about 100 films and directed 12 films. He appeared in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu as well as Hindi films. He also worked as a scriptwriter and produ ...

, Surekha,

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 ...

and K. G. Menon in pivotal roles. The film was a breakthrough in the career of Bharathan and Venu. It was remade in Tamil as ''

Aavarampoo ''Aavarampoo'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language teen romance film, directed by Bharathan and produced by Keyaar. A remake of the 1980 Malayalam film '' Thakara'', it stars Vineeth, Nandhini and Nassar. The film was released on 5 June 1992 ...

'' (1992).

Plot

Thakara (

) is an orphan. He is mentally immature, but clean hearted. He has a close relationship with the fickling Subhashini (Surekha), the dream girl of the village. Thakara was betrayed by the words of Chellappanashari (

) and indulges in a physical relationship with Subhashini. Subhashini's father Mathu Mooppan (K. G. Menon) finds out their relation and beats Thakara unconscious and injures him severely. Thakara, fully filled with revenge on Mooppan, runs away. Once he earns enough money to buy a knife, he returns and kills Mooppan. Subhashini refuses to go with Thakara, who proposes to her after killing her father. With no way to escape, Thakara finds his end in front of a running train.

Cast

as Thakara * Surekha as Subhashini (Voice dubbed by KPAC Lalitha) *

as Chellappanasari * K. G. Menon as Mooppan * Anirudhan as Pullai *

Sreelatha Namboothiri Sreelatha Namboothiri (born Anjilivelil Vasantha) is an Indian actress and playback singer who works in Malayalam cinema and television. She has acted in more than 300 films. ''Khadeeja'' in 1967 was her debut movie. Early life Sreelatha was ...

as Kamakshi *

Santha Devi Damayanthi (1927 – 20 November 2010), better known by her stage name Kozhikode Santha Devi, was an Indian Malayalam film and stage actress. In a career spanning about sixty years, she acted in more than 1000 plays and about 480 films. Biog ...

as Subhashini's mother

Production

Initially, writer Padmarajan chose Bharat Gopy for the role of Maathu Mooppan, but he declined the offer saying he is not interested in doing "commercial films". Later, they had a discussion on the matter a day before the shooting of Padmarajan's ''

Peruvazhiyambalam ''Peruvazhiyambalam'' is a 1979 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film written and directed by P. Padmarajan, based on his novel of the same name. The film was Padmarajan's directorial debut and the acting debut of Ashokan, who played th ...

'' on which Gopy agreed to act on his insistence, after that meeting Gopy changed his views and began appearing in mainstream films as well. In his book ''Abhinayam Anubhavam'' published in 1994, Gopy recalls that, it was Padmarajan, who is younger than me, made me realise that there is no commercial or

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

, but only good and bad films.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan and the lyrics were written by Poovachal Khader.

Awards

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 ...

won by V.V. Babu (1979)

References

External links

* 1979 films 1970s Malayalam-language films Films with screenplays by Padmarajan Films directed by Bharathan Films scored by M. G. Radhakrishnan Malayalam films remade in other languages {{1970s-Malayalam-film-stub