''Unaroo'' () is a 1984 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

political drama A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events. Dramatists who have written political dramas in ...

film directed by

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

and written by

T. Damodaran T. Damodaran ( ml, ടി. ദാമോദരൻ; c. 1935 – 28 March 2012) was a screenwriter who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. Life Damodaran wrote the screenplays of films such as '' Angaadi'' (1980)'', Ahimsa'' (1981)'', John ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

Ratheesh Ratheesh (1954–2002) was an Indian actor best known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He was a native of Kalavoor in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. He performed villainous roles during the 1990s. He had acted in 158 films with dire ...

Sabitha Anand Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress who has performed in Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of Jacoob Abdu Rahman Anand, an Indian actor in Malayalam movies during the 1960 ...

, Ashokan and

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 ...

, with music composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

and cinematography by

Ramachandra Babu K. Ramachandra Babu (15 December 1947 – 21 December 2019) was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and Eng ...

. The film gives the inside view of the problems that arose in the labour trade union parties in Kerala. It was released on 14 April 1984.

Plot

Cast

as Ramu *

as Janardanan *

as Peter *

as Marry *

Unni Mary Unni Mary (born 12 March 1962) is an Indian actress who works mainly in Malayalam films. She has also worked in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films, where she had used the screen name Deepa. Personal life Unnimary was born to Augustine Fernande ...

Krishnachandran T. N. Krishnachandran (born 16 June 1960) is an Indian actor, playback singer, and dubbing artist in Malayalam cinema and television. Career His debut movie was '' Rathinirvedam'' in 1978. He was the voice for actor Vineeth and Rahman and als ...

* Ashokan *

Jagannatha Varma K. N. Jagannatha Varma (1 May 1939 – 20 December 2016) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also a Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also an artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a film dire ...

Lalu Alex Lalu Alex is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning four decades, Lalu Alex has acted over 250 movies and is known for his character roles, comic roles and antagonistic roles in Malayalam movie industry. Lalu Alex ...

Kundara Johny Johny Joseph with the stage name Kundara Johny is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 100 films. He has also done Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil films like ''Vaazhkai Chakram'' and ''Nadigan''. He surprised everyone wit ...

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film, Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in o ...

Philomina Philomina (1926 – 2 January 2006) was an Indian actress, who worked in the Malayalam film industry. She acted in more than 750 films in her career. She played mostly character and comedy roles, besides that of mother and grandmother. She star ...

Paravoor Bharathan Vadakkekarayil Koran Bharathan (16 January 1929- 19 August 2015), better known as Paravoor Bharatan was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He started his career in movies during the 1950s. Bharathan is known as a versatile actor and h ...

* Janardhanan *

Sathyakala Sathyakala is an Indian actress in South Indian movies. She was a prominent lead actress during the late 1970s and 1980s in Malayalam films. She had acted in few Tamil films as well. Now she is busy with Tamil telefilms and soap operas. Biogra ...

Production

Producer N. G. John, who had experienced success with ''

Ee Nadu ''Ee Nadu'' is a 1982 Indian Malayalam-language political film directed by I. V. Sasi, written by T. Damodaran and produced by N. G. John. The film stars Balan K. Nair with Mammootty, Ratheesh, and T. G. Ravi in supporting roles. The music sc ...

'' (1982) and ''

Iniyengilum ''Iniyengilum'' () is a 1983 Indian Malayalam-language social problem film directed by I. V. Sasi, written by T. Damodaran and produced by N. G. John. It stars Mohanlal, Ratheesh, Lalu Alex, Ranipadmini, Seema, and Mammootty. The film features ...

'' (1983), had been impressed with

's debut film ''

Pallavi Anu Pallavi ''Pallavi Anu Pallavi'' is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam in his debut. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Lakshmi, and Kiran Vairale. It revolves around a young man falling in love with a sligh ...

'' (1983), a Kannada film that tackled a complex subject. John offered Ratnam the chance to direct a Malayalam film for his production house. Ratnam initially narrated the script of ''

Mouna Ragam ''Mouna Ragam'' (; ) is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Mohan and Revathi, with Karthik (guest appearance), V. K. Ramasamy, Ra. Sankaran ...

'' (1986), then titled ''Divya'', to John but the producer wanted to make a political film. Subsequently, he began work on ''Unaroo'', which revolved around corruption in the labour union movement and scripted the film alongside John and Damodaran. Ratnam revealed that he struggled with the film, owing to its alien concept from his previous film on human relationships, as well as due to the sheer number of artistes involved. The film began production in February 1984 and was shot in a single stretch.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

and the lyrics were written by

Yusufali Kechery Yusufali Kechery (Yūsaphali Kēccēri; യൂസഫലി കേച്ചേരി 16 May 1934 – 21 March 2015) was a poet, film lyricist, film producer and director from Kerala, India. He wrote during the modern era of Malayalam poetry and ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Mani Ratnam 1980s Malayalam-language films 1980s political drama films 1984 films Films directed by Mani Ratnam Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by T. Damodaran Indian political drama films