''Vidheyan'' ( en, The Servile) is a
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
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 ...
directed and written by
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), Go ...
. It is a cinematic adaptation of the novella ''Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum'' by Malayalam writer
Paul Zacharia
Paul Zacharia, popularly known mononymously as Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, essays, columns and children's books, Zacha ...
. The film explores the master-slave relationship in a
South Karnataka
South Karnataka (officially known as Kannada Nadu) generally refers to the southern part of Karnataka state, excluding the coastal areas. It generally corresponds to former Mysore state. Kannada dialect of South Karnataka is slightly different ...
setting.
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 ...
and
M. R. Gopakumar plays the lead roles.
The film won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of seve ...
and
Best Actor Award for Mammootty. It also won numerous awards at the
Kerala State Film Awards, including the Best Film.
Plot
Thommy, a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
migrant labourer from
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
is an obedient slave of his aggressive, tyrannical landlord Bhaskara Pattelar. Thommy obeys all the orders of his master, whether it is to make his own wife sexually available to his master or in killing Pattelar's kindly wife, Saroja. When Pattelar escapes to a jungle, due to his own deeds, Thommy escorts him like a pet. But when Pattelar is killed Thommy exults in freedom.
Cast
*
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 ...
as Bhaskara Patelar
*
M. R. Gopakumar as Thommy
*
Tanvi Azmi
Tanvi Azmi is an Indian film and television actress.
Early life and career
She was born to Marathi-Hindi actress Usha Kiran and Manohar Kher.
Azmi portrayed a troubled doctor in the tele-series, ''Jeevanrekha'' and as a young widow in telefil ...
as Saroja, Bhaskara Patelar's Wife
*
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 ...
as Omana
* Aliyar
*
Babu Namboothiri
Babu Namboothiri (born 12 August 1947) is a retired Chemistry Professor and Head Of Department of Deva Mata College Kuravilangad and an Indian film and TV actor who has starred in more than 100 Malayalam films and various serials. He is famous ...
*
K. P. A. C. Azeez
Azeez (27 November 1934 – 16 July 2003) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 100 films. He came into the movie industry as a villain, later he started doing character roles, such as police officer, jailer, and ministe ...
* Prof. K. V. Thampi
*
Krishnan Kutty Nair
*
Naveen D. Padil
Naveen D. Padil (born 11 November 1969) is an Indian theatre and film actor who has performed in over a thousand plays mostly in Tulu language. Known widely in the circles of Tulu theatre from his acting performances as a "Master of Comedy and ...
Production
The film is a cinematic adaptation of the novel ''Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum'' by Malayalam writer
Paul Zacharia
Paul Zacharia, popularly known mononymously as Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, essays, columns and children's books, Zacha ...
. Zacharia's novella was inspired by a real-life character named Patela Shekhara Gowda alias Shiradi Shekhara. Zacharia happened to hear the stories of Patelar when he was residing near Shiradi village
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
in
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. After the release of the film, Adoor had a tiff with Zacharia over the film. Zachariah said Adoor tainted his story with
Hindutva
Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...
.
Awards
*
1993 National Film Awards
*
Kerala State Film Awards
; Other awards
References
External links
*
{{National Film Award Best Feature Film Malayalam
1993 films
Films directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan
1990s Malayalam-language films
Indian drama films
Films shot in Karnataka
Films shot in Mangalore
Films based on Indian novels
Films featuring a Best Actor National Award-winning performance
Films scored by Vijaya Bhaskar
Films about Indian slavery
Best Malayalam Feature Film National Film Award winners