''Vietnam Colony'' is a 1992 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

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film written and directed by Siddique-Lal. 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 ...

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

, Kanaka, and

K. P. A. C. 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 ...

. The soundtrack of the film was composed by S. Balakrishnan. The film achieved considerable success following its theatrical release and became the first highest-grossing of the year. A Tamil remake of the film was released in 1994 with the same title. The film is based on the 1983 Scottish film '' Local Hero''.

Plot

G. Krishnamoorthy, who hails from a respectable

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as wel ...

community, gets a job with the Calcutta Construction Company as a construction supervisor. He is really excited about this until his new colleague, K. K. Joseph, persuades him not to take the job. He tells Krishnamoorthy that their job is to vacate the infamous Vietnam Colony, a poor colony inhabited by day labourers, of its residents so that the building company can clear the land for construction. Joseph adds on the fact that the company has been trying to vacate the residents for years, but it has failed due to the efforts of three criminal leaders: Paravoor Ravuthar, Irumbu John and Kannappa Srank. Adding insult to injury, Joseph remarks that Krishnamoorthy is too weak to stay there and take on the criminals due to his sensitive Brahmin mannerisms. Krishnamoorthy decides that Joseph is right; the job is too dangerous for them. Later that evening, Krishnamoorthy confronts his mother and tells her that he will be rejecting the job offer. However, his strong-willed mother won't let him free that easily. Moreover, Krishnamoorthy's relatives, whom his late father borrowed money from, demand their money back from Krishnamoorthy and threaten him if he doesn't take the job. His circumstances leave him no choice but to accept the offer. Krishnamoorthy talks to his boss and the company lawyer, Advocate Thomas. They decide to utilize Krishnamoorthy's background in drama by making him and Joseph pose as harmless writers who want to document colony life so that they can destroy the colony from within. They also have made arrangements for the duo to stay at Pattalam Madhavi's house. The next day, the duo arrives at the colony and finds the house. However, upon the advice of Erumely, the broker, Madhavi mistakes Krishnamoorthy as a marriage proposal for her daughter, Unni, who takes a liking to Krishnamoorthy immediately. Krishnamoorthy is not used to the new way of living, especially being so close with a girl, so everyone chides him and calls him Swami. Krishnamoorthy becomes annoyed at first, but he accepts his new nickname. Over time, Swami befriends the colony members and tries to get an overview of the situation. He finds out that the proprietor is a man named Moosa Settu and that his mentally ill mother, Suhra Bai, lives in the colony. He wins Suhra Bai's trust with his kindness and compassion. Suhra Bai tells Swami that Moosa Settu took her money and drove her out due to his greed, and left the colony in shambles. Moreover, she knows that the criminal leaders demand monthly payments from the colony's residents so that they don't kill anyone. Swami realizes that the colony members aren't so bad after all, so he tries to help them a little bit by improving the infrastructure of the colony. He gains the trust of the colony residents and even the gangsters. Swami becomes confident that he can relocate the colony peacefully. Swami begins his plan by striking a deal with his bosses to give the colony residents a large amount of land with houses to which they can relocate, and puts up a show of negotiation in front of the colony to make them agree to the plan. In a large pep talk, he convinces the colony that they can get whatever they want if they are united. In the least unexpected time, Suhra Bai becomes adamant, saying that she cannot leave the land that she inherited from her father. Ravuthar kicks her in a fit of rage, and she dies the next day. Swami sets out to find Moosa Settu to perform his mother's last rites. To Swami's surprise, he finds Advocate Thomas living in Moosa Settu's bungalow. Even more surprising, he finds the now homeless Moosa Settu at the local madrasa and makes him perform his mother's last rites. Swami realizes that the company that he works for is trying to illegally demolish the land. However, his timing fell a little short; the colony finds out that Swami was on the company's side, and tries to oust him. Swami confesses and vows to fight for the colony's justice. Unni admires Swami's bravery and slowly falls in love with him. The goons are now on the company's side, as they have been asked to vacate the colony in exchange for a large sum of money. In the end, Swami fights down Ravuthar, and keeps the colony intact.

Cast

as G. Krishnamurthy *

as K. K. Joseph * Kanaka as Unnimol * Devan as Advocate Thomas * Vijaya Rangaraju as Rawther (voice Dubbed By N .F . Varghese ) *

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 ...

as Company MD *

as Pattalam Madhavi Amma *

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 ...

as Moosa Settu *

Kuthiravattam Pappu Padmadalakshan, better known by his stage name Kuthiravattam Pappu (24 December 1936 – 25 February 2000), was a popular Indian stage and film actor. His repertoire of acting was based on his unique style and use of the ''Kozhikodan'' dialect, i ...

as Erumeli *

Vijayaraghavan Vijayaraghavan (born 20 December 1951) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is popular for his character roles. He is the son of popular drama and cinema artist N. N. Pillai. He got his break by playing the iconic ...

as Vattappalli *

Bheeman Raghu Bheeman Raghu (born 6 October 1953) is an Indian actor, singer, dancer, former politician and police officer (retired) who appears mainly in Malayalam films and is best known for his villainous and comedy roles. In a career spanning over three ...

as Irumpu John *

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 ...

as Suhra Bai, Moosa Settu's elderly mother *

Kaviyoor Ponnamma Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing cred ...

as Parvathiyammal, Krishnamurthy's mother *

T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (born 7 November 1935) is an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. He started acting at the age of 40. He has acted in more than 600 films. He came into the film industry playing villain roles; later he started doing com ...

as Sivaraman Krishnamurthy's maternal uncle *

Kunchan Kunchan is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Kunchan Nambiar Kunchan Nambiar was a prominent Malayalam poet of the 18th century (1705-1770). Apart from being a prolific poet, Nambiar is also famous as the originator of the da ...

as Pattabhiraman, Sivaraman's son and Krishnamurthy's cousin *

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 Insane Man *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

as Colony woman *

T. R. Omana T. R. Omana is an Indian actress in Malayalam films. She mainly acts in supporting roles and mother roles. She has acted in more than 500 films. Personal life T. R. Omana was born as eldest among five children to T R Gopala Pillai, Timber mer ...

as Krishnamoorthy's aunt * Priyanka Anoop as Colony Girl *

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

as Colony man * Manju Satheesh as Colony girl *

Radhika Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

as Krishnamoorthy's Niece

Production

''Vietnam Colony'' was produced and distributed by

Swargachitra Appachan Pinakkatt D. Abraham, better known as Swargachitra Appachan is an Indian film producer, distributor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of production and distribution company Swargachitra, best known for producing '' Godfather, Manichithrathazh ...

under the banner of Swargachitra, co-produced by Joy for President Movies. The film was shot in

Alappuzha Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in States and territories of India, state of Kerala, India. The Kerala Backwaters, Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indi ...

, and Kalpathy in

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 ...

. In 2017, actor

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born August 1978) is an Indian actor, distributor, Sponsor, Model, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist, who works in the Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a N ...

revealed that he came to the filming location in Alappuzha as a

junior artist A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street ...

, but was not recruited as the preference was for the local people in Alappuzha.

Box office

The movie was a commercial success. It was the second highest grosser of 1992

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack contains six songs, all composed by S. Balakrishnan and lyrics by

Bichu Thirumala B. Sivasankaran Nair, popularly known as Bichu Thirumala (13 February 1942 – 26 November 2021), was an Indian lyricist and poet. He is known for creating the style of arranging beautiful words in Malayalam film songs. In Malayalam cinema, Bich ...

Reception

The movie was extremely well received and became a critical and commercial success. The technical aspects of the movie were well appreciated. Dialogues such as "Ithalla, ithinapporum chaadi kadannavananee K.K Joseph!" and many others still find their way into the daily conversation of Malayalees.

Awards

;

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

* Best Art Director - Mani Suchitra ; Kerala Film Chamber Award * Best Supporting Actress -

* Best Female Playback Singer -

Minmini Minmini (born P. J. Rosily) is a South Indian film playback singer. She is best remembered for the song "Chinna Chinna Aasai" from ''Roja'', the debut work of film composer A. R. Rahman, which was dubbed in Hindi as "Choti Si Asha". Most of h ...

References

External links

* {{Lal Films 1990s Malayalam-language films 1992 films 1992 comedy-drama films Malayalam films remade in other languages Films shot in Alappuzha Films shot in Palakkad Indian comedy-drama films Films directed by Siddique–Lal