''Aaraam Thampuran'' () is a 1997 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 action drama film directed by

Shaji Kailas Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film ''Dr. Pasupathy'' (1990). He is best known for his action films with mainl ...

, written by Ranjith and produced by

Revathy Kalamandhir Revathy Kalamandhir is an Indian film production company based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It was founded in 1993 by producer G. Suresh Kumar. The company is run by Suresh Kumar and his wife actress Menaka. They have produced more than 15 f ...

. 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 ...

in the title role with

Narendra Prasad Raghava Kurup Narendra Prasad (26 December 1946 3 November 2003) was an Indian actor, playwright, director, teacher and literary critic. He was born at Mavelikkara in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore. Appreciated for his body language and ...

Manju Warrier Manju Warrier (; born 10 September 1978) is an Indian actress, producer, classical dancer and playback singer who primarily appears in Malayalam language films. She is the recipient of several awards including one National Film Award, one Kera ...

, Sai Kumar,

Oduvil Unnikrishnan Oduvil Unnikrishnan (13 February 1943 – 27 May 2006) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has portrayed supporting roles in both dramatic and comedic roles.The HindMalayalam film actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan dead He is a four- ...

Cochin Haneefa Muhammed Haneefa (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010), better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to ...

and

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), also known as Sreevidya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, ...

in supporting roles. The story follows Jagannadhan (Mohanlal), a former

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

-based enforcer who buys an old ''

kovilakam In India, Kovilakam () is the principal manor, estate or palace of a princely Kshatriya (Thampuran,Thampan,Thirumulpad Kshatriya) lineages of Kerala, India. This is the residence, where all who have not succeeded to get Rajaship remain under the m ...

'' (royal manor) named Kanimangalam and shifts the balance of power in that village, and he comes to be known as ''Aaram Thampuran'' (sixth lord). The film features original songs composed by

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

. The film completed more than 250 days theatrical run and become the highest-grossing Malayalam film of 1997 and highest grossing Malayalam movie till then.

Plot

Nandakumar is a

business tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

, who faces huge financial loss when his manager Abey Mathew decides to broker a deal with an Australian group and another rival Indian firm. Nandakumar calls up his friend and enforcer Jagannadhan, to intervene. Jagan lands up at Abey's office and forces him to withdraw from brokering the deal with the Australian company, there by bringing massive profit to Nandan. In return, Nandan is profuse in his offer to Jagan, all of which he humbly disavows. Jagan finally demands Nandan a small favor. He wants Nandan to purchase a ''

'' at Kanimangalam, a village 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 ...

, to which Nandan agrees. Jagan also expresses his desire that the palace should be bought in the name of Nandan, and Jagan should be there as a benami of him. Jagannadhan reaches down at Kanimangalam for the registration of the palace and the property surrounding it. Meanwhile, Kulappully Appan Thamburan, a feudal landlord with vested interests, opposes the purchase of the property. Appan lost his one eye after he got a slash with a sword between a fight at his younger age. Appan's sister was married to Dathan Thampuran of Kanimangalam palace, who deserted her one day. The extreme hatred towards Kanimangalam had made Appan to even stop the annual temple festival, which according to the villagers, has resulted in the anger of

Goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

, the local deity. With the arrival of Jagannathan, Appan is back again to create troubles, but Jagannathan tactfully overcomes it and gets the palace registered. Presently the palace is occupied by an old musician Krishna Varma and his foster daughter Unnimaya, but is disowned by the rest of his family members. Though, now in the hands of Jagan, he allows Varma and Unnimaya to stay in the palace. Though, initially, both Varma and Unnimaya felt uncomfortable in staying with Jagan, slowly, they develop an affection towards him. Within a short time, Jagan gets involved in the problems of the villagers, and they started considering him to the heir of the palace and their leader. Jagannathan invites the ire of Appan Thamburan, with whom he clashes over the demolition of the palace, which he had earlier promised during the registration. Jagan, when he expresses his desire to stay at Kanimangalam, Appan sends his henchmen, who had to humiliatingly return from Jagan. Now, the villagers decide to hold up the annual festival at the temple, after a long gap of 16 years. Jagannathan takes up the leadership, and with the support of villagers, he starts the preparations. Within mean time, Unnimaya develops a closeness towards him. In the midst of this, Nayanthara, Jagan's close friend reaches Kanimangalam from

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

who expresses her desire to marry Jagan, which he declines, saying that he is now in love with Unnimaya. Nayanthara accepts his decision and goes back, wishing him all the best for the future. According to the customs of the village, the festival puja should be done under a head priest from Keezhpayoor Mana. Still, when Appan Thamburan interferes, the members from Keezhpayoor refuses to conduct the puja, which makes Jagan to forcefully take the younger Namboothiri away from home on the way back. Suddenly Nandakumar lands down at Kanimangalam with his friends, one of whom harasses Unnimaya. This upsets Jagan, and, without Nandan's knowledge, he forcefully sends them back from Kanimangalam. In the midst of this, the younger priest is taken away by Appan Thamburan's men. It is then revealed by Jagan that he is the son of the Kaloor Brahmadathan Namboothiripadu, the head priest of the temple, who died after being wrongly accused of stealing the divine ornaments of the Goddess. Jagan follows Ayinikad Namboothiri, the astrologer's instructions, and wears his Yagyopaveetham, the holy thread, and adopts back Brahmanyam. The day of the festival arrives. Nandan, who had gone in search of his friends, is now back in an inebriated condition and furiously demands Jagan to leave the palace. Jagan pleads with him one day's time, but Nandan is not ready to listen. Finding no other option, Jagan locks up Nandan in a room and reaches the temple to perform the rituals. Kulappully Appan's henchmen attacks villagers. Jagan is helpless as he is supposed to control his emotions while performing the puja and holding the divine ornaments of the Goddess. The younger priest suddenly reappears and replaces Jagan in the puja so that Jagan can save the villagers. Jagan fights and saves the villagers, emerging as their leader. He then points his sword at Appan's neck and threatens to kill him if he ever comes back. The festival concludes successfully, and the village is cheerful. Nandan is released, and Jagan announces to the cheering crowd that it is not him, but Nandakumar, the original owner of the Kanimangalam palace, and he is leaving the village with both Unnimaya and Krishna Varma, but Nanda Kumar, who is overwhelmed by seeing the affection of the people for Jagan, calls him back and hands over the ownership to him.

Cast

as Kanimangalam Jagannadhan Thampuran / Aaraam Thampuran *

as Unnimaya *

as Kulappully Appan Thampuran * Sai Kumar as Nandakumar (Jaganathan's friend) *

as Krishna Varma Thampuran (Unnimaya's foster father) *

as Subhadra Thamburatti *

as Govindan Kutty *

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

as Bappu *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.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 Nambeesan *

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 Ezhuthachan *

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, ...

as Mangalam *

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 Pisharody *

Mohan Raj Mohan Raj, better known by his stage name Keerikkadan Jose, is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu-language films. Personal life Mohan Raj is married to Usha. They have two daughters, Jaishma and Kaaviya. He is settled a ...

as Chenkalam Madhavan *

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 ...

as S.I. Bharathan *

Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various I ...

as Thottathil Meenakshi *

Kalabhavan Mani Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016), better known by his stage name Kalabhavan Mani, was an Indian actor and singer. Mani started his career as a mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan comedy troupe. He had starred in ov ...

as the younger Namboothiri of Keezhpayoor Mana *

Priya Raman Priya Raman (born 18 June 1974) is an Indian actress and television producer. She has appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada cinema and in television serials of Malayalam and Tamil languages. Her first film was the Rajnikanth-produced ...

as Nayanthara *

K. B. Ganesh Kumar Keezhoote Balakrishna Pillai Ganesh Kumar (born 25 May 1966) is an Indian actor, television host, and politician. Ganesh Kumar is a proposed cabinet minister for the last 2.5 years in the ongoing 2nd LDF govt in Kerala and he is also the curre ...

as Rural S.P. Ashok Kumar *

Madampu Kunjukuttan Madampu Sankaran Namboothiri (23 June 1941 − 11 May 2021), popularly known as Madampu Kunjukuttan, was a Malayalam actor, author and screenplay writer. Background and personal life Kunjukuttan was born in Kiralur village of Thrissur Dist ...

as Aynikkadu Thirumeni *

Bobby Kottarakkara Bobby Kottarakkara (11 March 1952 – 3 December 2000) was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He was born to Pareedkunju Ravuthar in Kottarakkara. He began his acting career on stage. He made his film debut with Mucheettukalikkaarant ...

as the guest-house assistant *

Sadiq Sadiq is a male name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Ja'far al-Sadiq, the 8th-century Muslim scholar and scientist, considered as an Imam and founder of the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence by Twelver and Isma'ili Shi’as, and a major fi ...

as Balarama Varma *

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 di ...

as Cheriyachhan *

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 Appu Kutty Nambiar *

Ajith Kollam Ajith Kollam (7 April 1962 – 5 April 2018) was an Indian actor, who predominantly appeared in Malayalam cinema. He had acted in more than 500 films in all South Indian languages. He mainly acted in villain roles. He acted in the Tamil movie ' ...

as Prabhu, Appan's henchmen *

Kundara Johnny 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 Tamil films like ''Vaazhkai Chakram'' and ''Nadigan''. He surprised everyone with the wide range of pe ...

as Arjunan, Appan's henchmen * V. K. Sreeraman as District Collector Eeshwaranunni *

Ramu The Ramu River is a major river in northern Papua New Guinea. The headwaters of the river are formed in the Kratke Range from where it then travels about northwest to the Bismarck Sea. Along the Ramu's course, it receives numerous tributaries ...

as Shelly, Nandakumar's friend * Subair as Abey Mathew *

Alleppey Ashraf Alleppey Ashraf is an Indian film director, producer and distributor working mainly in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as an impressionist and later a dubbing artist. He is considered as an inspiration for many in mimicry art. He has ...

as Jairam (Nandakumar's friend)

Soundtrack

This film includes five songs written by

Gireesh Puthenchery Girish Puthenchery (1961–2010) was a noted Malayalam Lyricist, Poet, Scriptwriter and Screenwriter. He was always referred to as the aristocratic lyricist of Malayalam who had a distinctive writing style of his own. He also served as the dire ...

and one traditional song by

Muthuswami Dikshitar Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar)(, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer and veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical ...

. The songs are composed by

. The song were widely popular and topped the charts for months. The song ''Harimuraliravam'' was picturized by director Priyadarshan as Shaji Kailas was on paternity break.

Reception

The film was released in December 1997, which was subjected to high expectations, as it was the first collaboration between Mohanlal and Shaji Kailas. Upon its release, The film redefined the career of Shaji Kailas as a successful director. The film was made on a budget of , which was a high-budget film at the time. Padmanabha Venugopal of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' wrote, "The songs are ordinary, and the dialogue reminds us again of Devasuram as both scripts were authored by Ranjith. But it is an entertaining movie with brilliant acting from Lal, Manju and Narendra Prasad". In 1998, during the 250 days celebration of the film,

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 ...

was one among the ten fans who got the opportunity to garland Mohanlal as he went to the event as part of a mimicry show. It was also at the event that he received his first film offer from director

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

Awards

The film won two Kerala State Film Awards— Best Background Music for Rajamani and Best Singer for K. J. Yesudas. Manju Warrier won her second consecutive

Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Malayalam films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. Film world, p 43 The year indicates the year of release of ...

. ; Kerala State Film Awards * Best Singer – K. J. Yesudas * Best Background Music – C. Rajamani ;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

* Best Actress in Malayalam –

;

Screen Awards The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...

South *Best Actor in Malayalam –

*Best Actress in Malayalam – Manju Warrier

References

External links

* {{Ranjith 1990s action drama films 1990s Malayalam-language films 1997 films Films directed by Shaji Kailas Films scored by Raveendran Films shot at Varikkasseri Mana Films shot in Ottapalam Films shot in Thrissur Films with screenplays by Ranjith Indian action drama films