''Aavanazhi'' is a 1986 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 wa ...

-language action film directed by

I. V. Sasi Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1947 – 24 October 2017), better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. C ...

, 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 ...

. The film deals with social and political issues of that time. It stars

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 films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, H ...

, Geetha, Seema,

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 ...

Captain Raju Raju Daniel (27 June 1950 – 17 September 2018), better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian army officer and Indian actor. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kanna ...

Janardanan Janardhanan Nair (born 5 May 1946) is an Indian actor, producer and a former Indian Airforce personnel who predominantly acts in Malayalam films. He acted in his first feature film '' Adyathe Kadha'', directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan in 1971, he ...

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 ...

, Innocent, Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair,

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ...

and

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 ...

. ''Aavanazhi'' was the highest grossing Malayalam film at the time and was an industry hit. It was remade in Kannada as "Anthima Theerpu" starring

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted i ...

and Geetha, in Tamil as ''

Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu ''Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by Santhana Bharathi and produced by Kamal Haasan, starring Sathyaraj, Geetha and Captain Raju. The film had no songs, though the score was compos ...

'', in Telugu as ''Marana Sasanam'' and in Hindi as '' Satyamev Jayate''. I. V. Sasi made two sequels — ''

Inspector Balram ''Inspector Balram'' is a 1991 Malayalam film directed by I. V. Sasi, scripted by T. Damodaran, and starring Mammootty. It is a sequel to the 1986 film '' Aavanazhi'' and was followed by a sequel, '' Balram vs. Taradas'', in 2006. The movie w ...

'' in 1991 and '' Balram vs. Taradas'' in 2006.

Plot

"Karadi" Balram is an honest CI, who is frustrated after several personal setbacks, including a failed affair of the heart, has turned to drinking and womanizing. Balram is assigned to nab Satyaraj, who evaded the clutches of the cops after murdering Chackochan, a contractor. Balram successfully arrests him, but in court, Satyaraj is represented by Adv. Jayachandran, where he is acquitted by the court, but Balram decides to frame in several other criminal charges pending against him. Usha, Balram's ex-lover, is now married to Jayachandran. Balram falls in love with Seetha, a prostitute, whom he decides to marry. Meanwhile, Radha, a young lady, is determined to avenge herself on Balram, who she believes to have killed her brother while in police custody, but Satyaraj was the one who killed him, on instruction from Vincent. Falsely implicated, Balram had been suspended, but has been reinstated. Though Seetha tries to convince Radha of the truth, she is not ready to accept it. To gain her revenge over Balram, Radha decides to offer Satyaraj a safe stay away from the police eyes. Balram's open fight with Satyaraj forms the rest of the plot.

Cast

as CI Balram * Geetha as Seetha * Seema as Radha *

Nalini Nalini (Devanagari: नलिनी) is a female gender Indian given name, which means "lotus", "goddess Gayatri","mother of Vedas", "sweet nectar", "Amrit", Feminine "lily" in Sanskrit.''Baby Names''"Nalini" Retrieved on 9 January 2016. The name ...

as Usha Jayachandran *

as Adv.Jayachandran *

as Sathyaraj *

as Vincent * Innocent as Vishnu *

as Sreeni *

C. I. Paul C. I. Paul (1944 – 14 December 2005) was a Malayalam film and television actor. He was a member of the working party led by Fr. Vadakkan and came to acting through the famous dramas by V. L. Jose. He was well appreciated for his perform ...

as Chandrahasan *

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 ...

as Chackochan *

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

as Dy SP Alex George * K. P. A. C. Azeez as Commissioner Azeez *

as Viswanathan *

as DIG Kumar *

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 Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

as Ummer *

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 "Samshayam" Vasu * Shafeeq as Benny Vincent * Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair as Nampoothiri * Kumari Shibi as Jyothi *

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 Radha's Mother *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in 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 over 300 movies. ...

Hari Hari ( sa, हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progre ...

as Advocate * Rajan Padoor as Kallan Kuttan * Amit Amee as Unni/Radha's younger Brother * Thiruthiyadu Vilasini as Chackochan's wife * Sajith Devadas as Nirmal Hasan * Gorilla Unni as Circle Inspector * Krishnakkurupp NB * Aliyar

Release

The film was released on 12 September 1986.

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics.

Box office

The film was a major commercial success. It was the highest grossing film at the time The film ran for more than 200 days in theatres in Kerala.

Remakes

All the remakes of the film were commercial successes.

Sequels

The movie had two sequels; 1991 movie

and a spiritual successor, Balram vs Tharadas in which

reprises his roles from two movies,

from Aavanazhi and Tharadas from Athiratram.

Legacy

The film is considered to be one of IV Sasi's best works. The film remains to be the only Malayalam Industry hit with a policeman as its central character. The protagonist ''Inspector Balram'' remains to be one of the most iconic characters in Malayalam cinema.

References

External links

* {{I. V. Sasi 1980s crime action films 1980s Malayalam-language films 1986 films Films shot in Kozhikode Films with screenplays by T. Damodaran Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Indian crime action films Balram1 Films scored by Shyam (composer) Malayalam films remade in other languages Films directed by I. V. Sasi