''Rasathanthram'' () is a 2006 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 family drama film written and directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and 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 appe ...

and Meera Jasmine, with

Bharath Gopi Gopynathan Velayudhan Nair (2 November 1937 – 29 January 2008), popularly known by the stage name Bharat Gopy, was an Indian actor, producer and director. He was one of the first actors to be associated with the New Wave cinema movement in K ...

, Innocent, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, and

Mamukkoya Mamukkoya (born 5 July 1946) is an Indian actor known for his work in Malayalam cinema, and has also appeared in French film ''Flammens of Paradise''. He has mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of the Mappila dialect and style ma ...

in prominent roles. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor through Aashirvad Cinemas. The soundtrack album was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while

Alagappan N. Alagappan N is an Indian cinematographer who works primarily in Malayalam Cinema. He received graduate diploma in cinematography from the M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute in Chennai. In 2013, he made his directional deb ...

handled the cinematography. ''Rasathanthram'' was released in theatres on 7 April 2006 and received positive reviews with critics praising performance of Mohanlal, Gopy and Jasmine. The film performed well at the box office, it grossed ₹21 crore worldwide and completed 100 days theatrical run.

Plot

Premachandran is a carpenter who lives along with his father, Balan Master, and works along with his friend, Manikandan. They are now working on a house near the house of a rich landlord. Kanmani, who was sold by her mother, works in that house as a servant and is ill-treated. Seethamma lives along with her daughter, Kumari, who has a liking towards Premachandran. One night, Premachandran goes to his workplace to take his tools. He sees Kanmani leaving the house and is puzzled. He follows her. She was on the verge of committing suicide when Premachandran rescues her. He gives her shelter in one room in a building owned by Chettiyar, telling Chettiyar that his friend did not get the bus to go back home. Kanmani dresses up as a boy by the name of Velayuthan Kutty and soon starts working with Manikandan and Premachandran. Balan Master starts liking the disguised boy. One day, Premachandran tells Kanmani that he has planned to rescue her by sending her to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

to work in a banyan company where Premachandran's friend is working. Kanmani refuses to go. Premachandran accidentally confesses to Manikandan that Velayuthan Kutty is actually the missing Kanmani. Manikandan has no peace and shouts out the truth in the middle of the night. Two policemen, accidentally hear this and take Premachandran and Kanmani into custody. Kanmani tells the court that she and Premachandran are in love and intended to elope. She said this to avoid imprisonment. Soon, Kanmani develops an affection towards Premachandran. Premachandran tells her that she does not know anything about him and that he is an ex-convict in a murder case. Actually, Premachandran's friend Sivan murdered a hooligan who abused Premachandran's sister. Kanmani now agrees to go to Tamil Nadu, but Premachandran does not let her go, he admits her in a hostel. Premachandran's brother, Rajendran, comes to the fray and asks Balan Master to attend his daughter's marriage. He asks that Premachandran not come. Actually, Balan Master and Premachandran are living far away from home because of the bad nature shown by Premachandran's brother and sister. Balan Master is not willing to go without Premachandran. Premachandran who loves his niece as his daughter changes Balan Master's mind, by going with him without anybody knowing he is there. On returning, they see their rented house being destroyed. Balan Master takes shelter in an old age home headed by a retired Colonel until a new house can be rented. Premachandran goes to

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

to meet Sivan – who is now a business tycoon, but Sivan does not meet Premachandran's needs. On returning, Premachandran finds out that Balan Master is dead. He performs the ceremonial rites and goes to Kanmani. Meanwhile, Kanmani's so called uncle (Jagathty Sreekumar) – who wants to marry Kanmani – and his sister have court orders to take Kanmani back to Tamil Nadu. But, Premachandran grabs the "thali mala" from Sundara Pandian, ties the knot on Kanmani and subsequently marries her.

Cast

as Premachandran / Preman / Premettan, a successful carpenter *

as Balan Master, Ramachandran and Premachandran's father * Meera Jasmine as Kanmani / Velayudhan Kutty * Innocent as Manikandan Aashari, the lead-carpenter *

as Kunjoottan, Manikandan's brother-in-law * Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Ganeshan Chettiyar, Premachandran's house owner * K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Seethamma, Premachandran's neighbour *

Muthumani Muthumani Somasundaran is an Indian actress who mainly works in Malayalam films. She made her cinematic debut through the Malayalam film '' Rasathanthram'' directed by Sathyan Anthikkad's in 2006. Early life and education Muthumani was born ...

as Kumari, Seethamma's daughter *

Bindu Panicker Bindu Panicker is an Indian actress who has more than 200 films to her credit. She has played both comedy and character roles in Malayalam cinema. She won the Kerala State Film Award for the best supporting actress in 2001 for Soothradharan. Sh ...

as Sobhana, Manikandan Aashari's wife * Siddique as Ramachandran, Premachandran's elder brother * Mukesh as Shivan, Premachandran's childhood friend (

Cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

) * Jagathi Sreekumar as Vetrivel Sundara Pandiyan (

) *

Suraj Venjaramoodu Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than ...

as Suresh Carpenter * Anoop Chandran as Kunjambu, Video shop owner * P. Sreekumar as Roychan *

T. G. Ravi T. G. Ravindranathan (born 16 May 1944), popularly known as T. G. Ravi, is an Indian actor, mainly noted for his roles as a villain in Malayalam cinema. He along with Balan K. Nair played most of the negative roles in Malayalam cinema during t ...

as Retd Colonel Santhosh Kumar * Manjusha Sajish as Sreekutty * Reshmi Boban as Lucy, Roy's sister * Bindu Murali as Nancy, Roy's wife * Maneesha K S as Tessy, Roy's sister * TP Radhamani * Sethu Lakshmi as Roy's Servant * Nivia Rebin as Ancymol *Vijayan Karanthoor as CI Aliyan

Production

''Rasathanthram'' is the debut screenplay of Sathyan Anthikkad. Initially Anthikkad thought of giving someone else the scripting duty, but his regular collaborator were busy with other project, so he decided to write the film himself. ''Rasathanthram'' became his first film to begin filming with a complete script. Anthikkad describes the storyline as "it is the essence of the chemistry of the duo's life that develops with the ''rasas'' (humours) and little ''thantras'' (techniques) played by them to earn their living. In general, it delves into the meaninglessness of relationships and the ultimate values of human love". The film was shot at various locations in

Thodupuzha Thodupuzha (തൊടുപുഴ) is a municipal town located in Idukki district, Kerala, India, that covers an area of . It lies on the banks of Thodupuzha river, which merges with the Kaliyar and Kothamangalam rivers at Muvattupuzha to ...

, Moolamattom, and nearby places in Idukki district.

Soundtrack

The songs were composed by Ilaiyaraaja and lyrics were penned by Gireesh Puthenchery.

Box office

''Rasathanthram'' was released on 7 April 2006 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 C ...

. Including print and publicity, it was made on a budget of ₹2.87 crore. The film had record collection in 27 releasing stations in Kerala. ''Rasathanthram'' grossed ₹21 crore from worldwide box office, becoming the 2nd highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. It completed 100 days theatrical run.

Awards

;Mathrubhumi Film Awards *Best Director – Sathyan Anthikkad *Best Character Actress – Muthumani *Best Cinematography – Azhagappan N. *Best Art Director – Prashanth Madhav ;

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

Awards *Best Male Actor – Mohanlal *Best Director – Sathyan Anthikkad ; Kerala Film Critics Association Awards *Best Female Playback Singer – Manjari ;

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both art ...

*Best Comic Actor – Innocent *Best Female Playback Singer – Manjari

Trivia

* Sathyan Anthikkad and Mohanlal teamed up again after 12 years for this movie. Their previous movie was Pingami (1994). * The film collaborates seven National Film Award winners, Ilaiyaraaja, Yesudas, Chithra in offscreen and

, Meera Jasmine and K. P. A. C. Lalitha on screen. * The screenplay was released as a book in August 2006 by DC Books.

References

External links

Rasathanthram
* {{Sathyan Anthikad 2006 films 2000s Malayalam-language films Films directed by Sathyan Anthikad Films with screenplays by Sathyan Anthikad Films shot in Munnar Cross-dressing in Indian films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Aashirvad Cinemas films