Comparing present day films to the golden ones of 80's and 90's is like comparing fast food recipes to home-made food. The memory of experiencing the former in both cases is ever lasting. We have many big budget films being released nowadays. But excepting a meagre few, the rest fail to get our attention; they fail to invoke a feeling in us; they fail to move us. In that respect, the films of 80's and 90's outclass any of the present day films.
I would just like to give you my pick of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films of that Golden era which have left as much an emotional impact on me as they have on many others.
1. Thaniyavarthanam:
I just have these words to say about this hallmark film. "If this film can't move you to tears and agony, then no film can".
Lohitadas made a big bang entry into the Malayalam film world through this film. Set in a typical 'Tharavadu' in a Kerala village, the film shows how the family superstition affects the life of Balan Mash, a member of the Tharavadu who is a school-teacher by profession. Lohitadas has captured the very essence of the damage caused by false beliefs. The film was too tragic for me to watch it over and over again. I had seen this film around 1990 (during 4th standard) and to say that I was not affected emotionally by this film is telling a big lie.
The protagonist 'Balan Mash' played so brilliantly by Mammootty was a sort of resurrection in the actors career. During the early and mid 80's Mammootty was kind of sterotyped by the roles he did. The one criticism of him which was much talked of at that time was that all his films were about "A benz car, Baby shamili and a wife". Thaniyavarthanam almost fetched Mammootty the National award only denied by an equally powerful role of 'Velu Nayakar' played by Kamal Haasan in Nayakan.
The elder members of the Tharavadu have a belief that in each generation, a male member of the family goes mad. It starts with Balan's uncle (played by Babu Namboodiri) who faced a failed love-affair. He is locked up in a room and chained since he is beleived to have gone mad. Balan's brother (played by Mukesh) detests the false beleifs held by the family since he is a rationalist. Even Balan doesnt believe in them but takes part in the rituals conducted by the family so as to not displease the elders.
1. Thaniyavarthanam:
I just have these words to say about this hallmark film. "If this film can't move you to tears and agony, then no film can".
Lohitadas made a big bang entry into the Malayalam film world through this film. Set in a typical 'Tharavadu' in a Kerala village, the film shows how the family superstition affects the life of Balan Mash, a member of the Tharavadu who is a school-teacher by profession. Lohitadas has captured the very essence of the damage caused by false beliefs. The film was too tragic for me to watch it over and over again. I had seen this film around 1990 (during 4th standard) and to say that I was not affected emotionally by this film is telling a big lie.
The protagonist 'Balan Mash' played so brilliantly by Mammootty was a sort of resurrection in the actors career. During the early and mid 80's Mammootty was kind of sterotyped by the roles he did. The one criticism of him which was much talked of at that time was that all his films were about "A benz car, Baby shamili and a wife". Thaniyavarthanam almost fetched Mammootty the National award only denied by an equally powerful role of 'Velu Nayakar' played by Kamal Haasan in Nayakan.
The elder members of the Tharavadu have a belief that in each generation, a male member of the family goes mad. It starts with Balan's uncle (played by Babu Namboodiri) who faced a failed love-affair. He is locked up in a room and chained since he is beleived to have gone mad. Balan's brother (played by Mukesh) detests the false beleifs held by the family since he is a rationalist. Even Balan doesnt believe in them but takes part in the rituals conducted by the family so as to not displease the elders.
Through sheer misfortune, Balan is believed to be the male member who has gone mad. And then starts his tragedy which culminates in a very agonising scene. Lohitadas asks us through this script " Is Balan mad or is it the society who is mad?". A great film but I really wish that it is not shown to young kids.
2. Mahanadi:
Another film which makes me cringe everytime I see it.
It is the story of a widower Krishnaswamy whose peaceful life in a village on the banks of River Cauvery gets topsy turvy when he chooses to shift to Madras for enjoying the benefits of a city life. Cochin Haneefa plays Dhanush who tricks Krishna into starting a chit fund business and earn lots of money.
The names of all characters are those of a river. Starting from Krishna (Kamal), Ganga (his first wife), Yamuna (Sukanya), Saraswati (mother-in-law), Kaveri (daughter), Bharini (son) to Panjabakesi (Poornam Vishwanathan). In short the protagonist Krishnaswamy is the 'Mahanadi' around whom the lives of all other characters revolve. How he overcomes the struggles and returns back after many years to his village is what the film is about. The scenes which stick out are the jail scenes (similar to Shawshank Redemption but released before it) and the one in which he finds his daughter in the Sonagachi (red-light) area of Calcutta.
3. T.P. Balagopalan M.A:
The Sathyan Anthikkad - Sreenivasan - Mohanlal team gave us many memorable films like 'Varavelpu' and 'Nadodikkattu'. But this film is one which is not noticed immediately but one which has an equal undertone of sympathy for the protagonist.
Whenever I think of this story I remember an earlier film of Rajnikanth "Aaru muthal arupathu varai". In that, the film gives out a message at the end stating "A help done by a poor man is never recognised while the same when done by a rich man is spoken about for a long time".
TP Balagopalan MA has a similar theme. But the difference here is the sheer brilliance of Mohanlal's acting.
There is an interesting anecdote about this film. Sreenivasan was writing the script with Sathyan Anthikkad by his side. There is a scene where Mohanlal's sister marries Raju and is going to leave the house. Now Mohanlal says something to her. At that moment when Sreenivasan was thinking on what dialouge to write, Sathyan told him that he had to go somewhere and would be back in an hour. When he came back he found that Sreeni had just written a few words. Sathyan was furious that so much time was spent to write just a few words. Sreeni just smiled and told Sathyan to read what he had written. On reading it, it is said that Sathyan became very emotional and looked at wonder at the genius of Sreeni.
What Sreeni had written as a dialogue was Mohanlal lamenting the fact that he had not been able to buy his sister anything valuable till now in life and that she should not feel angry for that. In the movie the effect is much more coupled with Lal's acting and the heavy emotional build-up of the story.
The film had its moments of humour when Lal goes around as a salesman and meets with disastrous results.
Overall a small story , but a big message in it!
4. Yathra:
When many saw "Ithu oru Kanaa Kaalam" starring Dhanush, they complained that Balu Mahendra had made a mess of the original "Yathra". I used to remember "Yathra" as the first film of Mammootty that I watched in a theatre.
But when I saw the movie again recently, I could imagine the kind of impact it would have had on the viewers at the time it was released. Mammootty plays the role of a forest official who gets transferred to a remote area. He meets Thulasi (Shobhana) and falls in love with her, though she is the daughter of a poor labourer who is a widower. A cruel twist of fate lands him in jail when policemen mistake him for a Naxalite/terrorist. How he reunites with Thulasi after spending many years in jail is what the climx is.
It has melodious songs by Illayaraja and the first song in the bus is worth listening to any number of times. Balu Mahendra has made many classics like 'Moondram Pirai' and the thriller 'Julie Ganapathy' starring Jayaram and Saritha, but 'Yathra' always will remain one of his best and unique efforts in weaving a romantic story.
5. Drohkaal:
When Kamal Haasan saw this movie at a film festival he was instantly drawn towards it. He liked it so much that he decide to remake it in Tamil. That was the genesis of 'Kurudhipunal'. (River of Blood).
Drohkaal is the tale of two anti-terrorist squad leaders Abhay and Abbas (played by Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah) who tackle he network of a group of Naxalites headed by their commander Bhadra (Ashish Vidyarthi). Directed by Govind Nihalani, the film takes an unbiased view of the ideologies of patriotic police officers and a group of people who feel justified in using violence in trying to show their anger at the corrupt government.
A lot of quality is expected when the reel has two great actors like Om Puri and Naseer and they do not disappoint. One scene which I like in this movie is when Abhay tries to force Bhadra to accept that his ideology is wrong and illogical while the latter calmly justifies his views through logical sounding reasons. The climax scene is also note-worthy. Overall a totally emotion-packed story line.
6. Kireedam:
Mohanlal and Thilakan deliver outstanding performances as son and father in this gripping tale of the change in fortunes of a young lad Sethumadhavan whose father Achuthan Nair dreams of making his eldest son a police officer.
Lohitadas again proved that he was one of the best script writers in the Malayalam film Industry. Lohitadas claimed that the idea for this story came to him when he heard a tale about a person who had a fight in a bar ran away from that place fearing retaliation from the other gang. He then tried to imagine what would have happened had that person stayed on, and thus began the story of Kireedam.
The film was a huge hit, with the song "Kanneerpoovinte.." earning M.G.Sreekumar the State Award for Best Singer.
Wikipedia says thus " Kireedam means a crown. And society places a crown on a person based on their first impressions." It is such a crown which changes the life of Sethumadhavan in the film. The film was remade in Tamil withj Ajith and Raj Kiran, but sadly, fails to reach anywhere near the original as always.
The story , if seen from the view point of achuthan Nair, is even more disturbing. With a daughter whose husband (Jagathy) is an idler, a younger daughter and a son at higher school his responsibilities are many but he finds hope in Sethu. It is shattered and culminates at the police station where he states with great pain but firm beleif that his son is a criminal. Kireedam is also known for providing Malayalam cinema with the most popular villain 'Keerikkadan Jose".
7. Nayakan:
Mani Ratnam was ever modest when he was told that 'Nayakan' was selected by Time magazine as one of the top 100 films of all time. He attributed it to people like Kamal Haasan, P.C.Sreeram and Illayaraja who made sure that the film was near perfect in art.
When Mani narrated the story of Varadaraja Mudaliar to Kamal, the latter had no hesitation in accepting the project. Kamal played 'Velu Nayakar' a Tamilian who escapes to Mumbai in his childhood and slowly rises to become an underworld Don.
As years go by, he loses his wife and son as a result of his activities. His end gives proof to the adage that "Those who live by the gun, die by the gun".
The cinematography and songs are just outstanding. Mani had recreated the Dharavi slum area which form the area of all major happenings in Nayakar's life. Kamal's acting had the touches of a Marlon Brando in Godfather. The scene where he cries on seeing his son's dead body was laterseen in Godfather-3 when Al Pacino cries on seeing his daughter lying dead.
Indirectly Mani also potrayed the life of South Indians in Bombay. The scene where Kamal is beaten by the police officer Kelkar and he lies down with blood coming from his lips and saying "Naa adiccha nee satthiduve" (If I hit you, you will die) is also a noteworthy one.
The scene where Nayakar's grandson asks him "Neenga Nallavara Kettavara?" (Are you a good person or a bad person?) is subtly handled. Nayakar replies that he doesnt know the answer and proceeds to gift him his amulet(meant for protection). After coming out of the court he is shot dead.
8. Amritham Gamaya:
2. Mahanadi:
Another film which makes me cringe everytime I see it.
It is the story of a widower Krishnaswamy whose peaceful life in a village on the banks of River Cauvery gets topsy turvy when he chooses to shift to Madras for enjoying the benefits of a city life. Cochin Haneefa plays Dhanush who tricks Krishna into starting a chit fund business and earn lots of money.
The names of all characters are those of a river. Starting from Krishna (Kamal), Ganga (his first wife), Yamuna (Sukanya), Saraswati (mother-in-law), Kaveri (daughter), Bharini (son) to Panjabakesi (Poornam Vishwanathan). In short the protagonist Krishnaswamy is the 'Mahanadi' around whom the lives of all other characters revolve. How he overcomes the struggles and returns back after many years to his village is what the film is about. The scenes which stick out are the jail scenes (similar to Shawshank Redemption but released before it) and the one in which he finds his daughter in the Sonagachi (red-light) area of Calcutta.
3. T.P. Balagopalan M.A:
The Sathyan Anthikkad - Sreenivasan - Mohanlal team gave us many memorable films like 'Varavelpu' and 'Nadodikkattu'. But this film is one which is not noticed immediately but one which has an equal undertone of sympathy for the protagonist.
Whenever I think of this story I remember an earlier film of Rajnikanth "Aaru muthal arupathu varai". In that, the film gives out a message at the end stating "A help done by a poor man is never recognised while the same when done by a rich man is spoken about for a long time".
TP Balagopalan MA has a similar theme. But the difference here is the sheer brilliance of Mohanlal's acting.
There is an interesting anecdote about this film. Sreenivasan was writing the script with Sathyan Anthikkad by his side. There is a scene where Mohanlal's sister marries Raju and is going to leave the house. Now Mohanlal says something to her. At that moment when Sreenivasan was thinking on what dialouge to write, Sathyan told him that he had to go somewhere and would be back in an hour. When he came back he found that Sreeni had just written a few words. Sathyan was furious that so much time was spent to write just a few words. Sreeni just smiled and told Sathyan to read what he had written. On reading it, it is said that Sathyan became very emotional and looked at wonder at the genius of Sreeni.
What Sreeni had written as a dialogue was Mohanlal lamenting the fact that he had not been able to buy his sister anything valuable till now in life and that she should not feel angry for that. In the movie the effect is much more coupled with Lal's acting and the heavy emotional build-up of the story.
The film had its moments of humour when Lal goes around as a salesman and meets with disastrous results.
Overall a small story , but a big message in it!
4. Yathra:
When many saw "Ithu oru Kanaa Kaalam" starring Dhanush, they complained that Balu Mahendra had made a mess of the original "Yathra". I used to remember "Yathra" as the first film of Mammootty that I watched in a theatre.
But when I saw the movie again recently, I could imagine the kind of impact it would have had on the viewers at the time it was released. Mammootty plays the role of a forest official who gets transferred to a remote area. He meets Thulasi (Shobhana) and falls in love with her, though she is the daughter of a poor labourer who is a widower. A cruel twist of fate lands him in jail when policemen mistake him for a Naxalite/terrorist. How he reunites with Thulasi after spending many years in jail is what the climx is.
It has melodious songs by Illayaraja and the first song in the bus is worth listening to any number of times. Balu Mahendra has made many classics like 'Moondram Pirai' and the thriller 'Julie Ganapathy' starring Jayaram and Saritha, but 'Yathra' always will remain one of his best and unique efforts in weaving a romantic story.
5. Drohkaal:
When Kamal Haasan saw this movie at a film festival he was instantly drawn towards it. He liked it so much that he decide to remake it in Tamil. That was the genesis of 'Kurudhipunal'. (River of Blood).
Drohkaal is the tale of two anti-terrorist squad leaders Abhay and Abbas (played by Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah) who tackle he network of a group of Naxalites headed by their commander Bhadra (Ashish Vidyarthi). Directed by Govind Nihalani, the film takes an unbiased view of the ideologies of patriotic police officers and a group of people who feel justified in using violence in trying to show their anger at the corrupt government.
A lot of quality is expected when the reel has two great actors like Om Puri and Naseer and they do not disappoint. One scene which I like in this movie is when Abhay tries to force Bhadra to accept that his ideology is wrong and illogical while the latter calmly justifies his views through logical sounding reasons. The climax scene is also note-worthy. Overall a totally emotion-packed story line.
6. Kireedam:
Mohanlal and Thilakan deliver outstanding performances as son and father in this gripping tale of the change in fortunes of a young lad Sethumadhavan whose father Achuthan Nair dreams of making his eldest son a police officer.
Lohitadas again proved that he was one of the best script writers in the Malayalam film Industry. Lohitadas claimed that the idea for this story came to him when he heard a tale about a person who had a fight in a bar ran away from that place fearing retaliation from the other gang. He then tried to imagine what would have happened had that person stayed on, and thus began the story of Kireedam.
The film was a huge hit, with the song "Kanneerpoovinte.." earning M.G.Sreekumar the State Award for Best Singer.
Wikipedia says thus " Kireedam means a crown. And society places a crown on a person based on their first impressions." It is such a crown which changes the life of Sethumadhavan in the film. The film was remade in Tamil withj Ajith and Raj Kiran, but sadly, fails to reach anywhere near the original as always.
The story , if seen from the view point of achuthan Nair, is even more disturbing. With a daughter whose husband (Jagathy) is an idler, a younger daughter and a son at higher school his responsibilities are many but he finds hope in Sethu. It is shattered and culminates at the police station where he states with great pain but firm beleif that his son is a criminal. Kireedam is also known for providing Malayalam cinema with the most popular villain 'Keerikkadan Jose".
7. Nayakan:
Mani Ratnam was ever modest when he was told that 'Nayakan' was selected by Time magazine as one of the top 100 films of all time. He attributed it to people like Kamal Haasan, P.C.Sreeram and Illayaraja who made sure that the film was near perfect in art.
When Mani narrated the story of Varadaraja Mudaliar to Kamal, the latter had no hesitation in accepting the project. Kamal played 'Velu Nayakar' a Tamilian who escapes to Mumbai in his childhood and slowly rises to become an underworld Don.
As years go by, he loses his wife and son as a result of his activities. His end gives proof to the adage that "Those who live by the gun, die by the gun".
The cinematography and songs are just outstanding. Mani had recreated the Dharavi slum area which form the area of all major happenings in Nayakar's life. Kamal's acting had the touches of a Marlon Brando in Godfather. The scene where he cries on seeing his son's dead body was laterseen in Godfather-3 when Al Pacino cries on seeing his daughter lying dead.
Indirectly Mani also potrayed the life of South Indians in Bombay. The scene where Kamal is beaten by the police officer Kelkar and he lies down with blood coming from his lips and saying "Naa adiccha nee satthiduve" (If I hit you, you will die) is also a noteworthy one.
The scene where Nayakar's grandson asks him "Neenga Nallavara Kettavara?" (Are you a good person or a bad person?) is subtly handled. Nayakar replies that he doesnt know the answer and proceeds to gift him his amulet(meant for protection). After coming out of the court he is shot dead.
8. Amritham Gamaya:
I don't think Mohanlal 'acts' in any film. He is just so natural. Even if it's a heavy roles, he makes everything look so easy and natural. This gift is what makes him a good actor.
It was not in Panchagni, but in Amrutham Gamaya (based on MT Vasudevan Nair's story and screenplay) that he really surprised me. That was an amazing performance. In fact, he should have won a National Award for it.
Have you seen the scene in which he injects pethidine into his thighs? That was simply great. And when he realises that the family he befriends is the family of the boy whom he had accidentally killed while ragging him in medical college, was heartbreaking.
I don't know how he showed inner turmoil so beautifully. It was so subtle, so disturbing. The beauty of his performance is that he underplays emotions. Every muscle of his body reacts. For that one scene itself, he should have been given an award.
The above statements are the comments of Director Hariharan on Lal's performance in the film. The MT-Hariharan team had created magic even before 'Oru Vadakkan Veera Gatha'. Mohanlal delivered another performance worthy of his talent.
One scene from this film which haunts me always is the ragging scene in the Medical College in which Unni (Vineeth), a Namboodiri student in his first-year, meets his end.
Mohanlal conveys the emotions of the character through strong body language and dialogue delivery. His transformation from an arrogant student to a kind doctor is something which seemed so natural on screen.
It is when I see such films that I wonder as to why we do not have such good script writers and music directors in our midst now. Will there be another MT? Another Lohitadas? Another Mohanlal? Another Kamal Haasan? Another Mammootty? Another Illayaraja?
Nowadays, the movies only stay in our memory for those 2.5-3 hours in the cinema hall. They only serve us for that much time. An Aamir Khan says that films are meant only for entertainment, not for sending messages. Maybe true, but then they should also leave behind something to remember.
I know I have missed so many movies. Even what I have mentioned are not in any particular order. But then this is only the first part. There are so many more. :-)
One scene from this film which haunts me always is the ragging scene in the Medical College in which Unni (Vineeth), a Namboodiri student in his first-year, meets his end.
Mohanlal conveys the emotions of the character through strong body language and dialogue delivery. His transformation from an arrogant student to a kind doctor is something which seemed so natural on screen.
It is when I see such films that I wonder as to why we do not have such good script writers and music directors in our midst now. Will there be another MT? Another Lohitadas? Another Mohanlal? Another Kamal Haasan? Another Mammootty? Another Illayaraja?
Nowadays, the movies only stay in our memory for those 2.5-3 hours in the cinema hall. They only serve us for that much time. An Aamir Khan says that films are meant only for entertainment, not for sending messages. Maybe true, but then they should also leave behind something to remember.
I know I have missed so many movies. Even what I have mentioned are not in any particular order. But then this is only the first part. There are so many more. :-)
10 comments:
Each movie you have mentioned here are a once in a lifetime movies...Probably we are just lucky to be in a generation that created these gems...
These are the kind of movies which you can watch any number of times..
Excellent post Karthik ..Mohanlal never really acted .. he brought his character to life.. Though now he is a poor shadow of his old self .. the class of movie makers has come down too. Even Satyan anthikad has lost his old sheen these days!! It would be great to see a comeback ..
@Mathew: Yes, these are once in a life-time movies. But at the time they were released these movies were supposed to be of minimum standard..I mean like taken for granted standard..Nowadays we have to pray to have a film like 'TP Balagop.." or "Amritham.." to get released.
@Deepti: I think Mohanlal is not being properly exploied by our directors. 'Thanmatra' was a good example of how he could be used effectively.
Sathyan Anthikkad's main success was due to the good scripts of Sreenivasan.Nowadays even Sreeni has gone down to a very low level. A 'Kadha Parayumbol' which would have been an average movie during the golden era is now a 'Blockbuster'!
Good to see Yathra in the list, its usually forgotten in most lists... And TP Balgopalan M A is one movie I disagree with in figuring in the list. Havent seen all, I will catch up with those seeing the kind of movies that fit in here :-)
Hm what about Innale? I somehow breathe Yathra, Innale and Aranyakam in the same breathe, no similarities but well it happens!
@Cris: Thanx for visiting!
I don't know why you disagree on TP being on the list. Well, I guess aech of us have our favourites.
Yes, Yathra was a classic Balu Mahendra effort.
You should see Mahanadi and Nayakan. Don't misss them!
all lovely movies - perhaps you should someday add kayoppu (mamotty khushboo) to the list and Pardeshi (mohanlal)
Nice write up :)
What about thoovanathumpikal... namukku paarkkan munthiri thoppukal etc?
@Layman: Actually I planned this as a series of posts. Thoovanathumbikal and Namakku Paarkan have been discussed so many times. So will come up with different not-discussed-so-much films ;-) Thanx for visiting
@Maddy: Actually I have to admit that I haven't seen Kayoppu. Will do that.A DVD of Akashagopuram also is still with me. Quite a few films to catch up with :-)
Hi,
Thoovanathumbikal, Sukrutham (MT Vasudevan Nair-Harikumar), Manichithrathazhu ( have begun to appreciate it much more having seen the remakes)and Devasuram are some other movies that i rate very highly.
nice writing .. jayakrishnan is my life ... I wonder or worried y i didn't write a word for Lohi ..
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