THAKARA (1980)

DIRECTED BY: BHARATHAN
WRITTEN BY:PADMARAJAN
CINEMATOGRAPHY :ASHOK KUMAR

A Brilliant movie born out of the Bharathan-Padmarajan partnership.
THAKARA tells us the story of a mentally immatured guy (brilliantly acted by Prathap K Pothan) and his tragic romantic affairs with Subhashini , the dream girl ( acted by new comer Surekha). the character of "Chellapanaashari , played by Nedumudi Venu is also one of the most 'original' characters in the Malayalam movie.
"Thakara" is an orphan. He is energetic , happy and clean hearted. And everyone in the village exploits him in some ways , even the Subhashini exploited him in the name of love.Thakara was betrayed by the words of chellapanassary and indulges in romance with the heroine.Her father a heartless fellow (played by K.G.Menon) finds out their relation and beats him unconscious.Later his friends , aashaari and young guy finds thakaara across the shore , who is now fully filled with revenge on mathu mooppan (subhashinis fr.). Last he comes with a knife , bought with his earnings and kills mooppan . Subhashini refuses to go with Thakara , who proposes her after killing her dad. In no way to escape , Thakara finds his end infront of a running train. There are some scenes where we feel a lot of sympathy to the character of Thakara.

The scene where Thakara discovers sea ,is so touching. The romance between Thakara & Subhashini was so realistically taken by the director . Its sexy but not degrading.

a MUST WATCH movie for all who loves Malayalam Classics.

PIRAVI (1988)

Directed by SHAJI N KARUN
Cinematography : SUNNY JOSEPH
Music : G.Aravindan

The movie is inspired by the 'Rajan Case' that occurred in Kerala during the time of the emergency in 1978. Professor Eachara Warrier's story was the basis of this SHATTERINGLY powerful and TOTALLY TOUCHING Malayalam film Piravi(The Birth), the extraordinary directorial debut of Shaji Karun. Professor Warrier went through the greatest agony a parent can conceive of -- the loss of a child, and that too, not even being able to see his son's body one last time.
In the film , the rain is like the tears of the father.
The relation between brother and sister is also touching (even though the older Raghu,the missing son ,is never shown in the film ). The role of old father done by the actor "PREMJI" ( a very memorable & touching performance ) won him the Best Actor National award. Also this movie won Best Film & Best Director award in the 1989 National Film awards (Golden Lotus) .And MOST IMPORTANTLY this won the prestigious Golden Camera - Special Mention (Shaji N. Karun)at Cannes in 1989. Another major aspect of this movie is the excellent use of silence. The filmmakers used sound & music only where they are needed. The film is produced by the funding of NFDC , and is done with a small budget . This is one example where Budget is not important for making a good movie .