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| film New Delhi |
As the man
once said, ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’, as the very act is associated
with a fulfilling thrill of an eventual payback. Revenge films fall in the sub
genre that routinely thrives on this trill that naturally flourish outside of
law with associated violence in some form or the other, which is what make it
all the more compelling. From Navodaya’s star spangled Monte-Cristo adaptation Padayottam to the more recent, blunt and merciless
22 Female Kottayam, revenge films has been tried and tested in Malayalam with
varying degrees of finesse. Following is a list of some of the best films in this
subgenre in the Malayalam language.
5. Ee Thanutha Veluppaan Kaalathu 1990
*Spoiler Alert* To even know
that revenge has a hand in this murder mystery alone should count as a huge
spoiler that will give away the motive behind the killing spree that initially
seems like the job of a serial killer. This film does not fall in the set pattern
of revenge films per say, as the story arc takes the form of an investigative
thriller, but the bone chilling backstory and the calculated method in which
the revenge is affected years later should qualify this one to the prime
league.
4 Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu 1999
A female revenge story that
boasts of Manju Warrier's career best performance to date, this T.K.
Rajeev Kumar film sets an archetypal revenge drama in the dirt and sweat of
Kuttanad farmlands. Bhadra returns to her parents’ village years after their
brutal murder by the degenerate landlord Nateshan Muthalali to avenge their
deaths, and this she brilliantly plots by looping a new pawn in her game plan-
the landlord’s equally debauched son Uthaman. The film has the simplicity and texture
of a grim folk fable narrated with the earthiness of a breezy koithu-pattu.
3. Chanakyan 1989
Another film directed by
T.K. Rajeev Kumar that follows the ingenious revenge story of Johnson, played
by Kamal Haasan, who in order to call it even with the Chief Minister of
Kerala, played by Thilakan, twists the very idea of payback. Long before he
became the Chief Minister the old man had screwed up the poor guy’s life inside
out and the method he adapts to avenge the damage is crafty, new and
unpredictable, and to watch Kamal Haasan do the deed is sheer magic. He is brilliantly
supported by Jayaram as the mimicry artist who later becomes his partner in
crime.
2. New Delhi 1987
The career defining film for
Mammotty was also the biggest grosser of 1987 and one of the most successful
Malayalam films of all time. This manic revenge thriller is a loose adaptation
of Irving Wallace’s The Almighty, but
of course with all the necessary flourishes to humanize his materialistic
protagonist. The unlawful imprisonment and torture of journalist G.
Krishnamoorthy converts him to a blood-lusting animal, and he affects his anger
on all those responsible for his disgrace with calculated precision that at the
same time as ruthlessly ending all his targets one by one increases his
newspaper sales.
1. Thazhvaram 1990
What makes the viewing
experience of this revenge drama rewarding is the sheer unpredictability
associated with the “cold serving”. The protagonist’s long wait for the right
time to strike in the dusty landscape where the vultures wait as patiently is heightened
by the uneasy buildup skillfully directed by Bharathan and brilliantly
performed by Mohanlal. The desolate environment captured with photographic eeriness,
and the few peculiar characters thrown in to sustain the plot progress are all in
one way or the other memorable in this parched quest for retribution.
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