Vaasthavam
| Vaasthavam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | M. Padmakumar |
| Written by | Babu Janardhanan |
| Starring | Prithviraj Sukumaran Kavya Madhavan Samvrutha Sunil Murali Jagathi Sreekumar Sindhu Menon |
| Cinematography | Manoj Pillai |
| Edited by | L. Bhoominathan |
| Music by | Alex Paul C. Rajamani (Score) |
Production company | Shrichakra Films Private Ltd |
| Distributed by | Shrichakra Films Release |
Release date | 10 November 2006 |
Running time | 155 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Vaasthavam (transl. Fact) is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language political thriller film written by Babu Janardhanan and directed by M. Padmakumar. The film revolves around a youth Balachandran Adiga (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and follows his rise and fall in politics. The story is loosely based on Thakazhi's novel Enippadikal.[1][2]
Prithviraj won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance, making him the youngest recipient of the award at age 24.
Plot
Raghavan Master, a scion of a high Adiga Brahmin family and an ardent communist, is now in crisis as his Tharavadu is devoid of the fame and fortune it once had. Balachandran, is his only son, who has the burden of looking after the family and his four sisters. He is aware of the difficulties involved in bringing the family back from the brink of nothingness and in marrying off his sisters.
Balachandran's eldest sister Shobha does some tailoring and manages a low earning with which the family is kept out of hunger. Balachandran is engaged to Sumithra his cousin. But in the turn of events Thripran Namboodhiri comes with an offer to marry his niece to Balachandran, agreeing to ensure that he secures a job in the secretariat as his name is in the rank list which would expire soon and thereby save his family from dire straits. Sumithra forces Balachandran to give up their dreams for the sake of his family.
He marries Surabhi, a girl from a rich family, to tackle the serious economic adversities that his family faces. Notwithstanding the family chaos, Balachandran's younger sister Shubha walks out with Adivasi leader Sreedharan on the day of Balachandran’s marriage, causing irreparable damage to the family reputation, following which his mother dies. Sumithra marries a cruel and corrupt police officer who constantly doubts the character of his wife.
At this juncture, Balachandran joins the job at the Secretariat. He lives with seventy-year-old Unnithan Asan who acts as his guide all through the corruption-filled secretariat. His financial needs force him to become a corrupt officer who is always in the lookout for money and power. He deliberately pretends to be a bachelor, to encourage the affections of Vimala, a divorcee and his colleague. With the help of Vimala, the niece of the new revenue minister Pattam Raveendran, Balachandran is posted in the minister's personal staff and quickly climbs the ladder of bureaucracy. What follows next is a series of events that turns Balachandran's mind so as to tear off his new life and go back to his native to lead a simple, peaceful life with Surabhi and his family.
Cast
- Prithviraj as Balachandran Adiga
- Kavya Madhavan as Sumithra
- Samvrutha Sunil as Surabhi
- Murali as Pattam Raveendran
- Jagathi Sreekumar as Unnithan Ashan
- Sindhu Menon as Vimala
- Usha as Shuba
- Sadiq as C.K. Nair
- Sudheer Karamana as Pambu Vasu
- Madhupal as Varghese
- Jagadish as Shibhu Vattappara
- Rajmohan Unnithan as Chief Minister
- KPAC Saji
- V. K. Sreeraman as Raghavan Master
- Dinesh Prabhakar as Uthaman
- Joju George as Basheer
- Meghanathan as Sasidharan Pillai
- T.G. Ravi as Gopinathan Unnithan
- Vijayan Karanthoor as Thomas
- Sreejith Ravi
- Balachandran Chullikkad
- T. P. Madhavan as Govindan Namboodiri
- Manka Mahesh as Balachandran's mother
- Seema G. Nair as Shobha
- Shaalin Zoya as Jr. Sumithra
- Varada as Balachandran's sister
- Salim Kumar as Thrippan Namboodiri
- Gayathri
Soundtrack
The movie features and acclaimed soundtrack composed by Alex Paul and lyrics penned by Gireesh Puthanchery.
| Track # | Song | Artist(s) | Raga |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ara Pavan" | Vidhu Prathap, Rimi Tomy | Dharmavati |
| 2 | "Kadam Konda" | Vidyadharan | Sindhu Bhairavi |
| 3 | "Nadha Ne Varumbol" | K. S. Chithra | Shahana |
| 4 | "Nindathi Chanthana" | Traditional |
Reception
The movie received positive reviews from critics.[citation needed]
Awards
- Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor – Prithviraj Sukumaran
- Kerala State Film Award for Best Editor – L. Bhoominathan
References
- ^ "Vaasthavam: Good effort".
- ^ "Vaasthavam review. Vaasthavam Malayalam movie review, story, rating".
- ^ "State Film Awards". Department of Information and Public Relations (Kerala). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
External links
- Vaasthavam at IMDb