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Sandesam

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Sandesham
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySathyan Anthikad
Written bySreenivasan
Produced byS. S. T. Subrahmaniam
StarringThilakan
Sreenivasan
Jayaram
Siddique
Kaviyoor Ponnamma
Maathu
Oduvil Unnikrishnan
K. P. A. C. Lalitha
Sankaradi
CinematographyVipin Mohan
Edited byK. Rajagopal
Music byJohnson
Production
company
Evershine Productions
Distributed byEvershine Release
Release date
  • 30 October 1991 (1991-10-30)
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Sandhesam (transl. Message) is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language political satire film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Sreenivasan, starring Thilakan, Sreenivasan, Jayaram, Siddique, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Maathu. The film deals with political activism existing in Kerala and takes major digs on the political parties in the state.

A commercial success upon release, Sandhesam is often regarded as a classic in Malayalam cinema.[1] The film was included in IBN Live's list of "100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time".[2][3][4] The film was remade in Tamil language as Veettai Paar Naattai Paar by director Thulasidas in 1994.

Plot

After retirement from Indian Railways, as station master, Raghavan Nair (Thilakan) is back at his home. His long cherished dream to spend his retired life with his family consisting of his wife (Kaviyoor Ponnamma), three sons and two daughters gets a blow after seeing his two sons brawling with each other over their political differences as well as the debilitating effect this has on the family. Prabhakaran (Sreenivasan), the elder one is a staunch leftist, and an active worker of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (RDP), which has just lost the Kerala state Assembly elections and relinquished office. Prakashan (Jayaram), popularly known as KRP, his younger brother is involved with the Indian National Secular Party (INSP), which has now come to power. Though they are both educated, neither has any plans to earn a living on their own and are fully immersed in petty politics, sponging off their parents for their needs.

Raghavan Nair becomes deeply worried about their future, and tries to advise his sons, but his admonitions fall on deaf ears. Anandan (Mala Aravindan), his son-in-law is a police sub-inspector, but is now on suspension. When RDP was in power, he had arrested and beaten up several of the opposition party workers on instruction from the ruling party officials. Now that the previous opposition is in power, they exact their revenge, first by transferring him repeatedly to stations as far from civilisation as is possible, and then by suspending him.

As part of his retired life, Raghavan Nair decides to focus his attention on his agricultural activities and meets the new young agricultural officer Udayabhanu (Siddique) and, with his wife's approval, wants their younger daughter Latika to marry him, but his elder sons oppose it for flimsy and petty reasons. Prakashan, whose party is in power, pulls strings and get him transferred immediately to a remote location in order to prevent the marriage, but Nair gets them married at the registrar's office.

In the meantime, Anandan and his wife Latha, Raghavan Nair's eldest daughter, demand partition of the property and their share, which Raghavan Nair objects to. The last straw is when their mother falls ill and is hospitalised for a day or so, and none of her children, especially the two older sons, show up at the hospital. Raghavan Nair, when he sees all of them milling around his house on returning from the hospital, loses his temper. He throws out all his children and orders them never to enter his house again. But to his surprise, he finds both Prakashan and Prabhakaran at the gate, fully repented. He calls them in and they begin a new life. Some time later we see Prabhakaran who has started working going to court as a lawyer and Prakashan going for a job interview as part of his efforts to change and gain employment. At the same time, it is also seen that Prasanthan, the school-going youngest son of Raghavan Nair, has decided to form a student political organisation to conduct a protest at his school. But, both his brothers having learnt their lesson the hard way scold him and destroy the flag and banners he was busy making. It is here the film ends with the message clear.

Cast

  • Thilakan as Raghavan Nair, father of Prabhakaran, Prakasan, Latha, Lathika and Prashanthan.
  • Sreenivasan as Prabhakaran Kottappalli
  • Jayaram as Prakashan Kottappalli / KRP ( Kottappalli Raghavan Nair Prakashan)
  • Siddique as Udayabhanu (Lathika's husband and Raghavan Nair's son-in-law)
  • Kaviyoor Ponnamma as Bhanumathi (wife of Raghavan Nair and mother of Prabhakaran, Prakasan, Latha, Lathika and Prashanthan)
  • Maathu as Lathika (Raghavan Nair's younger daughter, Udayabhanu's wife)
  • Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Achuthan Nair (friend of Raghavan Nair)
  • Mala Aravindan as Anandan, Sub-Inspector of Police, Latha's Husband, Raghavan Nair's son-in-law.
  • K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Latha. Anandan's wife and Raghavan Nair's eldest daughter
  • Mamukkoya as K.G. Pothuval, the local leader of INSP
  • Sankaradi as Kumara Pillai, the leftist ideologue
  • Innocent as Yashwant Sahai, the All-India President of INSP
  • Bobby Kottarakkara as Uthaman
  • Biyon as S.I. Anandan's Son
  • Ambili as S.I. Anandan's Daughter
  • T. P. Madhavan as Police Inspector
  • Rahul Laxman as Prasanthan (Raghavan Nair's youngest son)
  • James
  • TP Madhavan as Police officer
  • TR Omana
  • Salim Kumar (uncredited role)

Soundtrack

References

  1. ^ Cris Seetha (20 June 2011). "What happens next?". Deccan Chronicle. Kochi, India. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. ^ "100 Years of Indian Cinema: The 100 greatest Indian films of all time". IBN Live. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  3. ^ "'Mayabazar' is India's greatest film ever: IBNLive poll" Archived 4 February 2015 at WebCite. IBN Live. 12 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  4. ^ "IBNLive Poll: Vote for India's greatest film of all time". IBN Live. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
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