Thalappavu

Cast: Prithviraj, Lal, Atul Kulkarni, Rohini, Dhanya Mary, Jagathy Sreekumar, Meera Krishna, Geetha Vijayan, Sreejith Ravi, Manuraj, Sudheer J. Nair, E.A. Rajendran
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Civic Cinemas
Director: Madhupal
Producer: Silver Jubilee Mohan
Camera: Azhagappan
Story: Babu Janardhanan
Screenplay: Babu Janardhanan
Dialogue: Babu Janardhanan
Lyrics: O.N.V Kurup
Music: Alex Paul
Distribution: Lal Release
Year: 2008

Thalappavu, the debut directorial venture of popular actor Madhupal, is a film that deserves to be seen and appreciated.

The film has as its central characters two people from two extremes of life. While one is an outlaw, the other is the keeper of the law. The story is presented in the form of the scattered memories of Raveendran Pillai, an old retired police constable. His memory starts from the point where he was made to shoot and kill Joseph, a young naxalite who had taken up arms to fight against exploitation and corruption.

Raveendran Pillai remembers how his superiors had forced him, at gun point, to shoot and kill Joseph, who had been tied to a tree after being subjected to the worst kind of third degree torture. And from there he travels back in time and remembers how he had met Joseph for the first time and how a rather unusual kind of bonding had developed between them. He also remembers how he had, after a long gap of time, met his childhood sweetheart Saramma in Wyanad, where he was posted for a while.

The harrowing experiences that Saramma and many others had been subjected to by the cruel landlord Krishnadeva Saiver was an eye-opener of sorts for Raveendran Pillai, who starts sympathizing with Joseph and other naxalites. And then, things take a very abrupt turn. Joseph is arrested, brutally assaulted by the police and shot dead. Life becomes sour for Raveendran Pillai from then on. Things start changing in his family too, which comprises of his wife Karthyayani and two children. All this forms the plot of Thalappavu.

Lal as Raveendran Pillai gives an excellent performance. The various stages in the life of the character have been etched out masterfully. Prithviraj too excels as Joseph, the young naxalite. Rohini as Karthyayani, Dhanya Mary as Saramma, Atul Kulkarni as Krishnadeva Saiver and all the others in the cast render able support.

Babu Janardhanan has made a good job of the screenplay, while Azhagappan makes his presence felt with his brilliant camerawork. Shyam Dharman's background score and songs penned by ONV Kurup and set to tune by Alex Paul jell with the mood of the film. Thalappavu is a film that stands out on account of the social and political relevance that the subject has and the way it has been treated.

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