The Talkative Man speaks
<--Added on 8/22/08 for migration to TPB -->
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
  Pranaamam : Director Bharathan (10/22/86)
When it comes to entertainment, very seasons would stand a match for the latter half of 1986. We will restrict this to cricket and cinema alone, conveniently waiving aside the Maradona-dominated World Cup in Mexico that made a complete mess of our sleep routines. By the time the Cup started, Kamal's Vikram had Madras alight.

Wimbledon and India's historic tour of England added to the strain on our eyeballs in the coming weeks. Mind you, we're not bringing into the picture, Jane Eyre or Ek Do Teen Char on DD, which were approaching their climactic stages in June.

The non-stop party continued for movie-goers, with Kadalora Kavithaigal and Samsaram Adhu Minsaram grabbing their share of the limelight in July. It was barely a month before Mouna Ragam and Oomai Vizhigal hit the screens for Independence Day. And even as our radios blared Raja's haunting hits, Australia arrived for a tour, duly welcomed by Mella Thirandhadhu Kadhavu, released a week before the Tied Test at Chennai. Hardly had the excitement over the Chepauk result died down, when PT Usha sizzled at Seoul wresting four golds! Surely that must have been a dream season for the pensioner Thathas who now had a plethora of news to talk about.

But meanwhile, quietly across the border, Pranaamam(directed by Bharathan) saw the light of day just before Diwali. The movie featured Mammooty, Suhasini, Nedumudi Venu, Asokan and a youthful Vineeth.

That the famed director made no other foray into Tamil apart from Devar Magan and Avarampoo(remake) is surprising. Anyway back to the movie, Suha is a journalist whose younger brother tripped on drugs and took his own life. For her news article on the prevalence of the habit, she clicks pictures of college youth having a dope party - temporarily, ignore the fact that a bunch of youngsters choose a public park in broad daylight of all places for their binge. The piece causes a sensation once it goes into print.



Left: Standard start for a mallu movie - doting dad and daughters :)



Heh, here we go again :-)) Oh Kerala!



Left: Suha is kidnapped by the chaps and held hostage when a suspended student was admitted in hospital after poisoning himself. Middle: Unable to find his daily dose, one of the lads slashes his wrist. Ultimately Suha bonds with her captors.



Mammooty plays the cop who heads Suha's search party. He knows the students of the college very well especially the notorious ones. The part where he enlightens the captors about the three methods used by cops to extract a confession is cleverly done. Suha resolves the issue and takes the lads and Mammooty home for Onam. The story ends with an unexpected twist - slight shade of Punnagai Mannan there!

Ousepachan has tuned three memorable songs which can be listened here. Overall I expected to see some good eye-candy but the movie seems to have been shot within the city with very few natural sights of God's own country. But all in all, the pace is steady, is not loud and is worth a second watch(if you can excuse the obvious annoyance in hearing words like criddicism, pope-ularity). Why it was given an A rating is completely baffling. Felt really nice to watch Mammooty as his natural self, the murderous pronunciation in Thalapathi and Kilipechu Ketkava having left a jarring effect on the ears.
 
Comments:
Padam paatha maariye iruku! :) Nice review.. I guess u jus now posted..Suda suda padichiten! hehehe
 
I have only watched one movie of Mammooty pairing with Suhasini, 'Koodevide'. The IMDB credits (wrongly?) show Mohanlal in the cast too!
 
PoKo,
why this puzhugal, not a very famous or easily available padam :-)

me2,
IMDB full and full sodhappal - Lal, Srividhya, Geetha, Thilakan: none of them were there!
 
Its becoz i rarely have patience to watch movies and i happened 2 read the entire post ;) which is equivalent 2 seeing the movie fully! :D
 
thank you for an excellent post.. i remember seeing this movie few years back. Initial scenes reminded me of vaartha

//the famed director made no other foray into Tamil apart from Devar Magan and Avarampoo(remake)//

thalaivare..sorry for nitpicking.. actually bharathan made his debut via Savithri(1980), a national award winner which ran into controversy for its anti-brahminical sentiments. Later, in 1985 he remade one of his malayalam hit 'Kattathe Kilikoodu'(1983) as oonjaladum uRavukaL. ( what a brilliant performance by Jaishankar in a role originally played by Gopi).. Since both the films didnt fair well in the box office, he continued to direct in malayalam
until he came back with a BO Hit avarampoo, which incindetally is also a remake of his thakara
 
Bale, the chronological listing of cricket, movies and DD shows make me conclude you're just as weird as me. Hail our breed!:-)
 
Dear TTM,

I was just wondering what happened to a post of yours "Even the best of us have bias".

I wanted to share this with a friend of mind but couldn't find it in your archive.

With Regards
Narasimhan
 
PoKo,
then where's the ticket fare??? :)

Prakash,
Thanks for the corrections!! Pranaamam was one rare Bharatan movie without controversy. Lot of must-watch mallu movies in 80s too.
 
Deepa,
Idhellaam velila solla koodaadhu, paithyam-nu adikka vandhiruvaanga. In real life I just say "Oh appadiya?", just like Superman :)

Narsi,
I deleted it as it was too long a post. Anyway let's take life easy instead of talking about right and wrong, it's just a matter of taste :-)
 
Aaaaaaaaaaaha! :P Ticket u collected @ the entrance when i jus entered ur page :P
 
TTM, Single kostin regards oomai vizhigal..
Are you sure it was relaeased in 1986...I thought it was 1983 or 84....IMDB says it is 86, bt me not sure...Karthik you see appeared very different in OV than Mouna Raagam.
 
this movie is remade or slightly copied in tamil with radhika,raguvaran and murali
 
PoKo,
Train travel without ticket, movie with free ticket....vazhkkaila bayangara OC-adikkara party pola? :-)

mutrupulli,
Definitely it's 1986 wonly. Vaidehi Kathirundhal was a lifesaver for Gaptun('84) but nothing good after that for a while. Till Amman Koil Kizhakkale which just preceded Oomai Vizhigal.
 
vignesh,
welcome and thanks for the info. movie name??
 
kalakara po. Hare Radha Hare Krishna was playing in kasi the same time Mouna Ragam was playing at Udhayam.
 
we shd definitely co-author a post.
 
Ithu konjam over'a ila :))

Ninga evlo pay panitu varinga 2 visit my blog or others blog ;) ?????

Long time missing???
 
Narration soooper paa.. kalakiteeenga :)
 
Glad to know.. you are a fan of malayalam films...atleast a few one and Mammotty too...

Nicely written..carry on your good work..

Thankyou for visiting my blog..
 
Hey.. that was an interesting description.. would love to watch the movie..

Domain registration india
 
Useful information ..I am very happy to read this article..thanks for giving us this useful information. Fantastic walk-through. I appreciate this post.
 
It was really nice to study your post. I collect some good points here. I would like to be appreciative you with the hard work you have made in skill this is great article.
 
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