Aavanazhi

Aavanazhi
Aavanazhi
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	I. V. Sasi
Written by	T. Damodaran
Produced by	Sajan
Starring	Mammootty; Geetha; Sukumaran; Janardhanan; Seema; Nalini;
Cinematography	Jayaram V.
Edited by	K. Narayanan
Music by	Shyam
Production; company	Saj Productions
Release date	12 September 1986;
Running time	152 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Aavanazhi is a 1986 Indian

Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair, Sreenivasan and Sankaradi.^[1]

Aavanazhi was the highest grossing Malayalam film at the time and was an industry hit. It was remade in Kannada as Anthima Theerpu, in Tamil as

Balram vs. Taradas

in 2006.

Plot

"Karadi" Balram is an honest

CI, who is frustrated after several personal setbacks, including a failed affair of the heart, has turned to drinking and womanizing. Balram is assigned to nab Satyaraj, who evaded the clutches of the cops after murdering Chackochan, a contractor. Balram successfully arrests him, but in court, Satyaraj is represented by Adv.

Jayachandran, where he is acquitted by the court, but Balram decides to frame in several other criminal charges pending against him. Usha, Balram's ex-lover, is now married to Jayachandran. Balram falls in love with Seetha, a prostitute, whom he decides to marry. Meanwhile, Radha, a young lady, is determined to avenge herself on Balram, who she believes to have killed her brother while in police custody, but Satyaraj was the one who killed him, on instruction from Vincent. Falsely implicated, Balram had been suspended, but has been reinstated. Though Seetha tries to convince Radha of the truth, she is not ready to accept it. To gain her revenge over Balram, Radha decides to offer Satyaraj a safe stay away from the police eyes. Balram's open fight with Satyaraj forms the rest of the plot.

Cast

Mammootty as CI Balram
Geetha as Seetha
Seema as Radha
Nalini as Usha Jayachandran
Sukumaran as Adv.Jayachandran
Captain Raju as Sathyaraj
Janardanan as Vincent
Innocent as Vishnu
Sreenivasan as Sreeni
C. I. Paul as Chandrahasan
Paravoor Bharathan as Chackochan
Kundara Johny as CI Alex George
K. P. A. C. Azeez as Commissioner Azeez
Sankaradi as Viswanathan
Jagannatha Varma as DIG Kumar
Augustine as SI Ummer
Kunchan as Constable "Samshayam" Vasu
Shafeeq as Benny Vincent
Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair
as Nampoothiri
Kumari Shibi as Jyothi
Santhakumari
as Radha's Mother
Prathapachandran
Hari as Advocate
Rajan Padoor as Kallan Kuttan
Amit Amee as Unni/Radha's younger Brother
Thiruthiyadu Vilasini as Chackochan's wife
Sajith Devadas as Nirmal Hasan
Gorilla Unni as Circle Inspector
Krishnakkurupp NB
Aliyar

Release and reception

The film was released on 12 September 1986, in 20 theatres. In 2005, Nana Magazine wrote that Mammootty has played cop in a total of 25 films from Yavanika to Balram vs Tharadas, but his most memorable police role is that of Inspector Balram from I. V. Sasi's Avanazhi.^[2] The film was a major commercial success. It was the highest grossing film at the time.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] The film ran for more than 200 days in theatres in Kerala.^[9]

Remakes

All the remakes of the film were commercial successes.

Year	Film	Language
1987	Anthima Theerpu	Kannada
1987	Marana Shasanam	Telugu
1987	Satyamev Jayate	Hindi
1987	Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu	Tamil

Sequels

The movie had two sequels; a 1991 film

Tharadas from Athiratram

.

Legacy

The film is considered to be one of I.V. Sasi's best works. The film remains to be the only Malayalam Industry hit with a policeman as its central character. The protagonist Inspector Balram remains to be one of the most iconic characters in Malayalam cinema.[1]

References

^
Indulge Express. 24 October 2017. Archived
from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.

^ Nana (2005) "Rare collections No.044"
^ "Architect of blockbusters". The Hindu. 26 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^ "Saluting the maker of super hits". The Hindu. 13 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
^ "I.V. Sasi reigned at the box office, and made classics too". The Hindu. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^ "Kollywood's craze for Malayalam screenplays". Sify. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^ C S Venkiteswaran (8 November 2017). "Trendsetting titan". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^ "The End of an Epoch". The Hindu. 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b "10 Mammootty films to watch before you die". The Times of India. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

External links

Aavanazhi at
IMDb

[indulge-1] 
Indulge Express. 24 October 2017. Archived
from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.

[2] Nana (2005) "Rare collections No.044"

[3] "Architect of blockbusters". The Hindu. 26 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2016.

[4] "Saluting the maker of super hits". The Hindu. 13 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.

[5] "I.V. Sasi reigned at the box office, and made classics too". The Hindu. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

[6] "Kollywood's craze for Malayalam screenplays". Sify. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

[7] C S Venkiteswaran (8 November 2017). "Trendsetting titan". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

[8] "The End of an Epoch". The Hindu. 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2021.

[:0-9] "10 Mammootty films to watch before you die". The Times of India. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

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