Padmarajan.....the genius

P.Padmarajan.....A name which will remain quoted in golden lettere...The man who changed the boring style of malayalam film Industry. Starting from the very first movie, we can see the gitterance of a genius in him......

One of the speciality in him is his way of naming the films....look at some....'vadakakkoru Hridayam', 'Nombarathippovu', 'namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal','Njan Gandharvan' and many more......

His way of direction is really awsome.......his movies can easily be identified without titles.....because of his unique touch in his films...... who can forget the touching films like 'Thoovanathumbikal','namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal' 'Njan Gandharva' etc.


Padmarajan lied rain very much....I heard it in one of his interviews that he used to sit in the terrace on a chair, looking the rain........In his film 'Thoovanathumbikal' also rain is a major character. When Mohanlal met Sumalatha, there was always rain.....

Padmarajan worked as an announcer at AIR and had already authored 15 novels before he entered cinema by writing script for Bharathan's Pranamam. Considered as one among the second generation modernist writers, his works as a novelist dealt with anarchist ideologies, about marginalised people and sexual jealousy.

Padmarajan played a key role in bringing back Malayalam popular cinema back to common man, by telling stories of ordinary people and ordinary events. He established his position as a leading advocate of the middle path cinema with his very first film, Peruvazhiyambalam (1979). His second film Oridathoru Phayalvan (1981) won several awards including international awards. He maintained consistency in quality of films and remained popular among the mass during his film career.

Selected Filmography:

Peruvazhiyambalam - 1979
(Wayside Inn)

Padmarajan's first film as a director, Peruvazhiyambalam was a milestone in Malayalam cinema history.

Raman a simple boy lives with his sister in a village. Prabhakaran Pillai, the villainous rapist coverts the sister and persecutes Raman, who alone stands up to the bully and kills him in a fight. A teashop owner and a prostitute help him to hide form the police. Raman replaces the villain as the idol for hero worship, for his macho qualities. He is struck with remorse when faced by the children of the man he killed.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Ashokan, Gopi, Aziz, Jose Prakash, Lalitha
Cinematography: A Kannan Narayanan
Music: M G Radhakrishnan

Oridathoru Phayalwan - 1981
(There Lived a Wrestler)

Oridathoru Phayalwan is folk parable about the success and failure in the life of a wrestler.

Patronised by a village tailor, the wrestler becomes a local hero when he overcomes all his opponents and claims the prettiest woman as his wife. However, his muscular prowess is offset by sexual impotency and he has to leave the village.

Oridathoru Phayalwan won Padmarajan the Gold Medal at the Asian Film Festival.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Rashid, Jayanthi, Nedumudi Venu
Cinematography: Vipin Das
Music: Johnson

Koodevide? - 1983
(In Search of a Nest)

Alice, who lives with her brother, is a teacher at a convent school in Ooty. A neglected and unruly son of a MP, Xavier Puthooran joins the school in Alice's class. Alice manages to turn him into a prize student. Her boy friend Capt. Thomas feels intensely jealous of the attention Alice bestows upon Ravi. He kills the boy apparently by accident but later surrenders to the police, leaving Alice frustrated in all aspects of her life.

Koodevide? won several State awards and also was selected to Indian Panorama.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Mammootty, Sushasini, Rehman, Jose Prakash, Sukumari
Cinematography: Shaji N Karun
Music: Johnson

Thinkalazcha Nalla Divasam - 1985
(Monday, the Good Day)

A family in its spacious ancestral house to celebrate their lonely mother's 60th Birthday. Jalousies and rivalries erupt focusing on who will inherit the house. The mother is placed in an old age home and latter she dies there, leaving the next generation guilty ridden, but their children nevertheless appreciate living in the big house.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Mammootty, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Karamana Jhanardhanan Nair
Cinematography: Vasant Kumar
Music: Shyam

Namukku Parkan Munthiri Thoppukal - 1986
(Vineyards to Live)

A tragic love story, Namukku Parkan Munthiri Thoppukal is set in the Malayalee settling areas near Mysore in Karnataka. Solomon falls in love with Sofia, the illegitimate daughter of a nurse now married to a railway mechanic, an alcoholic. Sofia's stepfather sets a marriage with his junior and drinking partner for her. When Sofia's mother accepts the proposal from Solomon, the stepfather rapes Sofia. At the end of the film, he is seen dragging her, still wearing her white bridal dress, towards his vineyard.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Mohanlal, Shari, Thilakan, Vineeth
Music: Johnson

Thoovanathumpikal - 1987

Jayakrishnan, a well-to-do bachelor lives a dual life among friends in town, and at his village home, where he lives with his mother and sister. While he is a free bird celebrating life with his crowd of friends in town, he is a proper family-man at home. The film is about his dual life and his encounter with the sex-worker-to-be Clara, which takes him on a different journey and his love of Radha.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Mohanlal, Sumalatha,Parvathi, Ashokan, Babu Namboothiri
Cinematography: Jayanan Vincent
Editing: B Lenin
Music: Perumpavoor G Raveendranath

Moonnampakkam - 1988
(The Third Day)

Thampi, a retired bureaucrat in his 80’s is leading a secluded life in a seaside village. His wife and son are no more, he has only very few close friends who share his solitude. The news of the arrival of his grandson Bhasi for vacation creates ripples in his life. Bhasi is a medical student whom he has not seen for many years. Bhasi arrives with three of his friends for a memorable vacation. As things brighten up and memories are aroused, a fateful incident occurs. Bhasi, while frolicking with his friends in the beach, disappears in the sea. The old man is shattered, and on the third day, the body is washed ashore…

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Thilakan, Jagathi Sreekumar, Jayaram, Keerthi, Ashokan, Rahman
Cinematography: Venu
Editing: B Lenin, Vijayan
Music: Ilyaraja

Aparan - 1988
(The Other)

A story of mistaken identity, Aparan is about an innocuous good guy mistaken for a gangster boss who may well have been his twin brother.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Jayaram, Shobhana, Parvathi, Jalaja, Madhu, Soman
Cinematography: Venu
Music: Johnson

Innale - 1989
(The Past)

Gauri the sole survivor of a tragic bus accident loses her memory. Admitted to a private nursing home, where she is diagnosed as suffering from 'hysteric amnesia', she falls in love with the doctor's son. However, Narendran arrives from USA, claiming to be her husband. When Gauri still refuses to recognise Narendran, he retrns to the US wishing the young couple well.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Shobhana, Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Srividya
Cinematography: Venu
Music: P G Ravindranath

Njan Gandharvan - 1991
(The Celestial Lover)

Padmarajan's last film is a fantasy featuring the college-going Bhama and her passion for a celestial lover, who keeps appearing from a wooden statue that she found on a beach but is invisible to others. Eventually they are separated as he is punished by higher celestial powers.

Direction & Screenplay: Padmarajan
Cast: Nitish Bhardwaj, Aparna, Ganesh
Cinematography: Venu
Music: Johnson