Thazhvaram
Tags: revenge, murder, flashback

Plot synopsis:
Balan (Mohanlal) is in search of Raju (Salim Ghouse) and the search takes him to a hillside. Balan reaches a house, where he is welcomed whole-heartedly by both Nanu (Sankaradi), the house owner, and Kochutty (Sumalatha), his daughter. Balan realizes that Raju stays with them as Raghavan. Balan comes to know that Nanu has helped Raju to start farming and that Nanu intends to get his daughter married to Raju. Balan decides to wait for Raghavan, alias Raju. Raju, on his arrival, smells his enemy.
The film progresses with the two having to pretend before Nanu and Kochutty that they are good friends. The film cuts to flashback, where Raju alias Raghavan is shown as a friend of Balan once. He, in greed for money, one day killed Balan's wife and ran away with Balan's hard earned money. Balan is now back in search of Raju to avenge for the death of his wife.
Raju attacks Balan in one of the numerous encounters the duo has and almost kills Balan. Balan survives the attack to save Nanu and his daughter from Raghavan.
The film is special for the mood it creates of the friction between the Balan and Raju. The dressing code matches what the director often symbolizes to a vulture.

Review: Classic Movie !.
I was a child when the film was released and didn't get anything when watched it first time.
But after years i was so much excited watching this beautiful movie which was picturised with perfect mix of everything needed for a classic movie.
Director Bharathan did his own style to tell the story of a revenge without filling it with disturbing action scenes and gimmicks.
Mohanlal's lead role as balan and salim's role as raghavan are really great.
I was a fan of sumalatha after i watched "Thoovanathumbikal" and in this film she is simply awesome.
Bharathan & M.T has given so many classics to Indian movies and this is to be listed on the top of them.
if you haven't watched it please do it soon because it is a movie "must see".
A perfect classic.
Today, watched the 90's classic malayalam movie "Thazhavaram-The valley" once again, in a TV channel,after a long period.
But this time ,thought of writing something here about the movie .
This movie, I would say, one of the best movie by Bharathan,.
I know that there is no point in describing the story of the movie and tell you repeatedly that the movie is excellent ,because its already known to all .
So I will point out some of the good features of the movie which I was attracted to ."Thazhavaram" is a masterpiece in all aspects.
A well crafted movie, which makes us remember some Hollywood classic thrillers.
It can not be considered fully as a dramatic movie .
By genre, it's a thriller , in my opinion.Bhartahan was keen to make this movie, grammatically perfect as well as thematically strong.
The theme of the movie is not so unusual, ...a man who reaches an isolated valley in search of his old pal, the murderer of his wife , so as to have his vengeance.
What makes it different is the treatment .
Technical ########## First thing that can be noticed is the technical quality of the movie.
First of all Venu has done an excellent cinematographic work.
Next one is, director, Bharathan, has composed each frames very carefully.
I haven't watched much more movies, in which a director keeps the grammatical aspects of movie-making so brilliantly.
The film consists of so many beautiful wide-shots, which nowadays can never be seen in any reginal movies, but is an essential part of a visually stunning movie.
Another brilliant composition ,in which director used "Golden Mean" which is a dynamic balancing technique , usually got to see in western movies..(the scene in which the character "Balan" played by Mohan lal walks through the valley ,just after passing a hanging brdge,and some cattles crosses him.
;two by third of the frame occupied by the sky and rest by the surface,and the character moving from left towards right of the frame...) This technique is very rarely used in our films.
Almost all of the frames are geometrically perfect.
Visual elments are well composed in the frames to achieve good depth to the scenes which makes them visually brilliant.
Sound recording was also remarkable.
One of the best feature of the movie is that the background music coming only in required situations.
(Remember ,in Hariharan's classic movie "Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha" , a major drawback we can point out is the mishandled background score.) Performance #############There are not much protagonists coming to main plot, the main characters are played by, Mohan lal, Sumalatha,Sankaradi and Salim Gouse, all of them has done their job well...The performance of Saleem Gouse is especially remarkable.
And of course, Mohan lal is brilliant in his lead role.(A scene in which he is listening to Sankaradi explaining the fake story told by the anti-hero ,he is responding to the narration of Sankaradi and at the same time he is shocked hearing the story.His expression at that moment is simply amazing)Screenplay ###########Script by M.T Vasudevan Nair is outstanding .
There are no signs of any particular time period in the script.That makes the movie a unique one ,.No matter after how many years since it's release ,you are watching this movie, you will feel the same freshness.
But credit goes to the director who was able to screen a beautiful script without losing its soul, in a well disciplined manner, avoiding disturbing action scenes and gimmicks which could have been added easily in this kind of themes.
Usually flashbacks in a movie would become little bit irritating and may affect the flow of the central theme.But in this movie, Bhartahan shows flashbacks in certain intervals and complete it at a point and move forward with the current theme from that point , which is a classic style of storytelling, so that the audience will be immersed in the central theme, without breaking the flow, cinematically speaking,creates a suspension of disbelief.
Definitely,Thazhavaram is a movie which deserves a place in your personal movie collections.Overall I'd give 9/10 for the movie..
Poignant!.
Poignant is the right word to describe this movie.
From one view one might think it is slow, but every moment is loaded with the haunt of what could happen next.Simple storyline: A man shows up at a village with the intent to kill the thief who stole his savings and killed his wife.Hats off to Mohanlal and Salim Ghouse for their excellent performances.It's surprising when you look back, there are not many characters in the film.
Shankararadi does well, and Sumalatha adds the beauty quotient.Another unique point is that the main plot does not cover a large time- span.
Instead relies on timely flashbacks to tie up the loose ends.The movie is a showcase of the director Bharathan's genius.A truly unique film in Malayalam cinema.
True, it takes inspiration from the Western genre.
Never before nor after has one such been attempted!The ending is especially commendable.
No sentimental gimmicks!Truly a must-watch!.
review.
World classic ,
super acting
exelent direction
avery one shoud be see it.
This film needs a Blu Ray ......
To all fans of Westerns,I wish there was a Blu-ray with English subtitles for this film.
It deserves more recognition.
There are nothing but a few blurry Youtube videos and an awful pixelish Video CD.The film is a revenge Western in the Malayalam language.
Balan (Mohanlal) arrives in a remote valley to take revenge on his former best friend Raghavan(Salim Ghouse) who murdered his wife and stole his savings.
A violent fight between them leaves Balan injured.When the unsuspecting father-daughter duo with whom Raghavan lives, gives shelter to the injured Balan, a cat and mouse game between the two men begins.
Sumalatha in a blouse and mundu is a sultry presence in the midst of the violent feud between the two men.
Shankaradi plays her kind and industrious father.The film also offers glimpses from the everyday lives of the people who live in the valley.
The title sequence and the background score are excellent.It is definitely one of Bharathan's best films.
The setting is quite similar to his earlier film called Kathodu Kathoram in the sense that both films focus on the tense interactions between a few characters in a very remote place.
Though Kathodu Kathoram was a lot more light-hearted compared to Thazhvaram.
MT Vasudevan Nair lends authenticity to the settings through some realistic dialogue that sheds light on the attitudes of the valley dwellers and their ways of living.
Unfortunately, I am unable to provide any context to the film's era or setting.Mohanlal is quite bulky and him fighting the muscular and athletic Salim Ghouse was a bit hard to believe.
A leaner actor like Suresh Gopi or Mammootty would have fitted the role and surroundings better.Best Regards, Pimpin.(8/10)