Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
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| Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | T. Hariharan |
| Written by | M. T. Vasudevan Nair |
| Starring | Mammootty Suresh Gopi Balan K Nair Madhavi Geetha Chitra Sukumari Captain Raju |
| Music by | Bombay Ravi |
| Release date(s) | 1989 |
| Running time | 168 min. |
| Language | Malayalam |
| IMDb profile | |
Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha (Translation: A Northern Heroic Folklore) (1989) is a Malayalam feature film directed by T. Hariharan.The screenplay of this film is written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair.
The film is based on a well-known legend about the famous warriors of Northern Kerala. According to the legend, Aromal Chekavar, one of the important warriors at the time, lost his life in a duel when his sword broke off at the hilt during the fight. The reason for the failure of his weapon was that the metal rivets holding the blade to the hilt had been substituted with wooden ones by his trusted ally and cousin, Chandu. Chandu is said to have betrayed his cousin because he was jealous of his popularity and his abilities.
The movie however does not conform entirely to the legend. It tries to explore the incident from Chandu's perspective, suggesting that a similar and grave injustice had also happened to Chandu.
Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha represents the Golden Age of Malayalam Cinema. A story which has been presented numerous times in the early Black and White era. This film has presented the story in a totally different light, considering the fact that the film presented through the eyes of the anti-protagonist of the earlier versions. Though the language of the black and white era was heavily melodramatic, the director and screenplay writer has effectively subdued this on a more natural level. M.T. Vasudevan Nair won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. The role of Chandu was one of the all time best role portrayed in Indian Cinema. Mammootty received a National Film Award for Best Actor for his potrayal of Chandu. P. Krishna Moorthy, the Art Director, also bagged the National Film Award for Best Art Direction as well. Songs Of the Film
[edit] Plot
The film is told in flashbacks from the incidents leading to the death of Aromal Chekavar. It opens with two young men - Aaromal's son and his nephew, the son of Unniarcha (Aaromal’s sister), getting to know about Chandu’s treachery that resulted in Aaromal’s death. They set out to take revenge against Chandu.
The youngsters challenge Chandu to a duel which he refuses. Chandu narrates his version of the incidents to the servant girl in the house. He tells how he became an orphan and how his uncle adopted him. He is humiliated by his cousin Aaromal. However Chandu excels at martial arts (Kalari) which makes Aaromal jealous. To make things worse between the two, Kannappan, Aaromal's father and Chandu's maternal uncle, loves Chandu and is proud of his abilities. This increases Aaromal’s dislike towards Chandu.
He loses his love interest Unniarcha, when her brother gets her married to a well-to-do man. He is also not given the due respect for his martial arts expertise by his guru. This causes Chandu to join another martial arts school run by Aringodar. Chandu becomes Aringodar’s favorite.
A dispute arises between the brothers of the royal family of the land which is to be settled via a duel. One of the brothers in dispute hires Aringodar and the other party hires Aaromal. Aringodar wants to take Chandu as his second man to the arena, but Chandu is forced to being Aaromal’s second man due to family obligations to his uncle and Unniarcha.
During the duel, Aaromal’s sword breaks. Even with a broken sword, he deceitfully kills Aringodar. Aaromal accuses Chandu of bribing the blacksmith to replace metallic rivets that hold the blade to the handle of the sword with wooden ones. This causes a fight to erupt between Chandu and Aaromal. Aaromal dies after falling on a rod and utters ‘Chandu Chathichu (Chandu Betrayed)’ to people who just entered the scene. Chandu flees from the village and later learns that the blacksmith was bribed by Aringodar’s daughter, Kunji.
The film returns to the present time where the two young men (Aaromal’s son and nephew) are adamant on fighting Chandu. Chandu defeats both of them in one round each, and asks them to go back. They refuse, and subsequently Chandu stabs himself saying "let traitor Chandu’s story end here. I don’t want you people to lose..."
