Godfather (1991 film)

Godfather is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy drama film written and directed by Siddique–Lal. It is produced by Appachan under the banner of Swargachithra. The film stars Mukesh, N. N. Pillai, Thilakan, Innocent and Bheeman Raghu with Philomina, Kanaka, Jagadish, Siddique and K. P. A. C. Lalitha in supporting roles.[2] The film revolves around the rivalry between two families, the Anjooran and Anappara houses and the consequences faced when two members of the families fall in love.[3][4]

Godfather
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySiddique-Lal
Written bySiddique-Lal
Produced byAppachan
Starring
CinematographyVenu
Edited by
  • K. R. Gaurishankar
  • T. R. Shekhar
Music by
Production
company
Swargachithra Films
Distributed bySwargachithra Release
Release date
  • 15 November 1991 (1991-11-15) (India)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Godfather was initially planned to be released before In Harihar Nagar (1990), however Siddique-Lal felt that the film's script was not complete, and as a result stretched production time.[5] The film was released on 15 November 1991 to positive reviews and became a blockbuster, running for 404 days.[6] The film was the second highest grosser of the year, only behind by Kilukkam.[6] It was later remade in Telugu as Peddarikam, in Marathi as Ghayaal, in Hindi as Hulchul, in Kannada as Pandavaru, in Bengali Bangladesh as Dadima (2006) and in Odia as Love Dot Com.[7] The movie was shot entirely in Kozhikode.

Plot

Anjooran, and his four sons Balaraman, Swaminathan, Premachandran and Ramabhadran are in severe enmity with the Anappara family. Anjooran's bitter hatred toward Anappara Achamma stems from events in the past, when the men of Anappara abducted Balaraman's fiancée and forced her to marry the eldest son of Achamma. The resulting series of events saw Anjooran's wife being killed, and him being sent to jail for avenging her by murdering Achamma's husband. Consequently, he develops a hatred toward all women, and their entry into his home is prohibited from then on.

Anjooran's youngest son Ramabhadran is a law college student. At Law college, he and his friend Mayin Kutty try all means to humiliate their classmate Malu, who is the granddaughter of Achamma. Malu gets engaged to Shyam Prasad, a young state minister, but the minister withdraws from the relation as Anjooran intervenes and threatens him of political consequences. Incensed, Achamma hatches a plan to divide Anjooran's family by having Malu seduce Ramabhadran and making him turn against his father. When Malu expresses her feelings to Ramabhadran, as per the advice of her grandmother, Mayin Kutty ideates that Ramabhadran could divide the Anappara family by seducing Malu and turning her against them. On his advice, Ramabhadran too acts as if he is in love with her. The facade soon falls and they really fall in love with each other. While wondering about ways to get his family to support this relationship, he gets to know that Swaminathan is leading a secret double life as Ramanathan, with a wife Kochammini and two children. When confronted with this information, Swaminathan promises to help unite him and Malu.

Through a turn of events, Anjooran learns of Ramabhadran's love affair and Swaminathan's deceitfulness. Consequently, they're both ostracised from the family. Over at Anappara, Achamma is shocked to know that Malu's love is not a mere act. She and her sons decide to get her married to the family's advocate's son. However, she still tries to bring her plans to fruition by sending out signals that the house is divided over the issue. To this end, she sends her sons to beg for Anjooran's help in preventing Ramabhadran from marrying Malu (a request that Anjooran approves), and approaches Ramabhadran himself assuring him of all help in doing so.

However, Achamma does not know that her youngest son Veerabhadran is sympathetic to the lovers' cause and has revealed her plan to Ramabhadran. With his help, Ramabhadran sneaks in to the marriage hall and almost marries Malu. Enraged, Achamma curses Anjooran for not being vigilant enough, exposing her duplicity. Ramabhadran then admits that he sneaked in not to marry Malu, but to foil Achamma's plan and save his father's honour. A regretful Anjooran allows the wedding of Ramabhadran and Malu to take place and welcomes both him, Swaminathan and their families back into the fold, thereby paving the way for the entry of women into his house once again.

Cast

Music
Godfather
Soundtrack album by
S. Balakrishnan
Released15 November 1991
Recorded1991
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length18:46
LanguageMalayalam
LabelNisari Music
ProducerAppachan
External audio
audio icon Audio Jukebox on YouTube
List of songs
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Manthrikochamma Varunnundee"Bichu ThirumalaK. G. Markose02:39
2."Neer Palunkukal"Bichu ThirumalaM. G. Sreekumar, Sujatha Mohan03:55
3."Neer Palunkukal" (Male)Bichu ThirumalaM. G. Sreekumar03:55
4."Pookkalam Vannu Pookkalam"Bichu ThirumalaK. S. Chithra, Unni Menon03:03
Total length:18:46

Box office

The film was a huge commercial success, becoming one among the biggest blockbusters ever in Malayalam film industry.[3] It ran for 404 days at Sreekumar Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram alone, which still remains an unbeaten record in Malayalam film history. The film grossed ₹ 22,84,147 in 246 days from Sreekumar Theatre, Thiruvanthapuram.[8]

Remakes

The film was remade into Telugu as Peddarikam (1992).[7] In 1993 producer N. Chandra and director Purshottam Berde remade the film into Marathi as Ghayaal. In 2004, Priyadarshan remade the film in Hindi as Hulchul. It was also remade in Kannada as Pandavaru (2006),[9] in Bengali Bangladesh as Dadima (2006) and in Odia as Love Dot Com.[10]

Legacy

The film ran for more than 400 days in movie theatres in Kerala. Especially the film ran for 417 days in Sree Kumar Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram.[6][11]

Awards

References
  1. Cris (16 January 2021). "'Chithram' to 'Godfather', know the music composers behind these Malayalam hits". The News Minute. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  2. "Godfather (1991)". www.malayalachalachithram.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  3. "Coronavirus outbreak: 'Tsunami' team calls off shoot". The Times of India. 17 May 2020.
  4. "25 Malayalam Comedies for Every Mood, Available on YouTube". Film Companion. 15 September 2020.
  5. "അച്ഛൻ ഒരിക്കലും 'അഞ്ഞൂറാനാകില്ല': വിജയരാഘവൻ സിദ്ദിഖ്–ലാലിനോട് പറഞ്ഞു". Manorama Online (in Malayalam). 18 September 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  6. "Spell of Mollywood Movies Released in 1991 Still Grips Hearts". The New Indian Express. 9 January 2016.
  7. Narasimham, M. L. (16 April 2019). "Emotions of the downcast". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  8. Vellinakshatram : 1992 Reports - Thiruvanthapuram
  9. "Ghayaal (1993) - Avinash Kharshikar - Ajinkya Deo - Ashok Saraf - Shivaji Satam - Marathi Movies - YouTube". YouTube.
  10. "Odia music, tune, song by various oDiA Film". Odiamusic. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  11. "Malayalam films remade in Hindi". The Times of India. 29 July 2015.
  12. "Film Critics Award 1991" – via YouTube.
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