Director: Priyadarshan; Writer: Priyadarshan; Producer: N. Gopalakrishnan; Cinematographer: K.V. Anand; Cast: Mohanlal, Shobhana, Nedumudi Venu, Kaviyoor Ponnamma
Duration: 02:44:38; Aspect Ratio: 2.353:1; Hue: 26.117; Saturation: 0.131; Lightness: 0.339; Volume: 0.218; Cuts per Minute: 13.526
Summary: Frontier melodrama about Kerala’s Thazavad
manorial system which is based on matrilineal
kinship. Sreekrishna (Venu), the brother of the
Madambipura House’s leader, Yashoda, is
extremely friendly with his servant Manikan
(Mohanlal). Another servant, Appikala, envious
of Manikan’s favoured status, is the film’s
official villain. The Madambipura House is
locked in an ancestral rivalry with the equally
large establishment run by Ganjimuda
Gandhari, which usually finds expression in
the bullock cart race at the annual Pongal
festival. Both Sreekrishna and Manikan fall in
love with the beautiful itinerant theatre actress
Karuthambi (Shobhana), causing Manikan to
briefly fall out of favour with both Yashoda and
the local law. The film’s camerawork adopts
the glossy style (diffusers and angled lighting
calibrated to the exposure of high-speed colour
stock) made fashionable by Tamil
cinematographer P.C. Sriram. Shot mostly at
dawn and dusk, the camerawork creates a
glittering fantasy world that in turn determines
both plot and performances.
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