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Magical Void - Padmarajan sir

Certain creations stand the test of time and still weaves a magic. 

I happened to watch ‘Nammukku Parkkan Munthirithoppugal’ on television a few days back. The freshness. The magic. It was all as engaging as it was when I first watched it.

Then a few days later I happened to see another master piece. This time while watching it, it hit me that much before Deepa Mehta, there was this legend, Padmarajan. Much before ‘Fire’, there was ‘Deshadanakkili Karayarilla’. Unlike the former where the protagonists probably became lesbians because of their uncaring husbands, Padmarajan made no bones about the fact that his protagonists were probably lesbians. Wasn’t he a genius film maker? I don’t know if this film was a success at the box office. Was it?

Then yesterday I happened to watch yet another favourite of mine on telly – ‘Thoovanathumbigal’. It is not always that a cinema becomes immensely intriguing and grows on you each time you watch it – there are probably so many interpretations and explanations to this story and every time I watch it, I discover a new angle to it.

Today having exposure to a wide a variety of cinema and such talented film makers, Padmarajan still remains the first name that comes to my mind. His flair for characterization and the aura in each of his scripts is something I wish a wider audience got to experience. Sadly when we say Indian cinema, this name is not always there on the list with Ray, Ghatak or Adoor Gopalakrishanan. 

How does one celebrate this filmmaker who gifted us such masterpieces? How can we ever thank him for characters that stay with us? How is it that years down the lane and in spite of watching it so many times already, we stay glued to the telly when one of his scenes appears? 

His deceptively simple technique is the lifelike complexity of characters and situations – the magic that stays within us.



Oro thavana thoovanathumpikal kaanumpozhum – aadyam kandappol aagrahichathupole- nyan aagrahikkarund; ithavana clara jayakrishnante koode pokumayirikkum ennu.

This magic is will live on.










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  1. lifescapesfrommylensMarch 18, 2017 at 10:33 AM

    Padmarajan as a director was a quintessence of realistic films,etched in the hearts of a common man and how he evolves with time

    ReplyDelete
  2. lifescapesfrommylensMarch 18, 2017 at 10:35 AM

    Davideetta oru chilled beer ,such was the perfection of the dialogues

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownOctober 3, 2017 at 3:30 AM

    Year 1986, my movie memories takes a flashback, “ Kariyila Kattu Pole... കരിയിലക്കാറ്റുപോലെ...Like the fallen black leaves..” remains my most favourite suspense thriller in Malayalam. The climax where Rahman reveals he is the killer and Mohanlal burns his brother’s diary did hit us like a ton of bricks .Very rarely do the viewers’ hearts go out to both the killer and the investigator alike like Padmarajan pulls it off in this masterpiece.The same year he made movies revolving around a brothel “ Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil ... അരപ്പട്ടകെട്ടിയ ഗ്രാമത്തിൽ and womance “ Deshadanakkili karayarilla.... ദേശാടനക്കിളി കരയാറില്ല “ which showed us how he never hesitated in dealing with courageous themes too.
    Then came two of the greatest romantic movies in Malayalam – “ Thoovanathumbikal and Namuku Paarkan Munthirithoppukal “ തൂവാനത്തുമ്പികൾ “. “ നമുക്ക് പാർക്കാൻ മുന്തിരിത്തോപ്പുകൾ”, In Thoovanathumbikal, the portrayal of rain as a character whenever JP( Mohanlal) meets Clara( Sumalatha) was a masterstroke . In Namukukku paarkan munthiri thoppukal ,the scene where Solomon(Mohanlal) proposes Sofia (Shari)-‘ Namukku gramangalil chennu rapaarkan , athikalathu munthirithoppukalil poyi munthirivalli thalirthu poothuvo ennu nokkaam…’ was the work of a genius. A proposal in Malayalam cinema had never been so beautiful before or after.

    ReplyDelete

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