Thanmathra

Thanmathra
DVD cover
Directed by Blessy
Produced by Raju Mathew
Written by Blessy
Based on "Orma" by Padmarajan
Starring Mohanlal
Arjun Lal
Nedumudi Venu
Jagathy Sreekumar
Meera Vasudevan
Prathap Pothan
Music by Mohan Sithara
Cinematography Sethu Sriram
Edited by Raja Muhammed
Production
company
Century Films
Distributed by Century Release
Release date
  • 16 December 2005 (2005-12-16)
Running time
 160 minutes
Country India
Language Malayalam

Thanmathra ( Malayalam: തന്മാത്ര, English: Molecule) is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Blessy, based on Padmarajan's short story "Orma". It portrays the effects of Alzheimer's disease on the life of Ramesan Nair (Mohanlal) and his family.[1] The film collected three times its budget at the box-office and completed 150 days run.[2] Thanmathra won five Kerala State Film Awards, which includes the Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and a Special Mention Award for the debutant actor Arjun Lal. It also won the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 53rd National Film Awards.[3]

Plot

Ramesan Nair (Mohanlal) is a Kerala government secretariat employee, cocooned in his own small and happy world. An honest and sincere man, Ramesan's family consists of his loving wife Lekha (Meera Vasudevan), son Manu (Arjun Lal) who is a plus-two student, and daughter Manju (Baby Niranjana), a primary school student. His biggest ambition is to see that his son gets into the IAS (Indian Administrative Service), something he himself had failed to achieve despite being a brilliant student. Manu is a very loving son and an intelligent student who shares a strong emotional bond with his father. All in all, they form the very picture of loving family, with a bright future.[4]

However, fate has other ideas. Ramesan starts to develop problems with his memory. What starts as commonplace omissions and absentmindedness, quickly grows into handicapping cognitive and behavioral impairments.

The first time we notice this is when Ramesan misplaces a very important office file at his home, inside the refrigerator. One day he arrives in office after buying a bag of vegetables and starts behaving as if he had reached home after his office hours. He begins acting strangely in the office, as if he has lost his sense of time and place. He is taken to the doctor by his family and close friend, Joseph (Jagathy Sreekumar).

In the hospital, Ramesan is diagnosed with Familial Alzheimer's disease, a disease which causes a gradual loss of memory and cognitive abilities. The news comes as a grave shock for the happy family and turns their world upside down. The family is devastated by the sad news, but tries to adjust to the situation with a lot of determination underscored by strong emotional bonds. How they cope up with the trauma, insecurity and uncertainty caused by Ramesan's plight, forms the gist of the movie.

Cast

Performances

The movie illustrates one of the finest performances by Mohanlal. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his unparalleled depiction of a middle-aged man in the throes of a crippling disability. The movie was advertised as a return of the actor from a super-hero image which he had cultivated with a string of movies, back to that of an average man. The actor has taken full advantage of this opportunity to display a superb performance. He was also nominated for the National Film Award for Best Actor. A controversy arised when Amitabh Bachchan was announced as the best actor during the National awards. He himself admitted that Mohanlal deserved it.

Arjun Lal, who plays Mohanlal's son, gives a performance that won him a special mention from the state film awards jury. The performance of Nedumudi Venu, who plays the role of Mohanlal's father, is also excellent. Meera Vasudev, a newcomer to Malayalam movies, plays a great supporting role and does justice to her character. Jagathy Sreekumar is in his element as usual, and fits into the role of Joseph as if it were tailor-made for him. Upon the release the film received a cold starting at the box office.but in its 2nd week the film raised upon comparing to all other releases. The film well received by the critics and highly positive reviews praised the performance of mohanlal. In its 100 days run the film turned a Blockbuster of the year. And mohanlal led the year with three blockbusters at the box office.

The bulk of the movie is carried on the shoulders of the three protagonists: the father (Mohanlal), the grandfather (Nedumudi Venu) and the son (Arjun Lal).

Soundtrack

Thanmathra
Soundtrack album by Mohan Sithara
Released 2005
Genre Film
Label Manorama Music
Producer Century Films
Mohan Sithara chronology
RappakalString Module Error: Match not foundString Module Error: Match not found Thanmathra Hridayathil SookshikkanString Module Error: Match not foundString Module Error: Match not found

The music of this movie is composed by Mohan Sithara and the lyrics by Bharathiyar (Kaatru Veliyidai) and Kaithapram. Song Mixing done by Renjith Viswanathan.

TrackSong TitleSinger(s)Other Notes
1"Ithaloornnu"P. JayachandranRaga: Kalyani
2"Mindathedi"M. G. Sreekumar, Sruthi
3"Mele Vellithingal"KarthikRaga: Maand
4"Ithaloornnu"MohanlalRaga: Kalyani
5"Mindathedi"Sujatha
6"Mizhikalil"G. Venugopal, Sujatha
7"Kaatru Veliyidai"Vidhu Prathap, Sheela Mani, Dr. Unnikrishnan, SunilRaga: Valachi
This is a famous poem by Bharathiyar. The classical lyrics is by Kaithapram

Box office

The film was commercial success.[5]

Awards

National Film Awards

Kerala State Film Awards

Filmfare Awards South

Asianet Film Awards

Vanitha Film Awards

Kerala Film Critics Awards

Amrita Film Awards

  • Best Film (Producer) - Raju Mathew
  • Best Director - Blessy

Mathrubhumi Film Awards

Kerala Film Audience Council Awards

J.C. Foundation Awards

  • Best Actor - Mohanlal
  • Best Director - Blessy
  • Best Child Artist - Baby Niranjana

Kala Keralam Award

National Film Academy Award

References

  1. ↑ "Thanmathra review". Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  2. ↑ "Mohanlal makes a hatrick". IndiaGlitz. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Thanmathra bag five state awards". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  4. ↑ "Thanmathra, a brilliant script". LiveJournal. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  5. ↑ "They too stirred up a hornet's nest: Pre-social media Malayalam films that sparked controversy". The Indian Express. 18 February 2018.
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