Aaram Thamburan

Aaraam Thampuran (1997) : Brief Review -

A monstrous commercial blockbuster that changed many proportions of action entertainner in Malayalam Cinema. It's an out-an-out massy action flick that Mohanlal rarely made and was received well too. The story isn't that original, it copies 70s formula from Bollywood and South Cinema to present the same story with new proportions. I am not saying that it was the only action flick done by Mohanlal but the proportions of presenting the film were definitely genre-defining for Malayalam Cinema and maybe somewhat for Indian Cinema too. Jagannathan, a mafia don in Bombay moves to Kanimangalam village. He wins the love of the locals, but finds trouble with a feudal lord, Appan Thamburan, after he decided to resume a traditional festival banned by Appan. This storyline was simply picked from 70s masala action flicks which were trendsetter in that time. Mohanlal had already done Classic Films which had action elements such as 'Kireedam' and 'Spadikam' but these were not front-loaded action sagas. These films didn't provide that heroic image to Mohanlal as in both the films he committed fights out of frustration. Aaram Thampuran gives him that massy heroic image of larger than life character on screen. He plays his part as if he was destined to be hailed as a Lord in the film as well in Masses. That framework, those pause during action scenes, smooth yet pure romance, dialoguebaazi and generous image of the protagonist everything comes out so well that you don't get a chance to take your eyes off it for long runtime of 175 minutes. Shaji Kailas made a film that was ahead of time for this genre. Those same typically massy entertainers of Mahesh Babu, Vijay, Allu Arjun and Salman Khan you enjoy Today are Kids born to Aaraam Thampuran. My final words- A Timeless Mass Mania!

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.