Thoovanathumbikal

i cant actually explain in words what this movie means, but no matter how many times repeatedly i have watched this movie, i never get bored a bit. a beautiful love story and Mohanlal's performance was outstanding. i probably have seen this movie 1000 times already..... still fresh, each scene, dialog with a deep inner meaning. Padmarajan, Malayalam movies miss you... even though there is a touch of adult theme in the movie, we never get a vulgar feel. the whole movie revolve round the axis called love and no other movie can make you feel how love actually feels. all the movies try to explain love, but in this movie we can feel love. love between Clara and jayakrishnan also love between Jayakrishnan and Radha...... just pure love in a very natural situation and the dialogs are also very natural and a common man's words

Thoovanathumbikal (1987) : Brief Review -

A puzzle of True Love and Marriage that somehow finds a way without using intellectual sentiments. Thoovanathumbikal is one of the highest rated Malayalam Film at IMDb and to be honest i am surprised to see such high ratings. Well, my opinion differs and so does other people's therefore i won't call it overrated and invite geniune mocking. I just feel that maybe malayalam audience haven't seen better films from world cinema so they found this one extraordinary. I would suggest them to watch films like 'J'accuse' (1919) and 'Sunrise' (1927) or little modern ones in talkies like 'Dodsworth' (1936) and 'Casablanca' (1942) if they really want to see top class Romance/Love Triangle with some unbeaten intellectual theories in human forms. Thoovanathumbikal is about Jayakrishnan who falls in love with two girls, Radha and Clara, and fights his confusion about whom he should marry and spend his life with. The main problem here is that not a single character has that generous nature and matured, subtle thinking while dealing with the mess. When Radha falls in love with Jaya it looked like we are heading for something extremely emotional but it doesn't go that way. She continues chasing Jaya even after knowing what he has done and is doing. That didn't make any sense to me. Secondly, Clara's character didn't show anything that would make me feel something for her. I mean she was cold, unexplored and unsettled. Jaya was no different, rather he was very spoiled then i don't understand why a genuine girl would fall for him so deep? I mean they didn't have any conversations or friendship for that, it was so indirect. I liked the performances and direction but the writing goes with lots of complaints for not using any intelligent and honest theories of love. This was so cold romance, even for hardcore lovers, I mean even platonic affairs shows more maturity than this so called 'Serious' affair.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

i think this is the best movie i have ever seen ..this is the movie with magical moments...mohanlal as jayakrishnan totally nailed it proving himself to be the best actor India has ever produced..sumalatha as clara is a dream..parvathi rocked it..no director can attain half of the achievement that padmarajan made..started off in a slower note ended with astronishment,,johnson music still lingering in my ears..classic personified

I just love this movie,cant resist watching it again and again. Padmarajan has crafted this master piece scene by scene. All the scenes in this movies are straight from the real world. I am sure that the "Naranga soda maker" and "butcher who sells head of goat" were doing the same in their real life. The crux of the movie is the portrayal of Jaikrishnan. Lal the genius has delivered a stellar performance as Jaikrishnan.He delivers in depth and breadth the emotions and feelings of a protagonist in a Padmarajan style.Clara as a prostitute who knows in what she is going to end up is superb . She shows the deep sorrow of being forced to be a prostitute in a neutral manner.Her dialogues reflects the feelings of a prostitute who knows clearly that a normal life is a dream for them.Jaikrishanan's ideologies are simple but his emotions are complex to understand. Parvathy has acted beautifully in her part so did ashokan.Overall this movie is a masterpiece in malayalam cinema.

This is should be in fact the best movie by Padmarajan, ever. thats my opinion. It is a bold story of love versus lust..love doesn't win. lust doesn't loose the game also. The game of life is practically won by love, as lust takes a back door exit. Clara the prostitute unlike many others, enters her profession not because of her life problems, but because she wants to. Protagonist, Jayakrishnan played by Mohanlal is drawn quite masterfully. He is bold and daring, and in his town, the most popular. In his village, he is a humble landlord and a farmer, who is conservative.

Both faces of the character are safe with Mohan Lal. He again displays his genius as he eases through the role. The directors brilliance is shown in so many shots like the song sequences, and when he proposes Clara.

This will be boldest movies ever in Malayalam Cinema. I am sure none of the Directors of this age wouldn't dare to make a movie like this. And to add, this is different from Padmarajans Novel "Udakappola", though the characters are the same in both the movies and the Novel.