Pathram

Pathram (English: The Newspaper) is a 1999 Malayalam film written by Renji Panicker and directed by Joshi, starring Suresh Gopi, Murali, Manju Warrier, N. F. Varghese, and Biju Menon. Considered as one of the best political dramas in Malayalam cinema, this film was a commercial success.

Synopsis

Nandagopal (Suresh Gopi), an associate editor with Keralareshmi, one of the leading dailies, is both aggressive and daring and enjoys a good reputation among the media circle. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Nandan is the son of Venugopal, a daring journalist who was killed by textile mafia long back. Nandan, in Kochi meets Sekharan (Murali), an old naxalite who is currently running 'Jagratha', a newspaper which is feared by political class. Sekharan's outspoken and belligerent nature had earned him more enemies than friends. He is constantly in fight with Vishwathan (N. F. Varghese), who rules Kochi with his muscle and money power. Vishwanathan holds a large share in Keralareshmi, and also enjoys a huge political clout both at state and central levels. Shekharan brings out the role of Vishwanathan in the murder of Vincent Paul, which creates a panic in the political level. Vishwanathan eliminates Sekharan by planting a bomb under his car. Jagratha, the newspaper of Sekharan is now in the hands of Devika (Manju Warrier), the only daughter of Sekharan, who is also an aggressive journalist like her father. Nandan, who was very close to Sekharan, decides to investigate the murder of Sekharan and realizes the role of Vishwanathn in it. Firoze Mohammed (Biju Menon), the investigating officer, who is also a close friend of Nandan, is found dead one day. Nandan is arrested by police in a fabricated case and then sacked from Keralareshmi. He comes out on bail and decides to take law in his hands to avenge the death of Sekharan and Feroze. He shoots down Vishwanathan in the climax and takes over as the new managing editor of Jagratha.

Reception

Pathram upon release, faced opposition from Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama, two leading media groups in Kerala, as they felt the film put them in a bad light. As a result both these groups appealed to the government that this film should not be released. The press club was not ready to buy this argument and demanded that no censoring should be done on the film. Later this film was shown in a special screening and was censored by a special panel in New Delhi. Pathram, was then boycotted by both Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi. But upon the release, Pathram broke many collection records and enjoyed a successful run of 150 days in many major centers. The dialogue penned by Renji Panicker was considered the main reason for the success. Even though the film had no songs or no love angle, the film was surprisingly a huge hit among female viewers.

External links

Pathram at the Internet Movie Database