Janakan

Plot

Suresh Gopi plays the role of Vishwam, a man who has been convicted of the murder of those who raped his only daughter. Seetha, aka Anu (Priya Lal), is the heroine. She plays a college-going girl. Mohanlal plays Soorya Narayanan, an advocate who comes to the innocent man’s rescue. Soorya is one of the best lawyers in the entire country and is known to have a way with words. Soorya Narayanan takes it upon himself to release Vishwam from the clutches of the judiciary, because he is convinced of the man’s innocence.

Biju Menon and Harisree Ashokan play Monai and Pazhani, Vishwam’s accomplices in the film. Jyothirmayi and Kaveri play supporting roles. Vijayaraghavan, Ganesh Kumar and Vijayakumar lend support to the leading cast. Sampath Raj and Krishna Nair is doing the villain role.

Cast

Production

Director N. R. Sanjeev, also known as Saji Paravoor, had previously worked on movies like Mazha, Makante Achan, Sethurama Iyer CBI, Mahasamudram, Nerariyan CBI and Yes Your Honour, and had assisted several well-known directors. The script was written by S. N. Swami, the man behind the CBI series. Sajeev Shanker was the cinematographer and editing was by B. Murali. The music was composed by music director M. Jayachandran and lyrics were by Gireesh Puthenchery. Mahadevan Thampi is the still photographer of this movie.

Janakan was filmed in Thiruvananthapuram and surrounding areas.

Release

The movie was released on 8 April 2010.

Reception

Sify.com gave a "Watchable" verdict and said "There are no real experiments here, true, but the film has its moments and as they say, the heart at the right place. Though the film is just above two hours, it could have been more enjoyable, if it was shorter by some 20 minutes or so". Indiaglitz.com stated it "above average" and added "With a relevant message and above average narratives, 'Janakan' may find needed audiences, to end up as a safer movie at the Box Office.". Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com rated 2.5 out of 5 and said "Janakan is promising. In short, this film heavily depends on the actors to pull it off after the initial excitement dies down. So, Mohanlal has to use his aura to the maximum which he does, making his fans happy. Suresh Gopi in the subdued rustic role wins hands down. Biju Menon and Harisree Asokan are mostly mute supporters. It is pleasantly surprising to see Harisree not in a separate comic track. Jyothirmayi, in the meaty role of Dr Rani Mathew, does well.". Ibnlive.in.com rated 2.5 out of 5 and concluded "Director Sanjeev has tried to give a new angle to a story that's already been told several times, but he has failed to use class actors Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Biju Menon up to their potential. A watchable movie, if you don't expect much!". Nowrunning.com gave an average rating of 2 out of 5 and said "Janakan tells a new age story that's already been told. There is no denying the societal renovation that it aims at, but perhaps it needed to reinvent its modes of delivery.".

Box office

The film was average grosser at box office.

Awards

Soundtrack

Music by M. Jayachandran and Lyrics by Gireesh Puthenchery.