Thanmathra

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.

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.

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

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.

Awards

National Film Awards

Kerala State Film Awards

Filmfare Awards South

Asianet Film Awards

Vanitha Film Awards

Kerala Film Critics Awards

Amrita Film Awards

Mathrubhumi Film Awards

Kerala Film Audience Council Awards

J.C. Foundation Awards

Kala Keralam Award

National Film Academy Award