Vartha

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1986 film directed by I. V. Sasi

title: "Vartha" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1986-films", "1980s-malayalam-language-films", "indian-political-films", "indian-political-thriller-films", "malayalam-films-remade-in-other-languages", "films-directed-by-i.-v.-sasi"] description: "1986 film directed by I. V. Sasi" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vartha" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1986 film directed by I. V. Sasi ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

Field	Value
name	Vartha
image	Vartha poster.jpg
caption	Poster
director	I. V. Sasi
producer	P. V. Gangadharan
writer	T. Damodaran
starring
music	A. T. Ummer
cinematography	Jayanan Vincent
editing	K. Narayanan
studio	Grihalakshmi Productions
released
country	India
language	Malayalam
runtime	163 minutes
::

Vartha () is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by I. V. Sasi and produced by P. V. Gangadharan. The film stars Mammootty, Mohanlal, Rahman, Seema, Venu Nagavally, K. P. A. C. Lalitha and Prathapachandran. The film has musical score by A. T. Ummer. The film was successful at the box office. The film was remade in Tamil as Palaivana Rojakkal (1986), in Kannada as Kurukshetra (1987) and in Hindi as Jai Shiv Shankar (1990), which never released.

Plot

Madhavankutty is a journalist who fights against the corrupted government system. His father is Keshavan Nair and his mother is Kunjulaksmi. Unnikrishnan is a violent college student constantly vandalizing school property and he has animosity towards his elder sister Radha Menon who is an IAS Officer and they have a younger sister named Vasanthi. One night, Unnikrishnan and his gang throw stones at Madhavnkutty's house and Radha slaps him after hearing about it. She demands Unnikrishhan to apologize to Madhavankutty which he reluctantly does the next day. Vasu known as 'Parol Vasu' is a goon working for Manikyam the corrupt businessman. Hamsa is Vasu's aide who is with him always. Vasanthi proposes to marry Madhavankutty but is declinded as he loved Radha One night and another, Vasu and his goons attacks Madhavankutty. Vasu and Unnikrishnan are friends and eventually Vasanthi starts liking Vasu and she eventually becomes Vasu's wife. Vasu tells Vasanthi about his past on how his mother was in a mental asylum and that his father was in central jail who is now bed ridden and how Vasu grew up in an orphanage and how he became a goon. Madhavankutty offers Vasu a job which the latter refuses at first because of his initial bitterness but he then changes his mind and becomes Madhavnkutty's right hand man. One night, Hamsa is killed by Inspector Francis. Upon hearing this, Vasu goes to beat him and is about to kill him but is stopped by Madhavnkutty who tells Vasu to let the court punish him. In the climax, Madhavankutty and Vasu are shot dead by unknown shooters which leaves Unnikrishnan, Radha and Vasanthi devastated. The film ends with a newspaper citing the investigation of their deaths.

Cast

Mammootty as Madhavan Kutty, an upright journalist
Mohanlal as Parol Vasu, a violent hired goon with a troubled past
Rahman as Unnikrishnan, a violent college student and younger brother of Radha
Seema as Radha Menon, a strict IAS Officer
Nalini as Vasanthi, Unnikrishnan's and Radha's younger sister
Venu Nagavally as Devan
Prathapachandran as Nambeeshan
Devan as Revenue Minister Philip
T. G. Ravi as Manikyam Kumar, the main antagonist and a corrupt businessman
Janardhanan as James
K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Kunjulakshmi
Manavalan Joseph as Constable
Jagannatha Varma as Kurup
Babu Namboothiri as Venu
Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair as Keshavan Nair
K. P. A. C. Sunny as Enforcement Officer
K. P. A. C. Azeez as City Police Commissioner
Balan K. Nair as Forest Minister
Kuthiravattam Pappu as Hamsa, Vasu's aide
Kundara Johny as Francis
Paravoor Bharathan as Bharathan
Kunjandi as Pachu Pillai
Nellikode Bhaskaran as Radha's Relative
Sonia as Young Radha
Santhakumari as Ammukutty
K. T. C. Abdullah uncredited roll
Baskara Kurup as Hajyar
V. Ramachandran as Engineer Sahadevan

Themes

Sreedhar Pillai wrote for India Today, "Vartha had overtly political themes, parodying events and politicians in a manner that left little to the imagination. I. V. Sasi told him, "I always have a rough commercial framework for my political films, Then I look around and talk to a lot of people about current political happenings. These, when mixed in the right proportion can give you an instant hit."

Release

The film was released on 12 February 1986. It was a commercial success, running for 150 days in theatres. The film was the third highest grossing Malayalam film of 1986.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by A. T. Ummer and the lyrics were written by Bichu Thirumala.

::data[format=table]

Song	Singers
"Innalekal"	K. J. Yesudas
"Salilam Sruthisaagaram"	K. J. Yesudas, Ashalatha
::

Awards

Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam won by P. V. Gangadharan (1986)

References

(26 April 2013). "Architect of blockbusters".
(13 April 2013). "Saluting the maker of super hits".
(7 November 2004). "Sibiraj is all set to make it big!".
Bhattacharjee, Moumita. (2021-04-07). "Jeetendra Birthday Special: Not Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan, But The Veteran Actor Is The King Of Remakes - Here's How".
Pillai, Sreedhar. (28 February 1987). "Malayalam film makers in Kerala transposes real life into reel life".
"170th day".
(26 April 2013). "Architect of blockbusters". [[The Hindu]].
(13 April 2013). "Saluting the maker of super hits". [[The Hindu]].
(24 October 2017). "I.V. Sasi reigned at the box office, and made classics too". [[The Hindu]].
C S Venkiteswaran. (8 November 2017). "Trendsetting titan". [[The Hindu]].
(24 October 2017). "IV Sasi: the hitmaker who discovered Mammootty, the actor". [[Malayala Manorama]].
(26 October 2017). "The End of an Epoch". [[The Hindu]].
(18 February 2018). "They too stirred up a hornet's nest: Pre-social media Malayalam films that sparked controversy". [[The New Indian Express]].
(28 February 2021). "ഇറങ്ങിയിട്ട് 35 വർഷം! മമ്മൂട്ടി-മോഹൻലാൽ ചിത്രത്തിന്‍റെ പരസ്യം ഇപ്പോഴും കോഴിക്കോട്ടെ ഓവർ ബ്രിഡ്ജിൽ!". [[News18]].
"വാര്‍ത്ത (1986)".
(1–5 October 1987). "The Awards".
(17 July 1987). "Filmfare awards announced". [[The Indian Express]].

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