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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, Biju Menon, T. P. Madhavan and Spadikam George. Considered as one of the best political dramas in Malayalam cinema, this film was the highest grosser of that year.

Synopsis

Nandagopal (Suresh Gopi), an associate editor with Keralareshmi, one of the leading dailies, is 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 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 fighting Vishwathan (N. F. Varghese), who rules Kochi with his muscle and money.

Vishwanathan holds a large share in Keralareshmi and enjoys a huge political clout 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 an aggressive journalist like her father. Nandan, who was very close to Sekharan, investigates 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 sacked from Keralareshmi. He comes out on bail and takes 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 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 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. Later it was shown in a special screening and was censored by a special panel in New Delhi. Pathram was then boycotted by Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi.

Upon release, Pathram broke many collection records including Aaram Thamburan and enjoyed a successful run of 250 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 love angle, it was surprisingly a huge hit among female viewers.

External links

Pathram at IMDb

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