Chithram 1988

Pure entertainment


Mohan Lal was born to father Viswanathan Nair and Mother Santhakumari in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, in the Southern part of India on 21st May 1960. Starting his career with a classic villain role, he has now become an outstanding actor of Malayalam Cinema in Kerala. Without no doubt, Mohan Lal is today's one of the best actors India has ever produced. He is also rated one of the most talented actors in India. His ranges of movies are enviable, his comedy roles are incomparable and his unique style of dialogue delivery is effortless. Not many actors can portray both comedy and serious roles with the same ease. And with all these rare talents he has received "Padmashri", one of the nations highest civilian honors. He also won the National award for the best actor twice for films Bharatham (1991) and highly acclaimed Vaanaprastham (1999).

He has reached this position with his hard work and devotion to the movie industry. As far as his acting is concerned, it's been acknowledged many times that he's the most gifted actor on the Indian movie field.



Chitram is possibly the biggest commercial success in Malayalam cinema having run of nearly two years at the box office. But more than its commercial success the movie remembered for two striking reasons - [1] The emergence of Mohanlal as a star and actor par excellence, and [2] The epoch of the golden era of Malayalam movies typified with excellent music and strong story lines.

To summarize, the movie is about Mohanlal a youth who is struggling in life and is dogged by fate. He agrees to be a makeshift husband to Renjini at the behest of Nedumudi Venu to keep Renjini's father happy during his last visit to India. The chemistry between Lal and Renjini is quite good and their squabbles make up a major part of the movie. The movie has twist in the end, which is best seen than described.

Lal is the fulcrum around which this movies revolves. He displays emotions and comic timing both with remarkable ease and his scenes with Venu are brilliant and endearing at the same time. Venu is an apt foil for Lal while Sreenivasan has a great comedy track. Sreeni also deserves credit for coming up with a script that keeps the viewer hooked throughout. Renjini is competent.

The highlight of the movie (besides Lal's path-breaking performance) is the fantastic music which is popular even after two decades. This was the first Malayalam movie in which original soundtrack was accompanied by the hero's voice-over. Chitram marks the beginning of an era of great Malayalam movie music.

Overall, a must-see for all Malayalam movie fans.