Vartha

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.

{{colbegin|colwidth=}}

• 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

{{colend}}

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."{{Cite web |last=Pillai |first=Sreedhar |date=28 February 1987 |title=Malayalam film makers in Kerala transposes real life into reel life |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/films/story/19870228-malayalam-film-makers-in-kerala-transposes-real-life-into-reel-life-798594-1987-02-27 |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=India Today |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111072942/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/films/story/19870228-malayalam-film-makers-in-kerala-transposes-real-life-into-reel-life-798594-1987-02-27 |url-status=live }}

The film was released on 12 February 1986. It was a commercial success, running for 150 days in theatres.{{Cite web |url=https://malayalasangeetham.info/moviepics/1731.jpg |title=170th day |access-date=29 January 2023 |archive-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315233051/http://malayalasangeetham.info/moviepics/1731.jpg |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/architect-of-blockbusters/article4655388.ece|title=Architect of blockbusters|work=The Hindu|date=26 April 2013|access-date=21 May 2016|archive-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205145004/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/architect-of-blockbusters/article4655388.ece|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/saluting-the-maker-of-super-hits/article4612482.ece|title=Saluting the maker of super hits|work=The Hindu|date=13 April 2013|access-date=2 August 2016|archive-date=15 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815143249/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/saluting-the-maker-of-super-hits/article4612482.ece|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/he-reigned-at-box-office-but-made-classics-too/article19912969.ece|title=I.V. Sasi reigned at the box office, and made classics too|work=The Hindu|date=24 October 2017|access-date=24 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624210559/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/he-reigned-at-box-office-but-made-classics-too/article19912969.ece|url-status=live}}{{cite news|author=C S Venkiteswaran|title=Trendsetting titan|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/obituary/trendsetting-titan/article9947168.ece/|work=The Hindu|date=8 November 2017|access-date=24 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205647/https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/obituary/trendsetting-titan/article9947168.ece/amp/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2017/10/24/iv-sasi-hitmaker-mammootty-films.amp.html|title=IV Sasi: the hitmaker who discovered Mammootty, the actor|work=Malayala Manorama|date=24 October 2017|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184528/https://www.onmanorama.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2017/10/24/iv-sasi-hitmaker-mammootty-films.amp.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/i-v-sasi-has-been-a-trendsetter-in-the-film-industry/article19924652.ece|title=The End of an Epoch|work=The Hindu|date=26 October 2017|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=13 October 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181013165144/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/i-v-sasi-has-been-a-trendsetter-in-the-film-industry/article19924652.ece|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2018/feb/18/they-too-stirred-up-a-hornets-nest-pre-social-media-malayalam-films-that-sparked-controversy-1774949.html|title=They too stirred up a hornet's nest: Pre-social media Malayalam films that sparked controversy|work=The New Indian Express|date=18 February 2018|access-date=7 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184815/https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2018/feb/18/they-too-stirred-up-a-hornets-nest-pre-social-media-malayalam-films-that-sparked-controversy-1774949.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |date=28 February 2021 |title=ഇറങ്ങിയിട്ട് 35 വർഷം! മമ്മൂട്ടി-മോഹൻലാൽ ചിത്രത്തിന്‍റെ പരസ്യം ഇപ്പോഴും കോഴിക്കോട്ടെ ഓവർ ബ്രിഡ്ജിൽ! |url=https://malayalam.news18.com/news/film/the-ad-of-the-mammootty-mohanlal-movie-released-35-years-ago-is-still-in-kozhikode-over-bridge-1-ar-354031.html |work=News18 |language=Ml |access-date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190707/https://malayalam.news18.com/news/film/the-ad-of-the-mammootty-mohanlal-movie-released-35-years-ago-is-still-in-kozhikode-over-bridge-1-ar-354031.html |url-status=live }} The film was the third highest grossing Malayalam film of 1986.

The music was composed by A. T. Ummer and the lyrics were written by Bichu Thirumala.{{Cite web |title=വാര്‍ത്ത (1986) |url=https://malayalasangeetham.info/m.php?1731 |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=Malayalasangeetham.info |language=ml |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228062956/https://malayalasangeetham.info/m.php?1731 |url-status=live }}

• Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam won by P. V. Gangadharan (1986){{Cite magazine |date=1–5 October 1987 |title=The Awards |url=https://archive.org/details/34th-filmfare-south-winners |url-status=live |magazine=Filmfare |page=72 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230820055359/https://archive.org/details/34th-filmfare-south-winners |archive-date=20 August 2023 |access-date=21 August 2023}}{{Cite news |date=17 July 1987 |title=Filmfare awards announced |pages=5 |work=The Indian Express |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19870717&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=21 August 2023}}{{cbignore}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0215307|Vartha}}

{{I. V. Sasi}}

{{Filmfare Award for Best Film – Malayalam}}

Category:1986 films

Category:1980s Malayalam-language films

Category:Indian political films

Category:Indian political thriller films

Category:Malayalam films remade in other languages

Category:Films directed by I. V. Sasi