Malayalam cinema lost one of its finest today. Lohithadas passed away due to a massive heart attack in Kochi at around 10:50AM. Lohithadas, who pennned many masterpieces  was also one of the last links between our cinema and its past glory.  He was also our last hopes to regain lost glory.

His scripts created some of the best movies and finest characters in Malayalam cinema. Script writer, director, song writer … Lohitha Das shone is all these roles. Thaniyavathanam, Kireedom, His Highness Abdulla, Amaram, Sallapam … a long list of movies having well etched characters.

In an era where movies flood theatres, cashing on collective amnesia of viewers and disappear into oblivion faster, Lohi’s characters have stood the test of time. In a career spanning 22 years, Lohithadas wrote 44 scripts and directed 11 movies.

Here is Sibi Malayail and Lohithadas talking about Kireedam and other movies.

PS:  On a personal note – Last year this time we were fortunate spend few weeks  with Lohithadas. A gentleman, a caring person and nice sense of humour. What stood apart was his deep knowledge on various subjects.

One of the best and memorable characters Lohithadas has created is Sethu in Kireedom. Sethu was a simple man with a simple dream and slowly circumstances turned his world around. This is exactly what happened to another Lohithadas character, Bala Gopalan in Thaniyavarthanam who was branded as a lunatic due to a history of mental disorders in his family. The success of the writer was in making us believe in those characters and their trauma, but while seeing the character, Aravindan (Dileep), in Chakkaramuthu we were left wondering on what happened to Lohithadas of the last decade.

Aravindan, a tailor, is naive and a good hearted man. In fact he is so naive that he believes almost everything his friends say and so is affectionately called pottan. Aravindan’s object of affection is Anitha (Kavya Madhavan) who stays with her mother. Aravindan runs errands for them and is a constant fixture in their house with complete freedom. While Aravindan dreams of Anitha all the time, her affections are for Jeevan (Jishnu), her rich class mate. Things do not turn out well for Anitha with Jeevan and she ends up murdering him. The only person she can trust at that point is Aravindan, but by then her family is out there trying to put the blame on Aravindan to save Anitha. To find what happens to them you have to endure torture for about two hours.

One of the techniques to portray a naive man would be through situations, but Lohithadas decided to add a bit more weight to the character by changing his looks and by adding an irritating style of conversation and at the end of it Dileep’s character looks like a cross between Kunji Koonan and Chanthupottu. In fact Aravindan is trying very hard to be this simpleton through dialogue and mannerisms that he annoys us and does not get any sympathy. Dileep has done his best to pull off this character, but the weakness in the character turns out to be his Achilles Heel.

Kavya for a change gets to emote which is refreshing after seeing movies like Inspector Garud. In one instance she is Aravindan’s friend, Jeevan’s girl friend and her mother’s loving daughter. When her mother turns against her for going out with Jeevan, she does a Nagavalli type character change and becomes very adamant, angry and vindictive. Then in the next frame, she turns out to be playful again as if the emotional roller coaster ride in the previous ten minutes had never happened. As this character goes through comedy, romance, anger one after the other, the narrative seems to have degenerated into a vaudeville act.

Among this bunch of flawed characters, one man gets the role of his life time and that is Sai Kumar. As Anitha’s uncle, he gets some of the best scenes and flow in terms of consistency in character. When we see him the first time, we know that he loves his niece very much and as the story progresses, we see that love deepening to an extent that he is willing to do anything to save her. If Lohithadas had given the same attention to Aravindan and Anitha as he had given to Sai Kumar’s character it would have been an intense movie.

When this movie was released, it was called Chakkarapottan and had a tragic ending. This did not go well with the audience and the in the new climax Dileep does not die and Kavya is not shown in a mental asylum, but instead they walk in slow motion smiling. To understand how patched up that ending looks, you have to see the movie. Just five minutes before the ending, it was intense drama with Anitha and Aravindan lying on a railway track waiting for the train to come with a bunch of policemen running into save them. Back at her house on knowing that Anitha had murdered Jeevan, Sai Kumar asks the police to catch Aravindan and frame him for murder. Then suddenly you see both Anitha and Aravindan walking off smiling towards the sunset and you wonder against which wall you should bang your head.

Out of all the Lohithadas movies we have seen, this one is the worst. He is one of our finest script writers who can churn out very intense tales and for once we kept on wondering if it was the same man who did this atrocity. The only saving grace in this movie is the song Karineela Kannilenthedi, but you can watch that on YouTube and save yourself from rest of the torture.

Nivedyam seems to be better than Lohitha Das’s previous movie Chakkaramuthu. But then that’s not exactly a compliment. The new hero and heroine have apparently given good performance, hopefully a good addition to the new generation of actors in Malayalam cinema. One of the songs, Odakuzhal, is already on top of the charts.

Nowrunning.com says:

Vinu Mohan, who makes his debut as Mohanakrishnan is good and suits his role. The new girl Bhama as Satyabhama doesn’t impress much. Bharath Gopi as Rama Varma Thampuran and Nedumudi Venu as the temple priest excel in their roles. None of the others in the cast impress us in any way. All the songs have come out very well and have been well visualized too, especially the “Chittatinkaavil…” and “Odakuzhal viliketto…” which are in true Lohithadas style. Cinematography, editing and art-work are among the high points of the film.

The sad thing about the movie is that, the writer (Lohithadas himself) couldn’t come up with a good story line. He deserves to be applauded for having moulded the lead character as someone very akin to the mythical Krishna and finding an apt hero for the character. But the story seems to have gone out of control and just peters out. The second half of the film tries our patience beyond all limits. We expected something better from Lohithadas!

IndiaGlitz comments:

Lohithadas has been in his best in the past, contributing fresh story lines to films that always captured the heart of the Malayalam viewer’s. But recently this industry’s most dependable writer-director has been keeping away from business for quite a time and even his comeback in Chakkaramuthu couldn’t make any impressive watch. So for Naivedhyam, he has attempted a rehash of the best tried and tested formula in Malayalam, taking bits and pieces from many hit films like Sallapam, Ee Puzhayam Kadannu, Nandhanam and Kasthooriman. Any way the result is a film which comes with his own brand of narration, giving us an endearing watch, this Onam.

Naivedhyam is a simple film, revolving around simple characters. Yet, it works, partly because the story defies the regular stereotype, due to its super-efficient performances and partly due to the well-crafted screenplay and convincing storytelling.The film’s opening hastily sketches the life of Mohana Krishnan, an outspoken Brahmin guy who is presently into carpentry work to keep his family comprising of his widowed mother and sister. He is the son of C .K, a famous dramatist, who fought for the rights of writers. Even after his father’s death, Mohana Krishnan managed to study all arts and crafts till his plus two, but as his family’s prospects fell on his shoulders, he left his traditions to find better jobs to maintain his family intact. Forwarded by one of his father’s friend lyricist Kaithapram, who happens to meet him in a composing session, Mohana Krishnan arrives at the Kovilakom, headed by Ramavarma Thampuram, a pious aged man who was a dear student of Chembai Vaidhya Natha Bhagavathar.

One of the problems in Malayalam cinema is that we don’t have any bankable second level actors. This lack of young actors restricts the number of stories that can be told and so we are forced to watch blockbuster superstar movies which are indistinguishable from their previous movies. It is not like film makers are not aware of this problem. Ranjith made a small movie called Nandanam few years back with some new comers and both Prithviraj and Navya Nair went on to become stars. Director Kamal tried Goal and Roshan Andrews tried Notebook and except Roma no one really survived.

Now Lohithadas who introduced Manju Warrier and Meera Jasmine, two very fine actresses, is introducing two new comers. The actress is Bhama and the hero Vinu Mohan is the grandson of Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair.

Mohan Krishnan was looking fir a job at Kovilakom, but the financial position of the Tharavadu was not so bright that they can offer any job for him. But Mohana Krishnan had bigger personal problems that won’t allow him to go back. And in these circumstances Ramavarma Thampuran debuts him to assist the priest at the temple owned by the Kovilakam. Nedumudi, who is a regular in Lohithadas films, says “In this film, I enact the role of an old priest in a temple owned by a Kovilakam that is in dire straits. Although the elderly priest’s health is declining, he wants to continue. That is when a young Namboothiri youth is appointed. He doesn’t know anything about mantras and rituals. The old priest gives him necessary training and entrusts him with the rituals of the temple while keeping a supervisory role for himself”.

Once the Keezh Santhi comes, the prospects of the temple brighten as he works day and night to keep the rituals of the temple. The young priest attracts the attention of many young women, including the heroine Bhama, who is an orphan, the daughter of lady who committed suicide for his misdeeds. Eventually the youngsters fall in love.[ Naivedhyam - The Onam offering from Lohithadas ]

Music by M Jayachandran plays an important part in this film and after listening to it, we can say, it is definitely not Sargam. Lohithadas as a writer has had more success than Lohithadas the director and recently the audience has not taken kindly to his creations like Chakkrapottan. The success of new comer or minor star movies depends strongly on story and screenplay as is seen from movies like Sargam or Aniyathipravu and unless this movie has something which will bring people to theater through word of mouth, it may not not be profitable.

Then last Onam, a movie with a bunch of youngsters called Classmates turned out to be the biggest hit in Malayalam cinema. The question is, will that repeat again?

Few years back when Harikrishnan’s was released Fazil stunned everyone with providing two different climaxes for the movie in two different regions of Kerala. Lohithadas found this as a good idea and decided to change the climax of his latest release Chakkaramuthu.

After the lukewarm response to Dileep’s Chakkaramuthu, the producers Seven Arts and director Lohithadas have gone for a total revamp of the film.

Now the film will be known as Chakkarapottan and the climax has also been changed! In the new climax, Dileep does not die and Kavya is not shown in a mental asylum! Instead they hold hands and walk into the sunset very happily. [`Chakkaramuthu` turns `Chakkarapottan`!]

By renaming the movie, the film makers are very clear on who the pottan really is (Answer: viewers). We have some questions though. What happens to those people who watched the movie in the first week? Do they get a full refund? Or do they get a free ticket to watch the new version?

But this is a great idea. Release the movie, see how well it does, and if you find people are not coming, change the movie and see. Since Classmates is doing well, Lohi Uncle could have tried to make this into a college campus love story. Since Dileep is desperately trying to show that he is macho, they could have converted into an action movie with the climax showing Dileep and Kavya riding a helicopter into Baghdad sunset. They could even hold a contest to see which version is the best.

If Lohithadas wanted a clear winner, he should have added a dog and Salim Kumar and released this as the sequel of CID Moosa.

The Reviews all agree on one thing – Lohithadas has lost his mojo in this movie. The man who wrote great screenplays and created memorable characters was not able to do his magic in this movie. For Dileep this is a crisis as neither his action movies nor his family movies are clicking.

Rediff.com says:

The last thing you expect from a Lohithadas movie is that it starts with a song choreographed with dozens of dancers, wearing Army uniforms. It’s in a dream sequence, and establishes a few home truths about the character of Chakkaramuthu. We are warned that this will be run-of-the-mill stuff. Even when the narrative picks up a little, our disappointment lingers.

The master filmmaker Lohithadas is not seen in this film. Though expectations were high when he cast Dileep as a mentally retarded character — the actor has created a niche for himself with such marginalised roles — the film offers nothing new to Dileep. The role is repetitive.

Sify.com says:

Lohithadas seems to have run out of steam as his latest film Chakkaramuthu, is nothing but a rehash of various old films and none of the characters are well-etched out nor do we become a part of their anguish or worry.

The trouble is too many characters with too many motives are haphazardly tied up resulting in an embarrassingly bad film. There is not even one single scene which is new or brings a smile on your face and the climax is a big letdown. Looks like, the writer-director had lost interest and wanted to some how end the film!

Nowrunning.com says:

Chakkaramuththu, the eleventh directorial venture of writer-turned-director Lohithadas, has proved to be a big let down in almost all respects.

Lohithadas, who had earlier directed films like Bhoothakannadi, Arayannangalude Veedu, Joker etc, seems to have made the film in a rather carefree manner, paying little attention to important aspects like scripting, characterization etc. He has attempted to bank on Dileep’s acting potential, especially his skills as an excellent mimicry artist. Of course he has been able to tap the actor’s potentials in a commendable way, but that alone doesn’t make for a good film. The director’s attempt has thus to a very great extent misfired and hence watching Chakkaramuththu is not at all a pleasant experience.

Chakkaramuthu marks the comeback of Lohithadas, one of the best script writers in Malayalam cinema. He tried his luck in Tamil and has completed a full circle and is back where he started. In Chakkaramuthu, Lohithadas is trying to tell a simple love story with the touch of humour.

Dileep is returning to roles which display his strengths in acting with the film. In Chakkaramuthu he plays a simpleton named Aravindan who is also the expert tailor of the village. He quits school in the fifth standard and took up tailoring and eventually became an expert in the profession. Being a person who blindly believed in others, he was often the laughing stock of the people in the village as he always landed in foolishness, but he never kept a record of that and remained as he used to. Chakkaramuthu – Story of a simpleton

Dileep is back with his mentor after 5 years after Soothradaran. Dileep, after trying his luck in action movies and other genres is back to his strength, which is character role with a humour touch. This movie holds a lot of hope for him, since this year his movies didn’t have a impressive run at box office. He is paired with his lucky heroine Kavya Madhavan and what more can one ask for? Another note for historians is that Kavya is a non-Meera heroine in a Lohi movie after a long time!

We admire Lohithadas the scriptwriter but Lohithadas the director doesn’t have a very good track record. He looking must be looking forward to set the record straight.

His movies are very relalistic and the characters are well etched out and we are sure Dileep and Kavya will get lot of opportunity for histronics in this one. With Ramzan movies not faring very well in the box office, and not much competition around, if this movie offers a decent fare, it will do well.