Spadikam | |
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DVD cover
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Directed by | Bhadran |
Produced by | R. Mohan |
Screenplay by | Bhadran Dr. Rajendra Babu (dialogue) |
Story by | Bhadran |
Starring |
Mohanlal Thilakan Urvashi Spadikam George KPAC Lalitha Rajan P. Dev Silk Smitha Nedumudi Venu Chippy |
Music by |
S. P. Venkatesh P. Bhaskaran (lyrics) |
Cinematography |
J. Williams S. Kumar |
Edited by | M. S. Mani |
Production
company |
Shogun Films Ltd.
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Distributed by | Manorajyam Release |
Release date
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Running time
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150 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Malayalam |
Spadikam (English: Prism) is a 1995 Indian Malayalam action-drama film written and directed by Bhadran, starring Mohanlal in the lead role of a village rowdy Thomas Chacko aka Aadu Thoma. The film's name "Spadikam" means "crystal" or "prism", the splitting of light by a prism being a metaphor for human nature. The film also stars Thilakan, Urvashi, Spadikam George, KPAC Lalitha, Rajan P. Dev, Silk Smitha, Nedumudi Venu, and Chippy. The film was the highest-grossing film of the year in Kerala and was the longest running movie of the year with a run of 225 days at the box office. It was later remade in all major south Indian languages.
Mohanlal won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor and Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the young man who becomes a thug, estranged from his narcissistic father Chacko Master (Thilakan), upon failing to meet the latter's high expectations. It is regarded as one of the best Malayalam commercial films, and Aadu Thoma is one of the most celebrated characters in Malayalam cinema; the film and its characters hold cult status in Keralite pop culture.
Chacko Master (Thilakan) is a high-school headmaster who is a president's medal winner in Mathematics. He is a very strict teacher and emphasizes memorization and discipline at the expense of analysis and creativity in school. He punishes his students ruthlessly and gives no special treatment to his son Thomas, who is also a student in his class. Chacko always assumes that his son is behind every mischief in class, and punishes him until the actual culprit gives himself in.