Yavanika: A Masterpiece

It was after a lot of hunting around that I finally managed to grab a VCD of K G George's masterpeice- Yavanika! I have been hearing people singing hosannas in praise of this one ever since I can remember and there I was all eyes for the mystery to unfold!

I dont think I need to dwell on what the story line of the 30 year old classic is. As known to almost everyone it is resolving the mystery behind the death of a tabla artiste, Ayyappan (Bharath Gopi) in a drama troupe. We have had murder mysteries galore, but what sets this one apart is the sheer identifiability of each of the characters- the troupe owner (Thilakan); the rich boy turned actor who has an affinity for women, Balagopalan (Nedumudi Venu), the lead actress and Ayyappan's mistress out of lack of choice, Rohini (Jalaja), the quiet and subdued Kollappally (Venu Nagavally), the loud and funny side kick (Jagathy) who has a gut wrenching past, the list is endless...

A taut script by K G George with S L Puram Sadanandan's apt dialogues enhancing the effect, Ramachandra Babu's cinematography and M B Sreenivasan's fabulous music- all of these have contributed immensely to the success of the movie. To think that, Yavanika was released in the early 1980's when everyone in the industry was either making a romantic film with Sankar and Menaka or remaking the eternal Manmohan Desai/ Prakash Mehra lost and found Bollywood flicks in Hindi. It requires indescribable foresight and intelligence to come up with a trend setter like this one that too without compromising on the aesthetics of film making- a quality that has been demonstrated by the ever dependable K G George film after film. The excellent craftsman's grip on the medium of film making has to be experienced to be believed. It is sad that K G George is not making films anymore.

Yavanika is also remembered for its performances- there is not even a single actor who has not benefitted from the film's success- thanks to George who has extracted fabulous performances from each and every member of the cast. Gopi's iconic Ayyappan walked away with lion's share of the accolades and the movie opened up opportunities for Mammootty to play the investigating officer/ cop in at least 25 more films. It is not only veterans like Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar and Venu Nagavally who attract but even actors like Thodupuzha Vasanthi, Vilasini and Ashokan who have very limited screen time. And what more to write about Jalaja- the eternal favorite of middle of the road movie makers all through mid- 70's to mid- 80's?

It is for no reason that Yavanika is considered a classic!!!