1921 (1988 film): Difference between revisions

{{short description|1988 Indian Malayalam-language war film}}

{{Use Indian English|date=December 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}

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}}'''''1921''''' (read as ''Ayirathi Thollayirathi Irupathi Onnu'') is a 1988 Indian [[Malayalam]]-language [[war film]] written by [[T. Damodaran]] and directed by [[I. V. Sasi]]. The film has an ensemble cast including [[Mammootty]], [[Madhu (actor)|Madhu]], [[Suresh Gopi]], [[T. G. Ravi]], [[Seema (actress)|Seema]], [[Urvashi (actress)|Urvashi]] and [[Mukesh (actor)|Mukesh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1921 (1988) |url=http://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movie.php?i=2057|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622155601/https://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movie.php?i=2057|archive-date=22 June 2020 |access-date=24 October 2014 |website=Malayala Chalachithram |publisher=malayalachalachithram.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nineteen Twenty One |url=http://spicyonion.com/title/nineteen-twenty-one-malayalam-movie/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024164648/http://spicyonion.com/title/nineteen-twenty-one-malayalam-movie/|archive-date=24 October 2014 |access-date=24 October 2014 |website=Spicy Onion }}</ref> Set during the [[Malabar Rebellion|1921–22 Mappila Uprising]] in [[Madras Presidency]], it tells the fictional story of Khader, a [[World War I]] veteran, who joins with the Mappila rebels during the [[Malabar Rebellion|Uprising]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1921 (1988) |url=http://malayalasangeetham.info/m.php?215|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622160219/https://malayalasangeetham.info/m.php?215|archive-date=22 June 2020 |access-date=24 October 2014 |website=Malayala Sangeetham }}</ref>

Made with a budget of Rs. 12.0 million, ''1921'' was then, the most expensive film in [[Malayalam]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=28 March 2012|title=Scriptwriter T Damodaran passes away|work=Mathrubhumi|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com:80/english/story.php?id=121947|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330230321/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/story.php?id=121947|archive-date=30 March 2012|access-date=26 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Pillai |first=Sridhar |date=31 December 1988 |title=Celluloid Sultans of Kerala |work=India Today |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19881231-mammootty-and-mohan-lal-emerge-as-unprecedented-superstars-of-malayalam-films-798061-1988-12-31|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622161311/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19881231-mammootty-and-mohan-lal-emerge-as-unprecedented-superstars-of-malayalam-films-798061-1988-12-31|archive-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> The film was released in Kerala on 19 August 1988 during [[Onam]] festival.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=28 March 2012 |title=T Damodaran cremated with state honours |work=Mathrubhumi|publication-place=Kozhikode |url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/story.php?id=121947|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128072755/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/story.php?id=121947|archive-date=28 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 April 2010 |title=Mammootty – IV Sasi – Damodaran together again |work=The New Indian Express |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2010/apr/23/mammootty---iv-sasi---damodaran-together-again-149665.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181013164733/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2010/apr/23/mammootty---iv-sasi---damodaran-together-again-149665.html|archive-date=13 October 2022}}</ref> The film won [[Kerala State Film Award]] for [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Popular Film|Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value]].<ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=List of Malayalam Films (1988) |url=http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/1988.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002193713/http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/1988.htm|archive-date=2 October 2008 |access-date=27 July 2009 |website=Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/movie-project-on-1921-malabar-rebellion-hero-sparks-row/1875105|title=Movie project on 1921 Malabar rebellion hero sparks row|website=outlookindia.com/}}</ref>  

The film focuses on Mappila bullock cart driver Khader, a retired [[corporal]] and [[World War 1]] veteran, and Unni Krishnan, a hardline nationalist revolutionary from a family of [[upper-caste]] Hindu Nair landlords. Both men join the brigade of [[Variyan Kunnathu Kunjahammed Haji]], one of the prominent leaders of the 1921 [[Malabar rebellion]].

The plot gradually introduces a variety of characters, representing the South [[Malabars|Malabar]] society of the 1920s. The film also touches various social dilemmas which led to the 1921 Uprising, the atrocities committed by the [[British Indian army]] and the [[rebel groups|rebels]] during the events and the eventual collapse of the rebel unity and organization.

* [[Madhu (actor)|Madhu]] as [[Ali Musliyar]]

The screenplay was written by physical education teacher-turned-scriptwriter [[T. Damodaran]]. Damodaran had particular focus on writing political dramas, and had collaborated with Sasi in several successful films previously.<ref>P. K. Ajith Kumar. "Malayalam scriptwriter Damodaran dead". [http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/malayalam-scriptwriter-damodaran-dead/article3253792.ece] ''The Hindu'' 28 March 2012 [https://archive.today/20181013164848/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/malayalam-scriptwriter-damodaran-dead/article3253792.ece]</ref> The film was produced by Muhammed Mannil. Peter Narakkal was the Production Executive. The film's budget was {{INRConvert|12|m}}.<ref name=":0">1921. Directed by I. V. Sasi, Mannil Films, 1988. ''YouTube,'' uploaded by Saina Movies, 28 March 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnrHrjp01bA.</ref><ref name=":1" /> T. Damodaran called the film his "dream project".<ref name=":2" /> [[Ranjini (actress)|Ranjini]] was approached by Sasi for a role, but due to date clashes she could not sign the film.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 October 2017 |title=Remembering the legend |work=Deccan Chronicle |url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/music/251017/remembering-the-legend.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181013165035/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/music/251017/remembering-the-legend.html|archive-date=13 October 2022}}</ref> T. Damodaran in an interview with ''[[India Today]]'' in 1988 said that: "A few years back history could have been told as it was in Malayalam cinema but today I have to weave an actual incident in masala form with a larger than life character for the sake of Mammootty."<ref name=":1" />

Anil worked as the associate director for the film. [[Jomon (director)|Jomon]], M. A. Venugopal and [[Shajoon Kariyal]] were the assistant directors while M. Sankar oversaw "Action", K. Narayanan was the editor, V. Jayaram was the cinematographer. Sasi "T. V." Mohan was the Production Designer while I. V. Satheesh Babu was the Art director. The set was done by B. R. Rangan and Narayanan. M. O. Devasia did the Makeup, M. M. Kumar was the costumer. Recording and re-recording were carried out by Selvaraj. G. Rajan.<ref name=":0" />

"The top dream merchants of the industry see to it that the characters are created according to the diktats of these superstars [<nowiki/>[[Mammootty]] and [[Mohanlal]]]...even history has been tinged with an overdose of fantasy to suit the image of Mammootty [in the film ''1921'']," film critic Sreedhar Pillai wrote in ''India Today''.<ref name=":1" />

"''1921'' was shot on a wide canvas with hundreds of actors and required to be dealt with sensitively considering the communal passions that the event evinces in Malabar", wrote the ''Times of India'' in 2017.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Kattakayam |first=Jiby J. |date=25 October 2017 |title=How Kerala will remember IV Sasi's films |work=Times of India |url=https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jibber-jabber/how-will-kerala-remember-iv-sasis-malayalam-films/|url-status=live|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622161556/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/jibber-jabber/how-will-kerala-remember-iv-sasis-malayalam-films/|archive-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> In a 2017 ''[[The Times of India]]'' article, it was written that ''1921'' "perhaps, remain his [Sasi's] best cinematic work".<ref name=":4" />

"It [the film] deals with a contentious chapter of our [Indian] Independence struggle, but does it in grand style and high drama. It is also one film that does justice to history. Its representation of the region [South Malabar], the milieu and the historic incident [1921 Uprising] became all the more politically relevant and socially resonant in the next decades [1990s and 2000s] when the [Malayalam] movie images of minorities [Muslims] became biased and parochial.", wrote C. S. Venkiteswaran in ''[[The Hindu]]'' in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Venkiteswaran |first=C. S. |date=26 October 2017 |title=The End of an Epoch |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/i-v-sasi-has-been-a-trendsetter-in-the-film-industry/article19924652.ece|url-status=live|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#selection-2639.1-2639.20|archive-date=13 October 2022}}</ref>

The film was a commercial success<ref>{{Cite news|date=28 March 2012|title=Scriptwriter T Damodaran passes away|work=[[Mathrubhumi]]|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com:80/english/story.php?id=121947|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330230321/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/story.php?id=121947|archive-date=30 March 2012|access-date=26 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Mammootty - IV Sasi - Damodaran together again|work=[[The New Indian Express]]|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2010/apr/23/mammootty---iv-sasi---damodaran-together-again-149665.html|date=23 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=C S Venkiteswaran|title=Trendsetting titan|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/obituary/trendsetting-titan/article9947168.ece/amp/|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=8 November 2017|language=en-IN}}</ref> and collected over ₹ 2 crore from the box office and emerged one of the top grossers of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2020/jun/22/aashiq-prithvi-teams-variamkunnan-caught-in-historic-muddle-2159989.html|title=Aashiq-Prithvi team's 'Variamkunnan' caught in 'historic' muddle|work=[[The New Indian Express]]|date=22 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IV Sasi: Remembering the director who gave us superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/iv-sasi-remembering-director-who-gave-us-superstars-mammootty-and-mohanlal-70700?amp|website=[[The News Minute]]|author= CV Aravind|date=28 October 2022}}</ref> However, the film was not very profitable for the producers of the film due to its high production costs.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/mobile/movies-music/movie-news/1921-malabar-rebellion-once-again-set-to-stir-malayalam-cinema-1.4853129|title=1921 Malabar rebellion once again set to stir Malayalam cinema|work=[[Mathrubhumi]]|date=23 June 2022}}</ref>

The film won:

 

* [[Kerala State Film Award]] for [[Kerala State Film Award for Best Popular Film|Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value]] in 1988.<ref name=":3" />

*The film received [[Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam]] won by Mohammad Mannil (1988)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5ZZAAAAMAAJ&q=malayalam+1921|title = Vidura|year = 1989}}</ref>