Happy Birthday Mammootty: The star who gave us our favourite Thalapathi

While Rajinikanth fans found this to be one of the best films of his career, I found that Mammootty as the public’s hero Devaraj did a stunning job of personifying a bad man with a side to him that is equally good. When he befriends Surya, the emotions that light up the screen are just breathtaking.

The scene where Devaraj and Surya are on one side, and Arjun (played by Arvind Swami) on the other, there is an undertone to the entire conversation that is too good. There is no comparison that could be done to prove how good this film turned out to be, and how the film turned from a casual gangster flick to a movie loved by an entire generation.

It achieved the cult status because two superstars came together to work on what on the surface looks like the most simple of roles, but there are so many layers that one could peel off each time they watch the film. As someone who has not seen all of Mammuka’s Malayalam films, this is the best of what I have seen so far.