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Oridathoru Phayalwan

aka There Lived a Wrestler 1981 128’ col Malayalam d/s P. Padmarajan pc Thundathil Films c Vipin Das m Johnson lp Rashid, Jayanthi, K.G. Devakiamma, Nedumudi Venu

Lightweight folk parable, apparently derived from the director’s childhood memories, about success and failure in the life of a wrestler (Rashid). Partronised by the village tailor, he becomes a local hero when he overcomes all opponents and claims the prettiest woman (Jayanthi) as his wife. One of the cinematic highlights is the hero’s primitive courtship dance in the traditional wrestling style, flexing his muscles as he throws his new bride in the air. However, his muscular prowess is offset by sexual inadequacy, and he has to leave the village. A novelist and frequent collaborator of B.G. Bharathan, Padmarajan presents the wrestler as a catalyst for change: the sleepy tailor transforms into a shrewd businessman and an old woman learns to guard her hens which kept disappearing whenever the wrestler grew hungry.

Film