Yavanika

aka The Curtain Falls 1982 147’ col Malayalam d/st/co-sc K.G. George p Henry pc Carolina Films co-sc S.L. Puram Sadanandan co-lyr O.N.V. Kurup c K. Ramchandra Babu co-lyr/m M.B. Srinivasan lp Gopi, Jalaja, Mammootty, Venu Nagavalli, Nedumudi Venu, Thilakan, Jagathi Srikumar, Ashok

A story, told like a thriller, about touring players and the sense of claustrophobia that encompasses their violent lives. The plot is structured around the search for the unpopular tabla player (Gopi) of the Bhavana Touring Theatre in Kerala. He turns up as a murder victim. The subsequent police investigation reveals the complicated sexual rivalries and internal dissensions within the group, yielding several possible suspects. George said that in using the thriller form, situated in a theatrical context, he wanted to contextualise and thereby overcome the conventionally ‘stagey’ format of Malayalam film.

Film