Malayalam actor Mohanlal’s all-time blockbuster, Spadikam completed 22 years today. The film, directed by Bhadran and produced by R Mohan, was released on March 30, 1995, and also starred late Malayalam actor Thilakan, Urvashi, Spadikam George, Silk Smitha and Chippy.
Spadikam tells the story of a young man Thomas Chacko who becomes a village Rowdy Aadu Thoma due to his father’s arrogant behaviour. Lalettan essayed the role of Thomas Chacko aka Aadu Thoma while late legendary Malayalam actor essayed the role of his arrogant father, Chacko Master. Spadikam is touted as one of the best mass-entertainers ever produced by Malayalam cinema and the character of Aadu Thoma is one of the most celebrated characters in Mollywood. The film was a runaway blockbuster at the Kerala Box Office as the film ran over 225 theatrical-days across the cinemas. It was also the biggest blockbuster of 1995.
The Mohanlal blockbuster was later remade in three languages: Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. In its Telugu version (Vajram), Nagarjuna portrayed the role of Mohanlal whereas, in its Tamil version (Veerappu) and Kannada version (Mr Theertha), Sundar C and Sudeep reprised the role of Lalettan. However, all the three South actors failed to match the charisma of Mohanlal in Spadikam.
The movie went on to bag the fifth Best Actor award for Mohanlal at Kerala State Film awards and Filmfare Awards South respectively. The action-entertainer also win the Filmfare Awards South Best Director recognition for Bhadran.
Spadikam’s action scenes are still a common topic among the youth of Kerala.
