Comedy was not the only thing actor Innocent reflected in Thiraslila. Analyzing the characters of Innocent, who subverted traditional villainy.
Innocent means a laughing name for Malayali. Our memories of laughter on the silver screen and in everyday life are associated with this man. Innocent was an actor with good looks and body parts suitable for comic characters in Amarchitra stories. But comedy was not the only thing this actor reflected in Thiraslila. Innocent has also shone as a good antagonist. Innocent’s were also characters who broke the traditional villainy. The actor infuses his villains with the same mannerisms and antics he uses for comedy. But both had different effects on the audience.
Personifications of perversity
Innocent’s villains have always had monotonous looks. They were the epitome of depravity. This actor has tried to bring a touch of humor in his villainy. Despite all this, the villains had terrified and disgusted the audience. Don’t you remember Lazar in Keli? At every stage of the film, the audience will want to eliminate the villainous boss Lazarus. That’s how the Innocent actor manages to elevate his antagonist.
Scenes from Keli
Innocent has featured two types of anti-heroes. One of them is in the category of Lazarus. Kapyar in Kathod Katoram, Eepachan in Taskaraveeran, X MP BVC in Kinnamkatta Kallan and Lonappan in Swarnakaduva belong to this category. They are complete villains. The epitome of uncompromising brutality. Innocent has also introduced a different kind of villains. Sankarankutty Menon in Mazhavilkkavadi, Panickar in Duck that Lays Golden Eggs, Pattar in Pingami and Pasupathi in Doctor Pashupati are like that. It is up to the audience to decide what to do with such characters. We can hate them or love them. Sometimes we don’t even realize that they are villains.
How can Lazarus not hate the boss
Perhaps the most hated of Innocent’s villains is the boss Lazarus in Keli. Lazarus was the kind of villain only Innocent might. Under the control of Bharata, a master craftsman, Lazarus breaks all the boundaries of brutality. All of Innocent’s villains following Lazarus were more or less imitations of Lazarus in some way. What makes Lazarus the actor’s masterful character? The reason for that is the differently-abled hero beyond. Bharathan’s writing and direction have managed to transform the character of Narayanan Kutti, played by Jayaram, into the epitome of kindness. Lazarus himself elevates himself to anti-heroism as a wealthy, slumlord who preys on an innocent young man under the care of three mothers. Then all that is required is to give some suitable postures. Innocent had enough to bring it to Lazarus. When all this came together, one of the most perfect villains in the history of Malayalam cinema, Lazar Mutadali, was formed.
All the actions and movements of the boss Lazar are innocently imitated by his comic characters. Lazar in Keli subverts the conventional notions of a villain with repeated mistakes, restless body movements, sharp and sarcastic dialogues, and frequent expressions of anger. At the beginning, the audience thinks that he is ridiculous, but as the film reaches its climax, the audience becomes filled with fear as to what he will do next. The subtlety of Lazarus’s execution and presentation plays a major role in the success of the character.
Gospel of Kapyar
In Bharata’s own Kathod Kathoram, Innocent’s role is that of a kapyara. A good one is the slanderous Kapyara. Capyare Innocent has been portrayed without the edge of comedy like his usual villainous characters. Kapyar is the brother of the main villain, played by Janardhanan as Lazar. It is this capyar that pushes him along with Lazarus into all atrocities. Kapyar in this is a very eloquent speaker in a kind of evangelical style. From moral policing to protection of family chastity, Innocent has brought to the screen the disturbing twists and turns of Kapyar.
Shankarankutty Menon – Mazhavilkkavadi
Taskaraveeran is a film in which Innocent appears as a complete villain in the style of Kathod Kathoram. The tycoon boss in this is a flawless anti-hero. He is also an important character in Innocent’s ‘Muthalali Villain’ series. Written by Dennis Joseph, Taskaraveeran is a film with many complications in the original story. The film is full of flashbacks and twists. Eeppachan, played by Innocent, is a determined villain. This is a character that does not fit Innocentism. Eepachan is a character who does everything from murder to cheating and cheating without any malice. After the comedy track given in the beginning, Eepachan is evolving into a complete villain. But it cannot be said that there are some flaws in its execution. These flaws weaken the film itself.
Another of Innocent’s boss villains is the Lonappan boss in Swarna Katuva. The usual ingredients have been tried here as well. Lonappan is a somewhat stupid, sly and naive villain. Rini Eepan, the hero of Swarna Kaduwa, also has a negative shade. Lonappan, who becomes his companion, is a character that exploits the talent of the actor named Innocent to portray caricatures.
Successor Pattar
One of Innocent’s different villains is Pater, a lawyer in the sequel. The successor is a departure from Sathyan Anthikkad’s traditional films. Even though it wasn’t a huge financial success, it still has a huge fan following. Innocent comes as a character unlike any other in the sequel. This actor has portrayed Pattare with a little bit of villainy, fear, pity, greed and crookedness. The chemistry between Malayalam cinema’s comedy kings Jagathy Sreekumar and Innocent can be seen in the later scenes. This is one of Raghunath Paleri’s best screenplays. We can see the innocent magic in the sequel, which makes the audience laugh and erases the villainous aspect of the character.
Successor Pattar
Innocent sometimes appears as the hero’s father, as the guardian of caste, grotha and clan glory, as the guardian who surrounds the hero. Shankarankutty Menon of Mazavilkavadi and Panicker of Duck that Lays Golden Eggs are like this. More care is needed when portraying such characters. None of these should be the brutes that the hero ends up beating. These are the people who try their hardest and fail. Such characters were always with Innocent. This actor’s talent for portraying human beings who try their best and ultimately fail to join the good side was one of a kind.
A super villain named Pashupati
It is not uncommon for the character’s name to appear in the film titles. Often the name of the hero comes like this. Rarely is the villain’s name included in the film’s title. Ramji Rao Speaking is one such. At least some brows may furrow if they say that the innocent movie Doctor Pashupati is also of this type. There may be those who are reluctant to admit that the first Pashupati is a villain. It might be because of the talent of the actor Innocent. This actor brings a character full of good and evil to the pinnacle of comedy.
Doctor Pashupati has a character whose real name is Bhairavan and who goes by the pseudonym Pashupati. He is a thief, a swindler, a swindler of the heroine and a goon-beater for the hero. Pashupati is a character who combines all the bad qualities of a movie villain. But Innocent gives brilliance to his character with a caricature character so that the viewers do not feel disgusted. At some points, Pashupati narrates his plights in such a way that the audience feels emotionally attached. ‘This is an opportunity, let’s try it’ is Pashupati’s policy. No viewer can hate such a person completely.
Characteristic of the actor’s villainous roles in what was Innocent. How it subverts traditional pottery. A closer look shows that there was no difference between villain, hero and comic character in front of the actor named Innocent. There were only characters in front of him. This actor only played the characters that he got like that with enthusiasm.
One of Innocent’s good fortunes was that he was never typecast. The actor kept moving from character to character. It had hero, villain, comedian and everything. He moved from film to film without getting stuck in anything. The actor used to give some subtle characteristics to all the characters he gave life to. Maybe that’s why we didn’t get tired of seeing him.