Yavanika

Vakkachan (Thilakan) is a popular theatre owner running his drama company known as 'Bhavana theatres'. He is the director of his dramas and is a critically acclaimed director and often surfaces as best ones in the state drama awards (in the story). The movie starts with a scene that the troupe departing for a stage show during that night in a distant place. All are on board but waiting for Kollappally (Venu Nagavalli), a popular and awarding winning performer of the troupe. In that rain shadowed evening Kollappalli arrives late (unusually) and gives excuses to Vakkachan for being late, and the bus departs.

On the way they pick-up Rohini (Jalaja), who plays the lead female role in the drama, from her home. Vakkachan enquires where Ayyappan (Gopi), the Tabala player of the troupe, with whom Rohini lives, is. The gloomy faced Rohini says she doesn’t know where he is and he hasn’t returned home last night, she replies. Varunan (Jagathi Sreekumar), the comedian of the troupe, suggest to route the bus through the nearest liquor shop where Ayyappan, a drunkard by nature, might be sleeping by booze over last night. However the team could not find him at the liquor shop either and they proceed to the stage with an anticipation that Ayyapan might be joining directly there.

As the drama starts, Ayyappan hasn't turned up yet but Vakkachan takes the risk of starting the show without the Tabalist. The drama goes well despite the orchestra had no Tabalist that night and the team proceed to a hotel mid way to the following day's stage show. In the morning Chellapan (Sreenivasan) sends another Tabalist as a replacement for Ayyappan. After two consecutive shows, the troupe returns and drops Rohini first at her home and finds that Ayyappan hasn’t returned to their home either.

After a week, the troupe members realize that the 'missing' of Ayyappan is mysterious and without any valid reason, despite his history of quarrelling and leaving the troupe in the past. Varunan advices Vakkachan to register a complaint in Police for man missing case. The police files the case and put Jacob Eeraly (Mammootty) a CI officer in-charge for the investigation.

Soon, Jacob Eeraly starts his inquiry. He interrogates the troupe members one by one. Some are at the opinion that Ayyappan might have left the troupe or the place with other women as he has forcefully captured the ornaments of Rohini the day before he went missing. Police went clue-less except few key point such as (1) Ayyappan son's presence in the scene, a potential reprisal to Ayyappan, just before the mysteries disappearance, (2) the verbal arguments between Balagopalan (Nedumudi Venu) and Ayyappan in the liquor shop on the night he went missing, and (3) the evidences that Ayyappan has sold Rohini's ornaments to a jewellery owner the evening before he went missing. After a month when people started forgetting about Ayyappan, his body was recovered from a paddy field in between the drama company and Rohini's house.

So the man missing case now has turned into a murder. The police officer identifies a key chain with some keys from the spot where the body was found and it was carved 'J.K.' in it. CI Jacob recognizes that it must be the short name for Joseph Kollappally. He grabs Kollappally after a stage show and arrests him silently. Kollappaly confesses that he committed the murder of Ayyappan on the road side when he accidentally met him that night and as a result of a quarrel and wrestling. He said that he hid the body under the paddy field. The motive was a quarrel at the crime scene. Jacob Eeraly partially believes it, though some missing links such as the presence of a piece of broken glass, which was used to stab the victim was found from Rohini's house, instead at the spot where Kollappally reported where he committed the crime.

The next day again the drama troupe waits for Kollappally, not knowing that he was arrested. The police set a plot to identify the role of Rohini in the murder. Kollappally was allowed to phone the troupe and give message that he will come to the stage directly. The curtain raised and the show started. Rohini appeared nervous to find out where Kollappally was and why he is late. Kollappally tells her in secret at the back of the stage that he has been arrested by police for committing the murder of Ayyappan. Rohini's consciousness fades and she enters the stage in the middle of the drama and confess to the audience with utter tension that it was not Kollappally, but herself who committed the murder of Ayyappan.

She explains to the police that Ayyappan captured her ornaments and sold it for money and provoked Rohini that he will be capturing her sister also for pleasure and ruin her too like he did to Rohini once. This triggered her anger and she stabbed him to death. At desperation Rohini sought help from Kollappally at that night, who always had empathy on her for her situation of a tied-up life with Ayyappan against her will. Kollappaly helps her hide the body under the paddy field. Both Rohini and Kollapally were taken into custody by the police.

The movie ends with a fantastic background score where the rest of the troupe members entering the bus silently and departing from the scene.

• Bharath Gopi as Tabalist Ayyappan
• Nedumudi Venu as Balagopalan
• Jalaja as Rohini
• Thilakan as Vakkachan
• Mammootty as CI Jacob Eeraly, the police officer in charge of the investigation
• Venu Nagavalli as Joseph Kollapally
• Jagathi Sreekumar as Varunan
• Vijayavani as Molly Jacob Eerally
• Thodupuzha Vasanthi as Rajamma
• Sreenivasan as Chellapan
• Ashokan as Vishnu Ayyappan
• Mohan Jose as Danny
• Kuttyedathi Vilasini as Ammini

The film was released in four theatres. For the first week the response was lukewarm, but later picked up and became both commercial and critical success.[4][8][9] Yavanika released along with the Prem Nazir-starrer Ivanoru Simham but still it managed to surpass its box office collection.[10] Film critic Kozhikodan included Yavanika on his list of the 10 best Malayalam movies of all time.[11] Premlal of The Cue felt that, "'Yavanika adhered to the hallmarks of mainstream cinema and opened the way for broad possibilities to embrace the theme and characters with complexity and approach them philosophically and psychologically."[6]

Yavanika won three awards at Kerala State Film Awards (1982).[12][13]

• Kerala State Film Award for Best Film (shared with Marmaram directed by Bharathan)
• Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay - S.L. Puram Sadanandan, K.G. George
• Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor - Thilakan

The film won one award at the Kerala Film Critics Association Awards (1982).[14]

• Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Second Best Actor - Mammootty

The music was composed by M. B. Sreenivasan and the lyrics were written by O. N. V. Kurup and M. B. Sreenivasan.

• Yavanika at IMDb