Aryan (1988 film)

Aryan is a 1988 Indian Malayalam-language action crime film directed by Priyadarshan and written by T. Damodaran. The film stars Mohanlal, Ramya Krishnan, Sharat Saxena, Shobana, Sreenivasan, Gavin Packard, M. G. Soman and Goga Kapoor. It was produced by Mohanlal and Century Kochumon through the company Cheers Films. Aryan tells the tale of an underworld battle and family bonds through Devanarayanan, who arrives in Bombay with nothing and rises to become a gangster in a powerful crime gang.

Aryan was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It ran for over 100 days in theatres. Mohanlal won the Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award for acting. The film was dubbed in Hindi as Aaryan Mera Naam. Aryan was remade in Tamil as Dravidan (1989), in Telugu as Ashoka Chakravarthy (1989). It was remade in Kannada as Chakravarthy (1990). Saxena reprised his role in all the versions.

Plot
Flashback: Devanarayanan (Devan) is a Brahmin priest from Kerala who has to look after his entire impoverished family. He is in love with Aswathy, but her corrupt father, Govindan Nair, is against their relationship. Devan is also at loggerheads with Arumukhan, the wicked local businessman. Problems go from bad to worse when Arumukhan, along with Govindan Nair, Inspector Chandrappan, and their coterie of corrupt men of influential positions, falsely accuse Devanarayanan of the theft of the local temple's Thiruvabharana (Deity's ornaments) and fabricate him in the case. Inspector Chandrappan arrests Devan and thrashes him in front of the villagers; Devan's father, mother, and Arumukhan taunt Devan's father. Devan's father, mother, and sisters beg Chandrappan not to hurt their son, but Chandrappan doesn't listen. The other police officers then surround Devan and clobber him. Devan's mother cries as he is dragged away from his home and to jail. Once Devan is out of jail, his father, who believes the accusations against him to be true, curses him, and Devan is forced to leave his village.

Present Day: He reaches Bombay where he gets shelter from Kunjali and his daughter Sainaba, who runs a tea shop. Devan soon finds out that not all is well in the city as the crime rate is severe and to make matters worse, a thug named Martin and his gang terrorize the city by physically tormenting the citizens. When Martin first sees Devan, he stares menacingly at him, and another day, Devan becomes Martin's next victim as he starts physically tormenting Devan and then stealing his necklace. However, Devan retaliates by defeating Martin in a fighting match later that day. Devan soon joins the underworld, and he becomes the trusted aide of an ageing don Kareem, who had lost his wife, brother, and uncle in an underworld gang war decades ago. Sainaba is in love with Kareem's only son.

Nirmala, who is working for Kareem's gang, meets Devan. On their first underworld mission, Devan is taken hostage by Majeed Khan and his gang. One night, they physically torment him and beat him unconscious until he wakes up to find Kareem taking care of his wounds. Nirmala looks after him until he's fully healed. Kareem and Nair, who is a secretary to Kareem, persuade Devan to kill the gangster who took him hostage the previous night, and he does that by finding him in a car and then shooting him to death. Devan and Nirmala soon fall in love. Devan narrates his sad memory of how he was mocked in the court of law when he was on trial for the local temple theft and how he was sentenced to a year in jail to Nirmala at the beach. Kareem finds out about his son's relationship with Sainaba and rebukes him. He then summons his gang to attack Kunjali and Sainaba, but Devan intervenes and fights them off. Nair sees this and turns against Devan. Devan and Nair engage in a finishing fight until Nair drives away in fear after Devan points a knife directly in his face. Kunjali then hits Sainaba after finding out about her relationship with Kareem's son, but Devan comforts her. Kareem then rebukes Devan and says that he'll kill him, but Devan points a gun at him and reasons with him as to why he defended Kunjali and Sainaba and questions if it was right to attack them. Kunjali then comes and confronts Kareem for the attack and then walks away upset. The marriage of Sainaba and Kareem's son gets fixed when Devan convinces both Kareem and Kunjali. One night, Kareem and his gang are having a party with the city police officers. But the cop, Robin Alberto, arrests Kareem and the gang after Nair reports them. Devan then blackmails him with a VHS tape showing the officers engaging with Kareem's gang if he doesn't release the gang. Kareem and the gang applaud Devan that night for his heroism. Nair joins with Kareem's rival, Majeed Khan, after he feels that Kareem is giving more importance to Devan, especially because of the previous fight. Kareem's son and daughter-in-law Sainaba, along with Kunjali, are shot dead by Majeed Khan, Nair, and their henchmen during the Holi celebrations, leaving Kareem on a path towards religion and leaving all underworld business for good.

Majeed Khan and Nair plan to leave Bombay, but Devan successfully shoots them, apparently killing them in a traffic jam he organized with Nirmala. Devan is sentenced to a five-year imprisonment. After he gets released, Devan and Nirmala leave for Kerala. When Devan returns to his village, his mother starts crying with sadness, and his father, who is still bitter towards him, questions as to why he came back and asks if he can't allow him to die peacefully. Devan's mother then curses him for being away for so long and tells him to leave. He stays in a hotel room with Nirmala. With the help of Nirmala and Sakhavu Karunan, an ambitious and brash politician who is also Devan's friend, he summons Arumukhan, Govindan Nair, Inspector Chandrappan, Adv Radhakrishnan and the corrupt high priest of the temple to his house. He proves his innocence to his parents and family and shouts at the wicked men who had once fabricated him. He demands them to tell his father the truth about the theft, and in the process, he thrashes Chandrappan, slaps Govindan Nair, and is about to hit Arumukhan when his father stops him. Devan then shouts at his father, saying that the law has left him unheard and that he was out to prove his innocence. He then storms out of the house, still feeling angry. Ashwathy comes to visit Devan and meets Nirmala there. She says that her husband, Adv Radhakrishnan, is innocent. Devan then says he can punish the corrupt men, but decides to let them go for her sake. He then introduces Ashwathy and Nirmala to each other. Before leaving, Devan tells Ashwathy that he can't forget her, and she smiles through tears. Sometime later, Devan shows Nirmala a mansion he used to live in and says he dreams of living there with her. Nirmala suggests Devan gets his mother's approval first. Sakhavu Karunan soon arrives, stating that he was searching for Devan. Devan tells him that there's no need as he's forgiven the men who framed him. An argument ensues between them, as Karunan accuses Devan of being in cahoots with them. Devan shrugs off his remarks and leaves. Back in the village, he invites his parents and sisters to live in the mansion with him and Nirmala. Devan then drives back to the mansion and calls for Nirmala. He's in for a shock when he finds Nirmala tied up and bleeding, and to make matters worse, Majeed Khan and Nair, who somehow survived the gunshots, reach Kerala to take revenge on Devan and it turns out that they sexually assaulted Nirmala and hold her hostage. Devan pays the ransom but is shot by Majeed Khan. Khan and Nair are about to leave when Devan starts a fight with them. In the fight, Devan suffocates Nair and shoots Khan to death. Nirmala succumbs to her injuries and dies, leaving Devan speechless and devastated. The film ends tragically with a furious Devan screaming at the judge in the court of law for having been imprisoned under fabricated accusations.

Cast

 * Mohanlal as Devanarayanan Namboothiri / Devan, a Brahmin priest-turned-gangster
 * Ramya Krishnan as Nirmala / Nimmi, Devan's girlfriend
 * Shobhana as Aswathy, Devan's former girlfriend
 * Sharat Saxena as Majeed Khan, the main antagonist and a powerful underworld don in Mumbai
 * Goga Kapoor as Kareem Seth, an aged powerful underworld don in Mumbai
 * Kundara Johny as Nair, the secondary antagonist and ex-secretary to Kareem, later Majeed Khan's henchman
 * Sreenivasan as 'Sakhavu' Karunan, an ambitious politician
 * M. G. Soman as Arumukhan, the villainous local businessman
 * Innocent as Govindan Nair, Aswathy's corrupt father
 * Maniyanpilla Raju as Adv. Radhakrishnan, Aswathy's husband and Govindan's son-in-law
 * Sukumari as Thampuratti, Devan's mother
 * Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair as Namboothiri Thampuran, Devan's father
 * Kuthiravattam Pappu as Hassan
 * Balan K. Nair as Kunjali
 * Monisha as Sainaba/Sainu, Kunjali's daughter
 * Gavin Packard as Martin, a menacing local thug
 * Priya as Subhadra, Devan's younger sister
 * Sithara as Dhathrikutty, Devan's youngest sister
 * Sreenath as Unnikrishnan, Dhathrikutty's husband and Devan's brother-in-law
 * C.I. Paul as Inspector Chandrappan, a corrupt police officer and Aramukhan's accomplice
 * Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri as Oikyan, Devan's 'Guru'
 * Milind Gawali as Salim, Kareem's son and Sainaba's husband
 * Bob Christo as Tony, a Goon

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Raghu Kumar and the lyrics were written by Kaithapram.

Box office
The film was a commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It ran for over 100 days in theatres.

Remake
Aryan was later remade in Tamil as Dravidan (1989) by Suresh Balaje, with Sathyaraj playing the lead role. It was also remade in Telugu as Ashoka Chakravarthy (1989) starring Nandamuri Balakrishna and unofficially as Dhruva Nakshatram (1989) both of which were released on the same day, and in Kannada as Chakravarthy (1990) starring Ambareesh.