PLAYING THE HERO IN MUSAFIR, WRITES KK MOIDU
Musafir, directed by
Pramod Pappan, is a
big-budget thriller.
Rahman, an icon for
youngsters in the
80s, plays the male lead of the film.
The movie is produced by Suneer
Hamza under the banner of Indish
Creations. The film tells the story of
the dispute between financially elite
families who run corporate businesses.
Rahman plays the role of a
dancer-cum -musician in the film
and his heroine is roped in from
Bollywood. The story and dialogue
is by Babu Janardhanan and the cinematography
is done by Shoukath
Lensman. The movie will be picturised
in Dubai, London and
Cyprus.
Gulf returnee Rahman, a tall,
handsome hero, was a teenage heartthrob
in the 80’s. He has acted in
more than 50 films in different languages
like Malayalam, Tamil and
Telugu. He was very popular in the
industry as a romantic action hero.
His more than six feet height and
pleasant nature earned him a variety
of opportunities for playing different
kinds of roles.
As an actor, his range of roles
extended from the firebrand extremists
in Ethiri Poove Chuvanna Poove
to a humorous performance in
Pappan Priyappetta Pappan. He
also appeared in chocolate-hero roles
in several films and performed them
with the same ease. He was lucky
enough to work with some ace directors
and best actors of the industry.
Rahman made his dream debut in
the super hit Malayalam film
Koodevide at the age of 16.
Koodevide was directed by veteran
Padmarajan and was released in
1983. Rahman won the State Award
for best supporting actor for his role
as a teenager who had an infatuation
for his school teacher. The lead roles
of the film were played by
Mammootty and Suhasini.
After his remarkable debut,
Rahman played second fiddle to
superstars like Mammootty and
Mohanlal in many films.
His combination with
Mammootty never tasted failure at
the box office. The duo delivered
box office hits like Ethiree Poove
Chuvannna Poove, Kanamarayathu,
Ee Lokham Evide Kure Manushyar,
Aankiliyude Tharattu etc.
His partnership with Mohanlal in
Evide Thudangunnu, Uyarangalil,
Koodum Thedi, Pappan Priyappetta
Pappan etc. were also hits.
The Mammootty-Mohanlal-
Rahman trio has also created successful
Angadikkappurathu, Kandu
Kandarinju, Vartha,
Poomukhappadiyil Ninneyum Kathu
etc.
Many considered Rahman as the
next superstar of Malayalam cinema.
However, he appeared as a hero in
many films like Parannu Parannu
Parannu, Punnaram Cholli Cholli,
Gayathri Devi Ente Amma, Orikkal
Oridathu, Onnam Prathi Olivil,
Koodanayum Kattu, Chilambu,
Veena Meettiya Vilangukal, Mazhavil
Koodaram, Hit List, King Solamon
etc.
Most of the movies in which he
played the hero were not as successful
as his movies with Mammootty
and Mohanlal. His films
Parannuyaran, Mizhiyorangalil etc.
were not released.
Rahman slowly disappeared from
the Malayalam film industry and
tried his luck in other language films
like Tamil and Telugu. He made his
Tamil debut in Nileve Malare in
1986 and his first Telugu film
Rasaleela was also released the same
year. Nilave Malare was directed by
Tamil super star Vijay’s father SA
Chanderasekhar. It was a moderate
success at the box office and was
also dubbed into Malayalam as
P r i y a m v a d h a k k o r u
Pranayageetham.
After the success of the Tamil
film Puthu Puthu Arthangal and the
Telugu super hit Bharath Bond,
Rahman resurfaced as a hero in
Tamil and Telugu. He moved to
Bangalore from Kochi and later
shifted to Chennai.
After years he made a comeback
into the Malayalam film industry as
a second hero in the Mammootty
starrer Black directed by Renjith.
After donning the role of a cop in
Black, he did second hero roles in
Mammootty films Rajamanikyam
and Bharghava Charitham
Moonnam Khandam. He also played
a second hero role in the Mohanlal
starrer Mahasamudram. The super
success of his comeback films like
Black and Rajamanikyam has made
him popular among the new generation.
In his second arrival, Rahman
played equally important roles along
with Kalabhavan Mani in Abraham
and Lincoln and Nanma. His role as
a football coach Vijay in Goal,
directed by Kamal, was one of his
best performances after his comeback.
Rahman repeated his success, not
only in Malayalam, but also in Tamil
industry in his comeback films. His
roles in Thoothukudi and Ram made
favourable impressions.
Rahman’s earlier films were
dubbed by others but in his comeback
films, he has achieved success
in dubbing as well. In Ethiri, he
dubbed his own voice for the first
time in Tamil and Rajamanikyam
was his first voice in Malayalam.
Unlike Malayalam and Tamil
films, Rahman couldn’t achieve success
in Telugu films after his comeback.
His Telugu film Dhariyan
bombed at the box office.
Besides playing a hero role in the
forthcoming Musafir, Rahman is
doing a tough cop role in the Ajith
starrer, Tamil film Billa. The movie
is a remake of the Rajnikant super
hit film of the same name, which
made him a super star. In the modern
version, Ajith plays the lead
role. Rahman’s role was played by
Major Sundar Rajan in the original.
In Tamil films, Rahman is also
doing an important role as a young
hero Bharath’s Pazhani. He is also
doing an important role in the senior
Tamil hero Vijayakanth’s film.
Rahman plays a meaningful role
as the keyboard player of
Mohanlal’s music troupe in Rock n
Roll directed by Ranjith. He is also
doing a lead role in Manjadikkuru
directed by Anjali Menon. Besides,
he is doing a significant role in a
Joshi-directed film.
Although Rahman got a variety
of offers with his comeback, he is
for the first time playing the hero’s
role in Musafir after the long break.
The success of Musafir will
decide Rahman’s future in the
industry. If his heroic role in the
film becomes a success at the box
office, it will be a release for him
from playing second fiddle to superstars.
Can his heroic role in Musafir
get him the superstar status he
enjoyed in the 80s?
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