Pazhassi Raja

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (also known as Cotiote Rajah or Pychy Rajah) (3 January 1753 – 30 November 1805) was one of the earliest freedom fighters in India. He was the king of the state of Kottayam or Cotiote in Malabar, India between 1774 and 1805. His struggles with English East India Company is known as the Cotiote War. He is popularly known as Kerala Simham (Lion of Kerala) on account of his martial exploits.

Pazhassi Raja was a member of the western branch of the Kottayam royal clan. When Hyder Ali of the Kingdom of Mysore occupied Malabar in 1773 the Raja of Kottayam found political asylum in Travancore. Pazhassi Raja, the fourth prince in line for succession to the throne during this period, became one of the de facto heads of state surpassing several of his elder royals. He fought a war of resistance on Mysorean army from 1774 to 1793. On account of his refusal to flee and resolve to fight invaders, people of Kottayam stood firmly behind the Raja who had not abandoned them in their hour of misfortune.

Pazhassi Raja (1964 film)

Pazhassi Raja is a 1964 Malayalam biographical film directed and produced by Kunchako. It is written by well known playwright Thikkodiyan and is based on the life of warrior king Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja. It stars Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair in the title role, and Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Satyapal, S. P. Pillai, Rajashree and Pankajavalli in other important roles.

Pazhassi Raja is the second historical film in Malayalam, the first one was Veluthamby Dalava (1962) by the same director.Pazhassi Raja was completely filmed from Kunchako's Udaya Studios, which resulted in the lack of technical perfection and eventually lead to the commercial failure of the film. Its music is composed by A. R. Rahman's father R. K. Shekhar, who debuted as a music director through this film. The music was widely appreciated and was a hit.

Plot

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (film)

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film based on the life of Pazhassi Raja, a Hindu king who fought against the British in the 18th century. The film was directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Mammootty, Manoj K. Jayan, Kanika Subramaniam, Sarath Kumar, Padmapriya, Thilakan, Peter Handley Evans, Harry Key, Linda Arsenio and Jagathi Sreekumar. The music score and soundtrack were created by Ilaiyaraaja, while its sound design is by Resul Pookutty. The political situation of the time is portrayed from an Indian viewpoint in the film, and the locals are treated sympathetically.

The film won National Film Award for Best Background Score, Best Audiography and Special Jury Award (for Padmapriya). It received numerous other accolades including eight Kerala State Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards South.

Pazhassi Raja was produced at a cost of ₹27 crore (US$4.0 million), making it the costliest film made in Malayalam until then. Originally filmed in Malayalam, Pazhassi Raja was dubbed in Tamil as well as Hindi. The film released on 16 October 2009 across Kerala with 150 prints.