Paithrukam

Paithrukam

Year: 1992

Runtime: 123 mins

Language: Malayalam

Director: Jayaraj

Drama

The film revolves around a traditional Brahmin family and the fight between their beliefs and atheism.

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Timeline & Setting – Paithrukam (1992)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Paithrukam (1992). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

The narrative sits at a crossroads of tradition and modernity, with ancestral rituals coexisting alongside newer ideas. A major urban-replacement moment is Somadathan's move to Delhi to pursue journalism, highlighting a tension between the old and the new in a rural-urban context.

Location

Kerala village, Delhi

The story unfolds in a Kerala Brahmin village centered around a family home and a nearby temple. Key locations include a haunted house the radicals occupy and a shrine where traditional rites are performed. The Delhi trip of Somadathan provides a contrast to village life and its ritual core.

🌴 Kerala village 🕌 Temple 🏞️ Rural life 🪔 Rituals

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:42

Main Characters – Paithrukam (1992)

Meet the key characters of Paithrukam (1992), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Chithrabhanu (Jayaram)

Somayaji's younger son who stays to assist his father and uphold the family legacy. He embodies a balance between tradition and practical support, navigating the pressures of his father's expectations and his brother's radicalism.

👨‍👦 Family 🕰️ Tradition ⚖️ Duty

Somadathan (Suresh Gopi)

The elder son who abandons Brahmin life to become an atheist and a Delhi journalist. He challenges ritual authority and leads radical ideas, creating a deep rift with his father and testing the community's beliefs.

🧭 Ideology ⚔️ Rebellion 🧠 Rationalism

Gayathri (Geetha)

Dathan's wife and a pregnant chief ally in the couple's quest to oppose superstition. Her pregnancies and miscarriages fuel the belief that their acts against idols bring misfortune, shaping the emotional core of her arc.

💑 Love 🤰 Pregnancy 🕯️ Faith

Bhanu Namboothiri

The temple's chief priest whose horoscope warns of danger to his life. His heartbreak over love and subsequent demise reveals the fragility of traditional authority and the personal costs of fate.

🕍 Priesthood 💔 Heartbreak 🏁 Fate

Devadathan Chemmathiripadu (Narendra Prasad)

A respected Vedic scholar and patriarch who embodies tradition yet faces his son's atheistic challenge. His life and philosophy frame the central debate between faith and doubt, culminating in a sacrificial act.

🧭 Faith 🧬 Tradition 🕉️ Vedas

Devadathan's mother (Nanditha Bose)

A stabilizing maternal figure who navigates ritual demands and familial loyalties. She welcomes Gayathri during her trials and participates in the pujas, representing continuity and nurture within the conflict.

🫂 Family 🙏 Rituals 🧭 Guidance

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:42

Major Themes – Paithrukam (1992)

Explore the central themes of Paithrukam (1992), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🧭 Tradition vs Modernity

The film juxtaposes ancient Vedic practices with modern skepticism, questioning whether age-old rituals are meaningful in a changing world. The Athirathram rite and the villagers' dependence on ritual outcomes clash with Somadathan's secular views. The tension drives the central conflict and prompts characters to redefine loyalty and belief.

💔 Family & Loyalty

Family ties constrain and propel the characters, especially between Somayaji and his sons. Chithrabhanu remains loyal to his father, while Somadathan rebels, creating a rift that tests kinship. The narrative uses these dynamics to explore duty, honor, and the consequences of divergent paths.

🔥 Sacrifice & Faith

Somayaji sacrifices his life in the inner altar, embodying centuries of devotion and ritual authority. The film probes how faith can demand personal cost, even as the younger generation questions its validity. The act links tradition to a dramatic moment of personal and communal reckoning.

🕊️ Freedom of Thought

The story champions the right to dissent within a tightly knit community, illustrated by Somadathan's atheism and his challenge to the established order. This theme examines the limits of reform within a tradition-bound society and the price of intellectual autonomy.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:42

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Paithrukam Summary

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Paithrukam Summary

Paithrukam Timeline

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Paithrukam Timeline

More About Paithrukam

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