Ponthan Mada is a 1994

1994 in film

1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...

 Malayalam-language

Malayalam language

Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...

 Indian

Cinema of India

The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...

 feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 written and directed

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by T. V. Chandran. The film stars Mammootty

Mammootty

Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

 and Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...

.

Plot

Ponthan Mada is based on two short stories, Ponthan Mada and Sheema Thampuran by C. V. Sreeraman

C. V. Sreeraman

C. V. Sreeraman was a gifted Short Story writer and novelist in Malayalam. He was the Vice-Chairman of Kerala Sahitya Akademi. C.V. Sreeraman’s stories stand foremost core to the theme, as exemplified by his Anayasena Maranam , Railway Palangal...

. Set in the 1940s British India

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

, the film is about the irrational bonding of the low-caste Ponthan Mada (Mammootty) with his colonial landlord Sheema Thampuran (Naseeruddin Shah), who was expelled to British India from England during his youth for supporting the Irish Republican Army

Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

. Crossing the class boundaries, the two communicate through Thampuran's window with Mada hanging from a palm tree.

Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release:
1994 National Film Awards

National Film Awards

The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...

 (India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

)

• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Actor - Mammootty
  Mammootty
  Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...
  
  
• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Film Score - Johnson
  Johnson (composer)
  Johnson was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Amaram, Njan...