The Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi is back this week with a suspense thriller. The film, named Garudan, is another of those investigation movies that Suresh Gopi made his style in the 1990s and 2000s. To celebrate, we have compiled a list of best Suresh Gopi movies from the last three decades.
At his peak, he gave both Mohanlal and Mammootty a run for their money with his masala entertainers that had him fighting for the nation and the underdogs of the society. To celebrate him, we have compiled a list of his movies from the last three decades. They should make for a fun viewing.
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Best Suresh Gopi Movies
Here is my list of the best Suresh Gopi movies to binge on. As always, this is a personal opinion, but feel free to chime in the comments below if you disagree.
2022
Paappan
A film directed by Joshiy in which Suresh Gopi plays a cop. It is a match made in heaven. Suresh Gopi, in another birth, surely must have been a police person. He wears the khaki as if to the manner born.
Paappan is a crime thriller with a twist after every five minutes. The route to the killer is littered with several red herrings. The other attraction of the movie is Gokul Suresh, the real-life son of Suresh Gopi. Though Gokul Suresh does not have many dialogues in the film, the chemistry between the father and son is nice.
2021
Kaaval
Suresh Gopi cemented his place in the industry through his action hero roles, especially the feisty cop roles. Quite a few of them were directed by Ranji Panicker.
In Kaaval, he plays the supporting role to Suresh Gopi. The film is, as it happens, directed by Ranji Panicker’s son Nithin Ranji Panicker. The film didn’t do well, but those looking for some nostalgia, Kaaval may be the one. The punchy dialogue shows the old warhorse still has some energy left.
1994
Commissioner
This is the film in which the legend of Suresh Gopi as an effervescent cop was firmly established. Directed by the master of masalas, Shaji Kailas and written by Ranji Panicker, Commissioner earned Suresh Gopi the status of an action superstar.
It is a cult film among Malayali audiences, with several dialogues becoming very famous and remaining so even decades later. His role as Bharathchandran is one for the ages in the Malayalam mainstream commercial film arena. The film is an object lesson on making a mass masala movie without being silly or stupid.
2020
Varane Avashyamundu
This film features Suresh Gopi in an Un-Suresh Gopi screen persona. This winsome slice-of-life film has him as a socially gauche ex-military man struggling to air his feelings and bottling it all. His love portions with a middle-aged divorcee, a character played by Shobana, were all mushy and beautiful. It overshadowed the young love pair in the same film Dulquer Salmaan and Kalyani Priyadarshan.
This movie, the debut of Anoop Sathyan, son of Sathyan Anthikad, showcases the Tamil Nadu capital city of Chennai in alluring hues. A feel-good entertainer for all occasions.
2022
Mei Hoom Moosa
An army man who was thought to have died in the Kargil war returns home to Kerala after spending 19 years in a Pakistani jail. But few believe him or want to have anything to do with him.
How the eponymous Moosa sets about to prove his identity while also trying to come to terms with everything that has happened around him during his time behind bars is told comically. It is a Suresh Gopi show, even though the film’s tonality is up and down.
2005
Bharathchandran IPS
This is the sequel to the Suresh Gopi winner Commissioner, and he reprises the central character, the commissioner of police Bharathchandran. This action entertainer is written, directed and produced by Ranji Panicker.
Like its precursor, Bharathchandran IPS was also a big commercial hit. His one-man fight against the powerful ones in politics and the police was a major attraction for the cine buffs.
2012
The King and The Commissioner
The film is a crossover from four different movies when such ‘crossover ideas’ were not even heard of in India. The film has characters from The King (1995), Commissioner (1994), Ekalavyan (1993) and Bharathchandran I.P.S. (2005). That is the heroes Mammootty and Suresh Gopi. This action masala movie is typical with bombastic dialogues and fight sequences.
The Collector (Mammootty) and the cop (Suresh Gopi) join forces to take out the venal politicos and conniving top bureaucrats.
1999
Pathram
Written by Renji Panicker, and directed by Joshiy, Pathram has Suresh Gopi playing a daring and uncompromising journo Nandagopal. This is another of those cult movies where the dialogue has a great recall. The lines are sharp and land with precision. They are delivered with typical Suresh Gopi bravado.
The film ran into some controversy as some Malayalam dailies boycotted the movie alleging that the movie portrayed their organizations in a bad light.
2011
Christian Brothers
This is a multi-starrer, and the main hero is Mohanlal. Suresh Gopi as the police officer Joseph Vadakan holds his own with his usual style and swagger. There is Dilip in the cast.
The thing about Christian Brother is that at no stage the multi-starrer appears to be a one-man show. It is loud and over-the-top, but entertainment and non-stop action is guaranteed.
1993
Manichitrathazhu
A movie dear to Malayalam film fans all over. The movie has seen multiple reiterations in other languages. In Kannada, Tamil and Hindi, it has proved to be successful. But none of them had the organic warmth of the original.
Though Mohanlal is the nominated hero, Suresh Gopi as his friend Nakulan had equal importance. The movie, directed by Fazil, fetched its heroine Shobhana a National award. The film remains one of the best-made entertainers in Malayalam cinema. And the dialogues between Suresh Gopi and Shobhana are now part of the film lore.
Balakumar Kuppuswamy
An engineer-turned-journalist, K Balakumar’s career began in print publications as a sports writer. That also opened doors for other journalistic avenues like films, music, finance, technology and politics, which nobody can escape in India. After 30 yrs in mainstream journalism, now a freelancer for various digital publications.
