Kanyakumari (1974)

M.T. Vasudevan Nair usually wrote the script and dialogues for his own published stories. One story that he wrote specifically for a film was that ofKanyakumari. The film, released on July 26, 1974, was Kamal Haasan’s first film as hero. This was also the Malayalam debut of noted Bengali actress Rita Bhaduri. Produced by KSR Moorthy for Chithranjali Films, the entire film was shot at Kanyakumari, the temple there and its surroundings. Directed by K.S. Sethumadhavan, the film went on to become a box office hit. Cinematography by P.L. Roy who captured the natural beauty of Kanyakumari and the soulful music of M.B. Sreenivasan were was the highpoints of the film



Prem Nawaz, Sankaradi, Murali Das, Veeran, Manimala, Pala Thankam, Jagathi Sreekumar and Mallika (in guest roles) were some of the other actors who were part of this film.



The story pivots around the love affair of Sankaran (Kamal Haasan), a sculptor, who comes to Kanyakumari to work under a contractor and a group of tourists who reach the place. Sankaran falls in love with a poor vendor of necklaces made of sea shells, Parvathi (Rita Bhaduri). An orphan, Parvathi is brought up by Kannamma (Pala Thankam), her maternal grandmother. Veerappan (Govindankutty), the foster son of Kannamma, keeps tormenting Parvathi, destroying the necklaces she makes. Sankaran decides to marry Parvathi once his work is complete. He hopes to leave Kanyakumari with Parvathi. In the meanwhile, Veerappan attempts to ‘sell’ Parvathi to Frederick (Murali Das), a depraved sportsman camping at the guest house on the beach. Parvathi manages to escape this attempt.



Jayan (Prem Nawaz), son of a rich businessman, comes to Kanyakumari seeking solace. He happens to meet his lover Rajani (Manimala), now wife of Somasundaram (Veeran), a wealthy businessman. It was this broken love affair that turned Jayan into a wreck. Rajani was forced to marry the old businessman man to save her family from a financial crisis.



The immoral relationship between Frederick and the young wife of a North Indian businessman (Sankaradi) forms the sub-plot of the film. Jayan who happens to see this is threatened by Frederick and is warned not to interfere in his personal matters. Jayan makes friends with Swami (K.G. Menon), an itinerant sanyasi. Both of them take pity on Parvathi and they try to save her Veerappan and Frederick.

Events take a cruel turn. One night, Frederick accosts Parvathi while she was alone on the beach and rapes her. Sankaran who hears her screams rushes to the spot. He hits Frederick with his sculptor’s hammer killing him at once. The film ends Sankaran taken away by the police and Parvathi staring at him with eyes full of tears.


Kamal Haasan and Rita Bhaduri impressed with their natural style of acting. Alummoodan, as a waiter in the guest house, created moments of laughter.



The songs written by Vayalar Rama Varma and set to music by M.B. Sreenivasan (MBS) like Chandra palunku manimala…. (K.J. Yesudas-S.Janaki), the English song that has lyrics by MBS, I am in love… (Usha Uthup) and Ayiramkannulla Mariyamma… (Yesudas-P.Leela-L.R.Easwari and chorus) turned very popular.


Will be remembered: As the first film of Kamal Haasan as hero, as the debut Malayalam film of Rita Bhaduri and for the song Chandra palunku manimala
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MInnaminungu (1957)

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  Minnaminungu, released on May 24, 1957, introduced M.S. Baburaj, the musical genius who popularised Hindustani music through his compositions, to Malayalam cinema. This was also the first independent directorial venture of Ramu Kariat. Playback singer Machad Vasanthi also made her debut in this film.

  Produced by Ramu Kariat, jointly with Sreenivasan, under the banner of Chithra Keralam, the film was shot at Premiere Studios, Mysore. The impressive dialogues were by KSK Thalikulam for a story developed by Ramu Kariat along with Rafi.

  The film dealt with a novel theme of inadequacy and corruption in the medical sector, which was prevalent in the remote villages of Kerala. Hindi films like Franz Osten’s Durga (1939) and Subodh Mithra’s Doctor (1941) had looked at this subject with fair success earlier. But Minnaminungu was not a commercial success. Film critics attribute the reason for failure to relatively unknown star cast of the film. The film was however noted for its sensible direction, K.V. Padmanabhan’s editing and cinematography by B.J. Reddy.

  Eddy, Vasudev Cheruvari, Damayanthi, Mary Eddy, Padmam Menon were new. They were supported in guest roles by the more experienced actors such as Santhadevi, Premji and Manavalan Joseph.

  The story pivots around a dispensary in a remote village. The greedy and corrupt doctor (Vasudev Cheruvari) in charge of the dispensary refuses to give proper medical care to Ammini’s (Damayanthi) mother (Santhadevi) and the old woman dies. The reason for this indifference was because Ammini could not pay the money demanded by the doctor. Ammini seeks refuge in the house of her neighbour Mathai (Vakkachan). The doctor is transferred following a complaint from the villagers. Sadanandan (Eddy), the new doctor posted here, is a widower. His mother (Padmam Menon) is unable to manage the household and the doctor struggles hard to bring up his children Babu (Vipin) and Suma (Seetha).

  Mathai’s wife Thandamma (Mary Eddy) asks the doctor to appoint Ammini as a caretaker for his children. He does this and Ammini soon wins the heart of Babu and Suma. Ammini gets seriously wounded and Sadanandan’s prompt medical care cures her. Sadanandan falls in love with Ammini. Rumours are spread about them. Fearing that this would affect the reputation of her son the doctor’s mother dismisses Ammini from her job.

  Babu and Suma are unable to bear this separation. Babu falls ill and Sadanandan’s medical care fails to give him relief. The news of Babu’s pathetic condition reaches Ammini who rushes to the doctor’s house. Her presence and care helps Babu recover. Sadanandan realises the need for a woman in bringing up his children. Ammini becomes part of the family. The film ends with the villagers bidding a tearful farewell to the doctor and his family following a transfer to another village.

  The film reminds us of characters in the novels of Thomas Hardy. The illiterate Sanku Ammavan (Premji) who loves listening to Ramayana reading, his nephew Kunju (Balakrishna Menon) who earns his livelihood by reading the Ramayana, the retired soldier Vasu (Manavalan Joseph) who is always caught in some legal battleare some of the interesting characters.

  The songs written by P. Bhaskaran and set to tune by Baburaj turned hits. Songs like Ithra naal ithra naal ee vasantham…, Enthinu kavilil bashpadhara…(both by Kozhikode Abdul Khader), Oru vattippoo tharenam…., Vaalittu kannezhuthenam…(both by Santha P. Nair), Thapassu cheythu….(H. Mehboob), Thathamme thathamme nee padiyaal… (Machadu Vasanthi-Meena Sulochana) were very popular.

  Will be remembered: As the debut film of music director M.S. Baburaj and playback singer Machad Vasanthi; for the long list of actors like Eddy who went on to appear in guest roles in many films later and as the first independent directorial venture of Ramu Kariat.

Chuzhi (1973)

Actress Savithri

Savithri, Sujatha, Salam, Govindankutty, Bahadur, Nilambur Balan, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, Abbas etc.

Released on December 7, 1973, Chuzhi is the only Malayalam film in which the popular South Indian actress Savithri acted. She was, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Nadikaiyar Tilakam(supreme actress) who ruled Tamil and Telugu cinema during 1950s and 1960s. Produced jointly by Hussain and Salam under the banner of ‘Navadhara’, the film was directed by Triprayar Sukumaran. Shot at Newton and Syamala studios, the outdoor scenes were filmed at the tea estates of Kalpetta in Wayanad. The dialogues were by Salam Karaasserry based on the script developed by N. P. Mohammed based on a story written by S.G. Bhasker. With cinematography by Moorthy and editing by Ravi, this was one of the early films in South Indian languages that was issued an ‘A’ certificate (entry restricted to only adults) by the Film Censor Board.

Besides Savithri, Sujatha, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, Govindankutty, Bahadur, Nilambur Balan and others played important roles in the film. The music composed by M.S. Baburaj was the highpoint of the film. The film opens with the lines that this is the ‘story of a family shattered by alcoholism’. And the film ends with the Biblical lines ‘the wages of sin is death’. The story develops connecting these two thoughts.

Savithri, the central character, is alcoholic. There were similar characters in other Indian films like Sahib, Bibi Aur Gulam (Hindi, 1962) in which the character Choti Bahu (Meena Kumari) is an alcoholic. Savithri failed to impress in this role and the film bombed at the box office.

Varghese (Govindankutty) is a planter and lives with his wife Elizabeth (Savithri) and daughter Beena (Sujatha) in the tea estates owned by him. Varghese takes to the bottle following the death of his son. He also entices his wife into this habit and soon Elizabeth becomes an alcoholic.

Varghese dies and Elizabeth appoints Baby (Salam), son of her faithful servant Antony (Abbas), as the manager of their tea estates. Baby and Beena are classmates. Baby is a debauch, but Beena, who falls in love with him, is confident of changing him.

Elizabeth goes from bad to worse. In a drunken stupor she even gets into a physical relationship with Baby and becomes pregnant.

Beena comes to know of this. Out of shame and repentance, Elizabeth commits suicide. Beena rushes, revolver in hand, to shoot Baby. But even before she could do so Baby kills himself. Beena becomes a nun.

The songs written by Poovachal Khader and P.A. Kassim, with music by Baburaj became popular. Songs like Kandu randu kannu…(H. Mehboob and chorus), Hrudayathil nirayunna mizhineeraal… (S. Janaki) and Akkaldamayil papam periya… (K.J. Yesudas) and the parody song Oru chilli kaasumenikku… (Baburaj) were instant hits. The parody was a rare instance of the composer singing his own tunes from his earlier films.

Will be remembered: The only Malayalam film in which Savithri acted and for the music, especially the songs Kandu randu kannu…and Hrudayathil nirayunna…

Gaanalokaveethikalil -- AKLA Most Favorite Program of the last 25 years

On Sep 28th, 2014, there was a function organized by All Kerala Listeners Association at Govt Guest House , Kakkanad.  The programme was in connection with Silver Jubilee of Kochi FM station.  

According to the survey of Listeners Association Ganalokaveethikalil, the landmark movie and music program by B Vijayakumar and team ranked as the best music based and popular programme broadcast by the station during the 25 years. 

B Vijayakumar was invited for the function and honored  and given a Momento.

Poojapushpam - Sivakumar's only Malayalam Movie ?

In the book titled, Sivakumar - 100, found a poster for the movie Poojapushpam with Sivakumar's picture on it (For those of you who do not know Sivakumar, he is dad of present day super starts Surya and Karthi)

For those of you who cannot read Tamil, here goes the translation.

Sarada Pictures "Pooja Puspam", Malayalam 18/07/1969

Producer: KS Annammal
Direction: Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair

We are still trying to validate the authenticity of this information. If you have watched this movie, please let us know

Yaar Manamakan

There is some misunderstanding regarding the Tamil version of this film Poothaali.  But now, I could confirm that the Tamil version was not dubbed one, but remake.  found this advertisement in Pesum Padam September, 1961 issue 

Tamil  film:

"Yaar Manamakan"   Neela Productions 

Stars - T K Balachandran,  V K Ramaswami,  D Balasubramaniam,  Kallapart Natarajan,  C S Pandian,  Sayiram,  Bagadur,  Kumari,  Santhi,. C K Saraswathi,  S D Subbulakshmi,  Tilakam Rajakumari,  etc

Direction - P Subramaniam

Music - Brother Lakshmanan  Studio - Merryland  Dialogues - Ilangovan 

Kadalamma (1963)

Adventurous fantasy tales from literature were a favourite subject of Indian cinema. Most of the film production companies set up their own ‘Story Department’ and in Malayalam cinema, established companies like Udaya Studios and Neela Productions had such departments. Tales of Vikramaditya, Arabian Nights , and the collection of stories Kasi Majhili Kathalu in Telugu written by Madhira Subbanna Deekshitulu in 19th century were a treasure trove of material for these story departments. Stories of Malayalam films like Manthravadi (1956),Devasundari (1957) Pathaala BhairaviGulebakavaliwere developed from the said folk literature and they were successful.

Kadalamma released on August 31, 1963, produced and directed by M. Kunchacko under the banner X L Productions and shot at Udaya Studios was such an adventurous fantasy film for which Ponkunnam Varkey wrote the dialogues. The story was developed by the Udaya Studios crew. The film failed to impress the audience in spite of all the entertaining stunts, dances, special effects, camera tricks and comedy sequences.

To attract the audience, a few songs were shot in colour. Popular artists like Satyan, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, Kottayam Chellappan, S. P. Pillai, B. S. Saroja, Rajasree (Gracy in the title cards) , Adoor Pankajam and Mavelikkara Ponnamma acted in the film. This was the debut film of actress Sushama (Maya in the title cards).

Queen Chithrangada (Mavelikkara Ponnamma) loses her only daughter Renuka (Rajasree) in her childhood. She was kidnapped by a gang of pirates led by Jayaraj (Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair) during the traditional annual festival on the seashore. Renuka is taken to a faraway island. The queen proclaims to reward half of the kingdom to the person who brings back her daughter from the pirates. Years roll by. Fisherman Velu’s (Sankaradi) son Neelan (Satyan) is in love with Karthika (Sushama), daughter of Karuppayyan (Kottayam Chellappan), chief of the fishermen.

The island in which Jayaraj lives is on the verge of being swallowed by the sea. Jayaraj approaches queen Chithrangada for her support to build a bund around the island and promises her that he would find Renuka. The queen is unaware of the fact that it was Jayaraj who kidnapped her daughter and falls for his false promise. She sends her men including Neelan to the island for the construction of the bund. Meanwhile Jayaraj lays eyes on Karthika and is besotted by her. Jayaraj wishes to get rid of Neelan.

Jayaraj’s intention was to marry Renuka and claim the reward of half of the kingdom proclaimed by the queen. But Renuka hated her torturer Jayaraj. In a fit of rage, he pushes her into a crocodile pit. But Neelan arrives just in time to save Renuka and she falls in love with him. Enraged, Jayaraj imprisons Neelan. . Since Renuka escapes, Jayaraj plans to present before the queen a slave girl who resembled Renuka and claim the reward. Neelan is freed from the prison by Renuka.

Jayaraj and the slave girl (again Rajasree – double role) reach the palace. Queen Chithrangada accepts the slave girl as her lost daughter. Jayaraj alleges that Neelan and his parents were supporters of the pirates who kidnapped the princess. The queen sentences to execute them. According to the custom of the kingdom, the person sentenced for execution is given a chance to save life, if he could bring the “Nagamanikkam”, the magical stone hidden in the seas. Neelan sets out on an expedition to bring the Nagamanikkam.

The queen decides to conduct the marriage of the slave girl with Jayaraj. And the climax—Neelan returns with the Nagamanikkam. Jayaraj’s wicked plans are exposed. Renuka, the real princess, reaches the palace. But by that time, Neelan’s parents and Karthika were executed. The queen proposes to conduct the marriage of Renuka with Neelan. But Neelan refuses, because his love was for Karthika. The film ends with the scene of Neelan getting drowned in the sea with Karthika’s corpse in his arms.

Songs written by Vayalar Rama Varma and set to tune by Devarajan became super hits. Instant hits were Paalaazhi kadavil neeraattinirangiya…. (A. M. Raja-P. Susheela), Mungi mungi muthukal vaarum…. (Jikki-S. Janaki). Other hits include Ethu kadalilo….(Susheela), Kadalamme kadalamme…. (P. Leela), Jaladevathamare,.. ( K.J. Yesudas- Susheela) etc.

Will be remembered: As the debut film of Maya (real name-Sushama) and excellent music.