- Chemmeen
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This article is about the 1965 Indian film. For the novel on which the film is based on, see Chemmeen (novel).
Chemmeen 
Hand drawn poster featuring SheelaDirected by Ramu Kariat Produced by Babu Ismail Settu Screenplay by S. L. Puram Sadanandan Based on Chemmeen by
Thakazhi Sivasankara PillaiStarring Sheela,
Madhu,
Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair,
SathyanMusic by Salil Chowdhury Cinematography Marcus Bartley Editing by Hrishikesh Mukherjee,
K. D. GeorgeStudio Kanmani Films Release date(s) August 19, 1965 Country India Language Malayalam Chemmeen (Malayalam: ചെമ്മീൻ, Translation: The Prawn, English: The Anger of the Sea) is a 1965 Malayalam romantic drama film based on the highly acclaimed novel of the same name by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and directed by Ramu Kariat from a screenplay by S. L. Puram Sadanandan.
The film tells the story of a pre-marital and later extra marital relationship between Karuthamma, the daughter of an ambitious Hindu fisherman, and Pareekutty, the son of a Muslim trader. The theme of the film is based around the popular belief among the fishermen communities along the coastal Kerala State in the Southern India regarding chastity. If a married fisher woman was faithless when her husband was out in the sea, the Sea Goddess (Kadalamma literally meaning Mother Sea) would consume him. The film's cast includes Sheela as Karuthamma, Madhu as Pareekutty, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair as Chembankunju, and Sathyan as Palani. Produced by Babu Ismail Settu under the banner of Kanmani Films, it features cinematography by Marcus Bartley, and editing by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and K. D. George. Songs are set to music by Salil Chowdhury, with lyrics by Vayalar, and featuring the voices of K. J. Yesudas, P. Leela, Manna Dey and Santha P. Nair.
The film released on 19 August 1965. It received strongly positive critical reviews and was recognized as a technically and artistically brilliant film. It is usually cited as the first notable creative film in South India.[1] It was also the first South Indian film to win the Indian President's Gold Medal for the Best Film, which it did so in 1965. It was screened at various international film festivals and won prestigious awards at the Cannes and Chicago festivals. Chemmeen was dubbed and released in Hindi as Chemmeen Lahren and in English as The Anger of the Sea.
Contents
Plot
Karuthamma (Sheela) is the daughter of an ambitious Hindu fisherman, Chembankunju (Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair). She is in love with a young Muslim fish trader, Pareekutty (Madhu). Chembankunju's only aim in life is to own a boat and net. Pareekutty finances Chembankunju to realise this dream. This is on a condition that the hauled by the boat will be sold only to him. Karuthamma's mother Chakki (Adoor Bhavani) comes to know about the love affair of her daughter with Pareekutty, who belongs to another religion and reminds her daughter about the life they lead within the boundaries of strict social tradition and warns her to keep away from such a relationship. The fisherfolks believe that a fisherwoman has to lead a life within the boundaries of strict social traditions and an affair or marriage with a person of another religion will subject the entire community to the wrath of the sea.
Karuthamma sacrifices her love for Pareekutty and marries Palani (Sathyan), an orphan discovered by Chembankunju in the course of one of his fishing expeditions. Following the marriage, Karuthamma accompanies her husband to his village, despite her mother's sudden illness and her father's requests to stay. In his fury, Chembankunju disowns her. On acquiring a boat and a net and subsequently adding one more, Chembankunju becomes more greedy and heartless. With his dishonesty, he drives Pareekutty to bankruptcy. After the death of his wife, Chembankunju marries Pappikunju (C. R. Rajakumari), the widow of the man from whom he had bought his first boat. Panchami (Lata), Chembankunju's younger daughter, leaves home to join Karuthama, on arrival of her step mother. Chembankunju's savings is manipulated by his second wife. The setbacks in life turns Chembankunju mad.
Meanwhile, Karuthamma has endeavoured to be a good wife and mother. But scandal about her old love for Pareekutty spreads in the village. Palani s friends ostracize him and refuse to take him fishing with them. By a stroke of fate, Karuthamma and Pareekutty meet one night and their old love is awakened. Palani, at sea alone and baiting a shark, is caught in a huge whirlpool and is swallowed by the sea. Next morning, Karuthamma and Parekutty, are also found dead hand in hand, washed ashore. At a distance, there lies a baited dead shark.
Cast
- Sheela as Karuthamma
- Madhu as Pareekutty
- Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair as Chembankunju
- Sathyan as Palani
- Adoor Bhavani as Chakki
- Lata as Panchami
- C. R. Rajakumari as Pappikunju
Production
Novel adaptation
Main article: Chemmeen (novel)The novel Chemmeen by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai is widely regarded[by whom?] as a landmark novel in the history of Indian literature. The novel was written by Thakazhi in less than three weeks.[2] The novel fictionalised the myth among the fishermen communities along the coastal Kerala about chastity. The novel became a trend-setter not only in Kerala but in the whole of India. Literary critic Santha Rama Rau has noted that Chemmeen is the first real bestseller that has ever come out of India.[3] The novel was translated to more than 30 languages, which include major Indian languages and foreign languages. The novel was accepted as part of the UNESCO collection of Representative Works - Indian series.[4] Probably, these acclaims did not bother Thakazhi. The novelist has confessed to Chemmeen being just a mushy novel.[5] The novel, through its translations, now has a significant international readership, especially in countries like France,[6] Czechoslovakia,[7] and Germany.[8]
Kariat bought the rights from Thakazhi for
8000, a comparatively large sum for a Malayalam novel then.[9] With adapting the novel, Ramu Kariat was taking a big risk as everybody in the film circle was almost certain that the film would be no patch[clarification needed] on the novel.[10]Filming
Once Ramu Kariat had decided to make a film based on the novel, he approached several people including the Kerala State Government for funds to produce the film. On one of these journeys, he met Babu Ismail Settu (Kanmani Babu). Then in his early twenties, Kanmani Babu agreed to finance the film. The film was completely shot from Nattika beach, located about 25 km from Thrissur.[11] In the 40th anniversary of the release of the film, Madhu described how the fisherfolk of Nattika cooperated by offering their homes and clothing for the filming. He also described how Sathyan escaped being drowned in the sea during the shooting.[12]
Awards
- National Film Award for Best Film
- Certificate of Merit at the Chicago International Film Festival
- Gold Medal at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Cinematography - Marcus Bartley[13]
Significance
Chemmeen was recognized as a technically and artistically brilliant cinema. Incidentally, it was also one of the first Malayalam movies in colour. It was also a prominent instance of collaborative work involving technicians from Bollywood such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Manna Dey with those of South India. The commercial success of this movie is believed to have brought a sea-change in the way Malayalam films were made. When Chemmeen won the President's gold medal, it was the first time a film from South India did so. At the Chicago Film Festival, the movie won a Certificate of Merit. At the 2005 Brisbane International Film Festival, the movie was screened in a retrospective on 50 years of Malayalam cinema.
Soundtrack
Chemmeen 
Soundtrack album by Salil Chowdhury Released 1965 Genre World Music Label HMV Producer Babu Ismail Settu Salil Chowdhury chronology Chand Aur Suraj
(1965)Chemmeen
(1965)Ezhuraathrikal
(1968)The soundtrack features 5 songs composed by Salil Chowdhury with lyrics by Vayalar. The soundtrack proved immensely popular upon release and is considered one of the most successful Malayalam soundtracks.
The songs of Chemmeen are still popular after all these years and the film is still as popular as ever. The song "Pennaley Pennaley" and "Manasa Maine Varu" in fact has become one of the most popular songs in Malayalam. Salil's reputation as a music director was firmly established in South India especially in Kerala.
The song "Kadalinakkre Ponore" was based on an improvised tune of a very popular Bengali folk song composed by Salil Choudhary "Hai Hai Ki Hayrilam".
Title Singer(s) Duration "Pennaley Pennaley" P. Leela , K. J. Yesudas 5:39 "Puthan Valakkare" K. J. Yesudas, P. Leela, Santha P. Nair, Chorus 3:19 "Manasa Maina Varo" Manna Dey 3:12 "Kadalinakkara" K. J. Yesudas 3:48 "Theme Music" Instrumental 2:20 Footnotes
- ^ C. D. Gupta 1980, p.?. "Chemmeen (1965), by Ramu Kariat in Kerala, is usually cited as the first notable creative film in the South"
- ^ Prescott 1962
- ^ Rau 1962
- ^ Palakeel, p.?
- ^ P. Devarajan (11 March 2006). "The timeless Chemmeen". The Hindu Businessline. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/11/stories/2006031100282000.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ R. Ramabhadran Pillai (1 January 2006). "Malayali characters on a French tour". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/01/stories/2006010100060200.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Czech readers influenced by Indian literature: linguist". The Hindu. 13 February 2011. http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/13/stories/2011021351490200.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Indian authors should get priority: Sandhya Rao". The Hindu. 25 December 2008. http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/25/stories/2008122555100800.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "തകഴിയെ കാത്ത കാത്ത". Malayala Manorama. 1 June 2011. http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=9433257&programId=7940958&channelId=-1073751665&BV_ID=@@@&tabId=9.
- ^ "Cinema limits freedom of viewers". The Hindu. 28 January 2008. http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/28/stories/2008012852290300.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Thrissur » Nattika Beach". Keralatourism.com. http://www.keralatourism.com/php/placeDetails.php?plid=179&cid=2&did=14&linkid=&partid=. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ^ G. Jayakumar (25 November 2005). "Remembering a classic". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/11/25/stories/2005112501190200.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Fifty and still refreshing". The Hindu. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
Bibliography
External links
- B. Vijayakumar (November 22, 2010). "Chemmeen 1965". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/11/22/stories/2010112250310400.htm.
- "Celebrating 40 years of a movie classic". The Hindu. October 13, 2005. http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/13/stories/2005101301370200.htm.
- Chemmeen at Upperstall.com
- Chemmeen at the Malayalam Movie Database
- Chemmeen at the Internet Movie Database
- Salil Chowdhury Fansite
- Marcus Bartley Fansite
National Film Award for Best Feature Film 1954–1960 Shyamchi Aai (1954) · Mirza Ghalib (1955) · Pather Panchali (1956) · Kabuliwala (1957) · Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1958) · Sagar Sangamey (1959) · Apur Sansar (1960)
1961–1980 Anuradha (1961) · Bhagini Nivedita (1962) · Dada Thakur (1963) · Shehar Aur Sapna (1964) · Charulata (1965) · Chemmeen (1966) · Teesri Kasam (1967) · Hatey Bazarey (1968) · Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) · Bhuvan Shome (1970) · Samskara (1971) · Seemabaddha (1972) · Swayamvaram (1973) · Nirmalyam (1974) · Chorus (1975) · Chomana Dudi (1976) · Mrigayaa (1977) · Ghatashraddha (1978) · No Award (1979) · Shodh (1980)
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2001–present Shantham (2001) · Dweepa (2002) · Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (2003) · Shwaas (2004) · Page 3 (2005) · Kaalpurush – Memories in the Mist (2006) · Pulijanmam (2007) · Kanchivaram (2008) · Antaheen (2009) · Kutty Srank (2010) · Adaminte Makan Abu (2011)
Categories:- 1965 films
- Malayalam-language films
- Indian literature
- 1960s Malayalam-language films
- Films based on novels
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