Chemmeen

Chemmeen is a Malayalam novel written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai in 1956. Widely successful, it was translated into languages such as English, Russian, German, Italian and French apart from several Indian languages. It was adapted into a film, which won critical acclaim and commercial success. Malayalam (മലയാളം) is the major language of the state of Kerala, in southern India. ... DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... [[ == thakazhi siva sankara pilla was a famous novelist in malayalam literature. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Film Adaptation

The Malayalam film version Chemmeen was directed by Ramu Kariat and released in 1965. It won the Indian President's Gold Medal for the Best Film of 1965. Sheila, Madhu and Sathyan play the lead characters in the film. Malayalam cinema, or movies in Malayalam language, forms a significant component of the Cinema of India, both as a form of art and as mass medium. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... LEADING FILMS WERE:- BHARGAVINILAYAM,CHEMMEN,SARPPAKADU,PRIYA,ABHAYAM,OLAVUM THEERAVUM,THEERTHAYATRA,BHEEKARA NIMISHAMGAL, THURAKKATHA VATHIL,AKKALDHAMA,APARATHI,THEEKANAL,KAMAM KRODHAM MOHAM,KARA KANAKADAL, YUDHAKANDHAM,POLICE ARIYARUTHU,AARADHANA,ITHA IVIDE VARE,VADAKAKKE ORU HRIDHAYAM,MUTHUCHIPPIKAL,ENIKKU NJAN SWANTHAM,NJAN NJAN MATHRAM,ITHA ORU MANUSHAYAM,EETTA,MEEN,ORIKKAL KOODI,THEEKADAL,ORU PAINKILI... Sathyan whose original name is Sathyaneshan Nadar was a Malayalam movie actor of yesteryears. ...

The screenplay was written by S. L. Puram Sadanandan, with cinematography by Marcus Bartley, and editing by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Songs were set to music by Salil Chowdhury, with lyrics by Vayalar, and featuring voices of Manna Dey, K. J. Yesudas and P. Leela. Hrishikesh Mukherjee is one of the most famous Indian film directors. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Vayalar Ramavarma (March 15, 1928 - October 27, 1975) was a modern Malayalam poet and lyricist. ... Prabodh Chandra Dey, better known by his nickname as Manna Dey (born 1920) is a popular playback singer in Hindi films and other vernacular Indian films, especially Bengali. ... Dr. Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born January 10, 1940), is a noted South Indian musician and a leading playback singer for songs in many Indian languages. ...

Plot

Chemmeen is set in a fisherfolk community, and one of the themes running through the plot is a belief held by that community. This belief is that the safe return of a fisherman who goes out to sea is determined by the fidelity of his wife waiting for him on shore. This is intertwined with the myth of the "sea-mother", the destroyer and preserver of the community.

Karutthamma (played by Sheila in the movie) is the daughter of a poor fisherman, Chembankunju (Kottarakkara), and she is in love with a fish trader, Pareekkutty (Madhu), who helps her father buy a boat. This is in return for a promise to sell his catch to Pareekkutty on credit. When a Chaakara (sea phenomenon resulting in large catch of fish) comes to the shore, Chembankunju becomes 'rich' overnight, by selling fish for ready cash, dishonouring his pact with Pareekkutty. He marries off his daughter to a visiting fisherman from another place. Karutthamma's husband, Palani (Satyan), trusts his wife in spite of allegations that she is faithless to him, this trust of his reaffirmed each time he returns home safely after setting out to sea. In the climax, Pareekkutty reaches the place where Karutthamma lives; and Palani fights to conquer a big fish far out at sea.

The songs in the film, Kadalinakkare ponoarae, Chaakara, Maanasamaine varoo and Pennaalae were hits.

Significance

Chemmeen was recognized as a technically and artistically brilliant cinema. Incidentally, it was also one of the first Malayalam movies in colour and cinemascope. 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. Cinemascope, or more strictly CinemaScope, was a widescreen movie format used from 1953 to 1967. ... Typical Bollywood movie poster Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. ... A map of South India, its rivers, regions and water bodies. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, Australia. ...

References

• A write-up on Chemmeen
• News item - 40 years of Chemmeen

External links

Chemmeen at the Internet Movie Database The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, movies, television shows, television stars and video games. ...