''Ayitham'' () is a 1988 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

-language drama film written and directed by

Venu Nagavally Venu Nagavally (16 April 1949 – 10 September 2010) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagavally R. S. Kurup, ...

and produced by

Ambika Ambika may refer to: Mythology * Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti * Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess * Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, ...

and Radha sisters. The film stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

, Radha and Sukumari in lead roles. The film features music composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan. The plot is set in an

Agraharam An ''Agraharam'' or ''Agrahara'' was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to susta ...

Plot

Vasudevan is a renowned singer of a village. Once his small village was known in his name. However, with fame came comfort; comfort to pursue his innate wild nature. This led to destruction of his life and his family. His son, Shankaran is unemployed and Bhama, daughter of the village's landlord is in love with him. Though he doesn't reciprocate as she would love to. The villagers are poor but they try to live as decently as possible with available resources. However, it becomes impossible for everyone to handle the poverty and low quality of life. This leads them to alternative choices that are not that decent, and those some conform to it to just survive. Bhama is married off to Mani Iyer, another reputable singer but her marriage is not a happy one. Because Mani Iyer is also not a stranger to the wilder comforts that fame provides. The questions of will Shankaran be able to find a job that can uplift his family, and will Bhama find happiness again in her life, form the climax of the story. The film is a diorama of life in poverty and people trying to live through it with values and fellowship.

Cast

as Shankaran *

as Bhama * Radha as Chinna *

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Ma ...

as Rangan *

Priya (actress) Karpagavalli better known by her stage name Priya is an Indian actress who worked on South Indian movies. She was a prominent lead actress during the 1980s and 1990s in Malayalam films. She now works in Tamil television serials in antagonist ...

as Kasthoori * Sukumari *

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decades ...

as N. S. Thovala *

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

as Joseph *

L. P. R. Varma Lakshmipuram Palace Pooram Thirunal Ravi Varma ( ml, എൽ.പി.ആർ. വർമ്മ) known as L.P.R. Varma (1926–2003) was a Carnatic musician, lyricist, music director, singer, screen writer, and actor. Life Varma was born in Lakshm ...

as Vasudhevan Bhagavathar * Murali as Kachery Mani Iyyer * Santhosh as Govindhankutty *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.Sukumaran Edappal Ponnamkuzhi Veettil Parameswaran Sukumaran Nair (10 June 1948 – 16 June 1997), known mononymously as Sukumaran, was an Indian actor and producer of Malayalam films. Sukumaran became a popular film star in Malayalam cinema during the ...

as Abu * Seema as Paapamma * V. K. Ramasamy as Periyaswamy * Sankaradi as Vikraman *Louba Schild as Louba

Production

''Ayitham'' was produced by actresses and sisters

and Radha through their production house ARS Productions, they also appeared in the principal roles alongside

. The film was written by

and was also his third directorial. Actor-politician

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

had come as a guest in the pooja function of the film.

Soundtrack

The film features original songs composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan and lyrics by O. N. V. Kurup. The song "Oruvakkil Oru Nokkil" was based on the jog raga.

Release

''Ayitham'' was released in theatres on 7 April 1988.

References

External links

*
''Ayitham''
on

Eros Now Eros Now is an Indian subscription-based over-the-top, video on-demand entertainment and media platform, launched in 2012. It is owned and controlled by Eros Digital, the Indian digital media management arm of the Indian-American multinational ...

''Ayitham''
on Amazon Prime Video 1988 films 1980s Malayalam-language films {{1980s-Malayalam-film-stub