''Chattakaari'' (English: ''The Anglo Indian Girl'') is a

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-language

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

written by

Thoppil Bhasi Thoppil Bhaskara Pillai, known as Thoppil Bhasi (8 April 1924 – 8 December 1992) was an Indian Malayalam-language playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He was associated with the communist movement in Kerala and his play '' Ningalenne ...

based on

Pamman Pamman ( ml, പമ്മന്‍; 28 February 1920 – 3 June 2007; born R. Parmeswara Menon) was a Malayalam novelist from Kollam, Kerala, India. Life He is best known for his novels which grapple with the sensual imagery of the human psy ...

's famous novel of the same name and directed by

Santosh Sethumadhavan Santosh Sethumadhavan is an Indian filmmaker, scriptwriter and creative director. In 2008, under the popular AVA Productions, his short film "''Appuvin Nayagan – Spotty (My Hero)''", based on a story by Indira Parthasarathy, received the Ra ...

. It is the

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the 1974 film of the same name, directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan, the father of Santhosh. The film was produced by G. Suresh Kumar under the banner of

Revathy Kalamandhir Revathy Kalamandhir is an Indian film production company based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It was founded in 1993 by producer G. Suresh Kumar. The company is run by Suresh Kumar and his wife actress Menaka. They have produced more than 15 f ...

. It stars

Shamna Kasim Shamna Kasim better known by the stage name Poorna, is an Indian actress, dancer and model who appears in Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. She made her acting debut in the 2004 '' Manju Poloru Penkutty''. Early life Shamna Kasim completed ...

in the title roles.

Plot

Julie is the eldest daughter of Morris, an Anglo-Indian engine-driver. Usha her close friend is from an orthodox

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Warrier Variyar (also written as Variar, Varyar, Warriar or Warrier) is a Hindu Ambalavasi caste in Kerala, India. Etymology The term Variyar has its origin in the Malayalam word 'Variyam' ( ml, വാരിയം /വാര്യം), which refers to ...

family. At Usha's residence she (Julie) meets her brother Sasi who is studying at a different place. Julie soon falls in love with Sasi. The relationship gets more cozy and Julie gets pregnant. The rest of the plot revolves around the struggles of Julie and her baby boy, against the hypocritic fangs of society. The plot addresses themes like Life of

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

s in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, the alarming rise in Premarital Pregnancy and the taboo associated with Inter caste Love and Marriage, all of which were hot topics of discussion when the movie released in 1974. According to the producer Suresh Kumar, the relevance of the remake lies in the present day Kerala society, which is still no different from the then society, with respect to these social aspects.

Casting

Being a heroine oriented film, the role of Julie was first to be fixed. Many mainstream

actresses were considered, and the team zeroed in on

Hemanth Menon Vineeth Suresh (born 19 April 1989) popularly known as Hemanth Menon by his stage name, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil movies. Career He made his debut in 2010 with the film '' Living Together''. He has sinc ...

, who has previously acted in some Malayalam movies was fixed as the male lead. Innocent plays the character of Morris, which was handled by the thespian of Malayalam cinema,

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), known by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director from Kerala. Adoor Bhasi was almost always cast as the man who stands next to the hero. His hilarious actions and role ...

. Sukumari is the only actress present in both the versions of the movie. The support cast include Suvarna and Malu Raveendranath, portraying the characters of Julie's mother and sister respectively.

Filming

The film was shot predominantly at

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

, with some scenes being shot at

Udhagamandalam railway station Udagamandalam railway station, also referred to as Ooty railway station is a terminus station in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. The terminus is a part of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a World Heritage Site. History The station was opened in year 1908, wh ...

, and hill stations in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. The filming completed in a record 25 days. A song was shot at Thommankuthu Waterfall, near

Thodupuzha Thodupuzha (തൊടുപുഴ) is a municipal town located in Idukki district, Kerala, India, that covers an area of . It lies on the banks of Thodupuzha river, which merges with the Kaliyar and Kothamangalam rivers at Muvattupuzha to for ...

amidst heavy rain.

Soundtrack

The film features a soundtrack composed by

M. Jayachandran Madhusoodanan Jayachandran is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he wo ...

with lyrics penned by Murukan Kattakada, Rajeev Alunkal, Charu Hariharan. The music for the film was released on 2 June 2012 by Honorable Minister for Film Development

K. B. Ganesh Kumar Keezhoote Balakrishna Pillai Ganesh Kumar (born 25 May 1966) is an Indian actor, television host, and politician. Ganesh Kumar is a proposed cabinet minister for the last 2.5 years in the ongoing 2nd LDF govt in Kerala and he is also the curre ...

Kanakakkunnu Palace Kanakakkunnu Palace is situated in Thiruvananthapuram near the Napier museum, India. It is India's first digital garden, created by Akhilesh S. V. Nair and A. Gangaprasad, University of Kerala, Department of Botany. Today the palace and i ...

. The behind the scenes videos of the songs "Nilave Nilave" and "Oh My Julie" were released online in

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Track listing

References

External links

‘Chattakkari’ is already a hit!
* {{IMDb title, tt2955542 2012 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Films shot in Ooty Remakes of Indian films Indian romantic drama films Films scored by M. Jayachandran 2012 romantic drama films Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films shot in Munnar Indian pregnancy films