''Kavyamela'' is a 1965 Malayalam film written by

S. L. Puram Sadanandan S. L. Puram Sadanandan (15 April 1928 – 16 September 2005) was an Indian playwright and film scriptwriter from Kerala, India. Career In 1967, he got the first ever National Film Award for Best Screenplay for the film '' Agniputhri''. Dea ...

and directed by M. Krishnan Nair, starring

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the histo ...

and

Sheela Sheela Ravichandran (Born 22 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as h ...

in the lead roles. The film is best known for the performance by Prem Nazir and songs by

Dakshinamoorthy Dakshinamurthy () is an aspect of the Hindu god Shiva as a guru (teacher) of all types of knowledge. This aspect of Shiva, as the original guru, is his personification as the supreme or the ultimate awareness, understanding and knowledge. Thi ...

Vayalar Vayalar is a village in Cherthala taluk, Alapuzha district, Kerala state, India. Location Vayalar is 5 km from Cherthala, Kerala. Vayalar is bounded on the east by the Vayalar kayal which is a part of the famous Vembanad backwate ...

team.B. Vijayakumar
"Kavyamela 1965"
''The Hindu''. Retrieved 17 March 2011. ''Kavyamela'' released on 22 October 1965. It won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of seve ...

. The movie was a remake of the 1961 Kannada movie '' Kantheredu Nodu'' produced by A K Velan. Velan, who had earlier sold the copyrights of the Kannada movie ''Kantheredu Nodu'' to T. E. Vasudevan for Rs.1000, subsequently purchased it back for Rs.5000 to remake it in Tamil for a 1968 movie titled ''Devi'', starring Muthuraman and Devika, which bombed at the box office.

Plot

Jayadevan (

), the blind poet, has a burning passion to earn literary fame, but fate conspires to deny it to him for long. And when it comes, he disdains it. Spurned by his sister and duped by the crook Vikraman (

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 ...

), Jayadevan wanders from place to place and comes across a girl Sreedevi (

), who, after initial suspicions, nurses him back to vision and falls in love with him. But ill-luck chases him even to prison. Meanwhile, Vikram gets hold of Jayadevan's monumental work, the manuscript of his collection of poems, and publishes it in his own name which gains instant recognition. While Vikram is about to be honoured for this, Jayadevan succeeds in unfolding the truth. Yet in this moment of triumph and glory, he declines both the public encomium and the hand of Sridevi.

Cast

as Jayadevan *

as Sreedevi *

as Vikraman * G. K. Pillai as Dr. Panikkar *

Nellikkodu Bhaskaran Nellikode Bhaskaran (21 April 1924 – 11 August 1988) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. His real name was Bhaskara Menon. He mostly played character roles and supporting roles. Awards Kerala State Film Awards: * Second Best Actor - ...

as Balachandran, Dr. Panikkar's nephew *

Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai (1900–1979) was a Malayalam dramatist, poet, screen play writer and actor who was well known in the role of Ashaan in Kavyamela. He was born in 1900 in Muthukulam, a small village near Haripad in Alappuzha District ...

Nilambur Ayisha Nilambur Ayisha is an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She started her career as a theater artist. Later she became a supporting actress in the Malayalam movies in late 1960s and 1970s. She has acted in more than 50 movies. She was the first ...

S. P. Pillai S. P. Pillai (28 November 1913 – 12 June 1985) was an Indian film and stage actor, best known for his comic roles in Malayalam films. Biography S. Pankajakshan Pillai alias S. P. Pillai was born in 1913 in the temple town of Ettumanoor in ...

as Kamath *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film, Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in o ...

as Prasadakan *

P. Leela Porayathu Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, ...

as herself *

P. B. Sreenivas Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. Sreenivas was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Bollyw ...

as himself * K. J. Yesudas as himself *

M. B. Sreenivasan Manamadurai Balakrishnan Sreenivasan (19 September 1925 – 9 March 1988), or MBS, was a South Indian music director who worked mainly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He was born to an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on 19 Septe ...

as himself * V. Dakshinamoorthy as himself * Murali * Saradadevi * Ramesh * Baby Saroja * P.A Thomas

Production

The film was shot at Newton and Shyamala Studios. The film's story line is similar to

Guru Dutt Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone (9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964), better known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998''Encyclopedia of Indian ...

's ''

Pyaasa ''Pyaasa'' (; ) is a 1957 Indian Hindi drama film directed and produced by Guru Dutt, who stars alongside Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman, Rehman, and Johnny Walker. Set in Calcutta, it focuses on the disillusioned Urdu poet Vijay (Dutt), whose ...

'' (1957, Hindi). However, the film is an official remake of a Kannada film by Velan. T. E. Vasudevan bought the rights of the film from Velan with a shoestring amount of 1000. Owing to the commercial success of Malayalam version, Velan wanted to remake the film into Tamil. He bought back the rights for 5000, and made the Tamil film ''Devi'' (1968), which however failed in the box office.. ''The Hindu''. Retrieved 17 March 2011.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy

Malayalam

Lyrics were written by

Vayalar Ramavarma Vayalar Ramavarma (March 25, 1928 – October 27, 1975), also known as Vayalar, was an Indian poet and lyricist of Malayalam language. He was known for his poems which include ''Sargasangeetham'', ''Mulankaadu'', ''Padamudrakal'', ''Aayisha'' a ...

Tamil

Lyrics were penned by Palladam Manickam.

Playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

s are

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 fi ...

P. B. Srinivas Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. Sreenivas was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Bollyw ...

and

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

References

External links

* {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Malayalam 1965 films 1960s Malayalam-language films Malayalam remakes of Kannada films Best Malayalam Feature Film National Film Award winners Films directed by M. Krishnan Nair