''Mazha'' () is a 2000 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Lenin Rajendran Lenin Rajendran ( ml, ലെനിൻ രാജേന്ദ്രൻ) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Malayalam cinema. He served as the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation from 2016 to January 2019. ...

based on the short story ''Nashtappetta Neelambari'' by Madhavikkutty. It stars

Biju Menon Biju Menon (born 9 September 1970) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a car ...

Samyuktha Varma Samyuktha Varma (born 26 November 1979) is a former Indian actress who was active in Malayalam films from 1999 to 2002. She made her debut in 1999 as female lead in the movie ''Veendum Chila Veettukaryangal'' for which she won her first Kerala S ...

and

Lal Lal ( fa, لعل, hi, लाल, bn, লাল, ur, لال, ps, Lāl) is an Indo-Iranian surname and given name, which means "darling", "precious", or "beloved", from the Sanskrit ''lala'' ("cajoling").''Dictionary of American Family Names''F ...

. The music was composed by

Ravindran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer ...

. The film won five

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

, a

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...

and a South Filmfare Award.

Plot

''Mazha'' tells the love story of Bhadra (

) and her music teacher Sastrigal (

). The film begins with teenager Bhadra coming to learn music under Sastrigal and getting infatuated with him and his singing in Sivapuram. The story describes the teenager Bhadra's characters and behavior in a nice mood. At her teenage time the madhura is a beautiful village having a lot of Tamil Brahmins, the shasthrikal is also one of them. Bhadhra falls in love with her music teacher (shasthrikal) because of her teenage nature and curiosity towards his music. The story runs in the surroundings of the famous

Meenakshi Amman Temple Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundaraswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, ...

in Tamil Nadu. Bhadra's creative talents for poetry start to flourish, under his influence. Sastrigal is not much aware of Bhadra's love and considers her only as his talented student. Coming to know about Bhadra's infatuation, her parents took her with them and Sastrigal is obliged to marry his fiancée(Sindhu). Bhadra becomes a doctor (like her father) and is married to Chandran (

) who is a computer engineer. Chandran happens to see her diary one day and the relationship goes for a toss. Of course, there are no names in the diary. So he goes off to doubt every male in her life – including the elderly senior doctor

Thilakan Palappurathu Kesavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appearan ...

. He becomes a victim to his drinking and dies of related illness. In the end, Bhadra sets out in search of Sastrigal to Madurai where she discovers that Sastrigal also has lost much – his wife is a mental patient and the final shock is when she finds out that Sastrigal has lost his beautiful voice due to cancer.

Cast

as Ramanuja Sastrigal *

as Dr. Bhadra Nair *

as Chandran *

Sindhu Shyam Sindhu Shyam is an Indian film and television actress, and a Bharathanatyam dancer. She made her acting debut through the Malayalam film Bhoothakkannadi directed by A. K. Lohithadas. Her role as Thilagavathi in Deivamagal increased her fame and ...

as Jnanam *

as Dr. *

Devi Ajith Devi Ajith (born 28 March 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer and a television personality in the Malayalam film industry. She is known for her roles in ''Trivandrum Lodge'' and ''Immanuel''. She is also seen in a short film named ''Virgin Road ...

as Gayathri *

Urmila Unni Urmila Unni is an Indian classical dancer and actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Her daughter Utthara Unni is also an actress. Personal life Unni was born on June 14th, 1962 into a royal family as the daughter of K. C. Anuja ...

as Saraswathy Madhavan Nair *

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 decad ...

as vaikunda Shastrikal

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack contains 9 songs, all composed by

. Lyrics were by

Bharathiyar C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannet ...

, O. V. Usha,

Yusuf Ali Kecheri Yusufali Kechery (Yūsaphali Kēccēri; യൂസഫലി കേച്ചേരി 16 May 1934 – 21 March 2015) was a poet, film lyricist, film producer and director from Kerala, India. He wrote during the modern era of Malayalam poetry and ...

and

K. Jayakumar K. Jayakumar (born 6 October 1952) is an Indian civil servant, poet, and author. He is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Kerala who retired as the Chief Secretary of the Government of Kerala. He has also worked as lyricist, ...

Reception

Despite positive reviews, the film was a commercial failure. According to Arun of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'', "it's due to the phenomenal success of '' Narasimham''. Its massive success cast a gigantic shadow that devoured the entire Malayalam film industry. Well almost "The ''Narasimham'' hangover is terrifically strong and it has, at least for the moment, killed the prospects of good films. I don't see any other reason for the failure of well made female-oriented films like ''Mazha'' and ''Madhuranombarakkattu."''

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

* Best Lyricist:

Yusufali Kechery Yusufali Kechery (Yūsaphali Kēccēri; യൂസഫലി കേച്ചേരി 16 May 1934 – 21 March 2015) was a poet, film lyricist, film producer and director from Kerala, India. He wrote during the modern era of Malayalam poetry and ...

;

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

Best Lyrics Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

: O. V. Usha * Best Background Score: Biju Paulose * Best Singer:

Asha G. Menon Asha G. Menon (born 25 October 1985) is a well-known Malayalam film playback singer, who is widely remembered for her first song 'Aaradyam Parayum' from the film ' Mazha' (2000). At the age of 15, she won the Kerala State Award for the Best ...

* Best Sound Recordist: N. Hari Kumar ;

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artis ...

* Best Actress :

* Best Lyrics : O V Usha & Jayakumar * Music Direction :

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

* Best Female Playback Singer : K S Chithra * Voice of the year :

Asha G Menon Asha G. Menon (born 25 October 1985) is a well-known Malayalam films, Malayalam film playback singing, playback singer, who is widely remembered for her first song 'Aaradyam Parayum' from the film 'Mazha' (2000). At the age of 15, she won the ...

* Best Supporting Actor :

;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

* Best Malayalam Actress :

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0333890, Mazha 2000 films 2000s Malayalam-language films 2000s romantic musical films 2000s musical drama films Indian romantic musical films Films scored by Raveendran Indian musical drama films Films shot in Madurai Films directed by Lenin Rajendran