''Nirmala'' is a 1948 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 Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by P. V. Krishna Iyer and produced by P. J. Cherian. The fourth talkie in Malayalam, ''Nirmala'' introduced

playback singing 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 ...

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

Cast

Cherian's family played a large part in the film. His son Joseph Cherian was cast as hero; Joseph's wife, Baby, was the heroine; and his daughters other relatives were part of this film. * Joseph Cherian * Baby Joseph * P.K. Raghavan * Cherthala Vasudeva Kurup * P. J. Cherian * Mathappan * S. J. Dev * Kamalamma

Music

The songs were composed by saxophone player P. S. Divakar and E. I. Warrier. Lyrics were by poet

G. Sankara Kurup G. Sankara Kurup, (3 June 1901 – 2 February 1978) also referred to as Mahakavi G (The Great Poet G), was an Indian poet, essayist and literary critic of Malayalam literature. Known as one of the greats of Malayalam poetry, he was the first r ...

. There were 15 songs in the film, sung by

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, ...

, P. K. Raghavan, Sarojini Menon, T. K. Govindarao, Vasudeva Kurup and Vimala B Varma."Nirmala"
Malayalam Movie Database. Retrieved 2011-04-06. Govinda Rao and Sarojini Menon, who sang in this film, became the first male and female playback singers in Malayalam.

References

1940s Malayalam-language films Indian black-and-white films {{1940s-Malayalam-film-stub