''Olangal'' () is a 1982 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 film, directed by

Balu Mahendra Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (19 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan-born Indian cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. Widely regarded as ...

. The film's plot is inspired from novel ''

Man, Woman and Child ''Man, Woman and Child'' is a novel by Erich Segal. It details the lives of Robert and Sheila Beckwith and their daughters Jessica and Paula. Synopsis Robert is contacted one day by a friend in France, who tells him that Nicole, a woman with ...

'' by

Erich Segal Erich Wolf Segal (June 16, 1937January 17, 2010) was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel '' Love Story'' (1970) and its hit film adaptation. Early life and education Born and raised in a ...

Plot

Life goes on happily for the couple, Ravi (

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Career Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he ...

) and Radha ( Poornima), who live with their only daughter, until Father John arrives in the city with a young boy Raju, Ravi's son from an affair with Reetha (

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, ...

), before his marriage to Radha. Now he has to keep the boy with him for a month before Father John takes the boy abroad. Ravi introduces the boy to his wife as the son of a dead friend, George, and she happily accepts to keep the boy with them. But the truth emerges when the "dead friend" visits their house. The six-year-long marriage between Ravi and Radha shatters.

Cast

... Ravi Chattan *

Poornima Jayaram Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Jayaram) is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married director K. Bhagyaraj, who directed one ...

... Radha R. Chattan – Ravi's wife *

... Rita * Anju *

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 ...

T. R. Omana T. R. Omana is an Indian actress in Malayalam films. She mainly acts in supporting roles and mother roles. She has acted in more than 500 films. Personal life T. R. Omana was born as eldest among five children to T R Gopala Pillai, Timber mer ...

* Preeta *

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 ...

Soundtrack

The song "Thumbi Vaa" gained massive popularity on release. Ilaiyaraaja re-used the tune in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. The song was re-used in Balu Mahendra's 1986 Telugu film ''

Nireekshana ''Nireekshana'' () is a 1986 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film co-written, directed, filmed, and edited by Balu Mahendra. Produced by Linga Raju, the film stars Bhanu Chander and Archana. Allu Ramalingaiah, P. L. Narayana and Rallap ...

'' as "Aakasham Eenatido" and twice in Tamil, first in the 1982 film ''Auto Raja'' as "Sangathil Paadatha" and next in ''Kanne Kalaimaane'', the dubbed version of ''

'', as "Neerveezhchi Thee Muttuthey". Balu Mahendra loved the tune so much that he insisted having the tune again in his 1996 Hindi film ''

Aur Ek Prem Kahani ''Aur Ek Prem Kahani'' ( en, Another Love Story, italic=yes) is a 1996 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Balu Mahendra. The film became features Ramesh Aravind, Sudhir Ahuja, and Heera Rajagopal. Co-starring in the film were Revathi Menon ...

'' in the song "Monday To Uth Kar". It was also used in the 2009

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

film '' Paa'' as "Gumm Summ Gumm".

Reception

Sreedhar Pillai wrote for ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

'', "As always with Mahendra's films the photography is superb. It captures the lush green of Ooty and the urban landscape of Bangalore with equal ease. Amol Palekar gives a subdued performance."

References

External links

* 1982 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Films directed by Balu Mahendra Films based on American novels Malayalam films remade in other languages Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja {{1980s-Malayalam-film-stub