''Pareeksha'' () is a 1967 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

-language film, directed by P. Bhaskaran and written by

T. N. Gopinathan Nair T. N. Gopinathan Nair (24 April 1918 – 24 May 1999), was an Indian dramatist, novelist, poet, screenwriter and biographer of Malayalam language. One of the prolific among Malayalam playwrights, Nair published 39 plays, besides his four novels ...

. It is based on Nair's 1964 play of the same name. The film stars Prem Nazir, Sharada,

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 ...

and

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri fr ...

. The story details the corruption and malpractices in the education system and conduct of public examinations. Filming was done at Vasu Studio. The film had a highly successful musical composition by

M. S. Baburaj Mohammad Sabir Baburaj was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs. Early years Baburaj was born on 9 March 1929 in Kozhikod ...

. ''Pareeksha'' released on 19 October 1967, and was a huge commercial success at the box office.

Plot

Neelakanta Pillai lives in a village with his son Appu and daughter Parvathi. Appu fails in the SSLC examinations. Pillai's sister Lakshmi Amma also lives in the same village. Her son Vijayan, who works in Calcutta gets transferred to Ernakulam. Vijayan takes Appu along with him to provide coaching to the boy for the SSLC exams the following year. Vijayan and Appu stay in a small house in Headmaster Janardhanan Pillai's compound. The headmaster is a friend of Neelakanta Pillai. Vijayan falls in love with Janardanan Pillai's daughter Yamuna and their families decide to get them married. The SSLC examinations are over. Appu is doubtful of clearing his science exam. Janardanan Pillai is the evaluator of his paper. Neelakanta Pillai approaches Janardanan Pillai to know his son's result in advance. Appu fails to secure pass marks, managing to get only 26 marks, while the minimum pass mark is 35. A respected and honest teacher Janardanan Pillai refuses to give Appu extra marks. Vijayan is indebted to his uncle Neelakantan Pillai. He assures him that he will influence Janardanan Pillai and that Appu will get through the examinations. But the Headmaster rejects Vijayan's request to manipulate the mark list. Vijayan forces Yamuna to get things done in his favour. Yamuna corrects the original marks. She changes 26 to 62 in the examination paper as well as the mark list. Janardanan Pillai learns of his daughter's actions. He is shocked to find out, from his wife Bhageerathi, that Yamuna is pregnant and that Vijayan may withdraw from the marriage if Appu fails to clear the exams. When Neelakantan Pillai learns of all this, he decides to meet Janardanan Pillai along with Vijayan and Appu to apologise and resolve the issue. But they are a trifle late. Janardanan Pillai dies, but only after he corrects the marks from 62 to the original in the exam paper and the mark list.

Cast

* Prem Nazir as Vijayan * Sharada as Yamuna *

as Ayyappan Pilla *

as Janardhanan Pilla *

Kottayam Santha Kottayam Santha was an Indian actress and dubbing artist best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in more than 300 films. She had also acted in several TV serials like Valayam, Krishnakripasagaram etc. She dubbed for almost ...

* P. J. Antony * T. R. Omana *B. K. Pottekkad *Latheef *

Aranmula Ponnamma Aranmula Ponnamma (8 April 1914 – 21 February 2011) was a National Award winning Indian actress known for her roles as mother of the protagonist in numerous films in a career spanning over five decades. She is widely described as a mother ...

*C. A. Balan * Khadeeja *Kuttan Pillai *Panjabi *

Santo Krishnan Santo Krishnan, originally named Krishnan Nair, (12 May 1920 – 6 July 2013) born in Ottapalam was an Indian athlete and stuntsman. Having appeared in more than 1000 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Singala, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English. He di ...

*Ramesh * P. Bhaskaran

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

, with lyrics by P. Bhaskaran. The songs were composed in Hindustani ragas. Assisted by R. K. Shekhar, the background score was arranged by M. B. Sreenivasan. Songs like "''Oru Pushpam Mathramen''" ( Desh ), "''Pranasakhi Njaan Verumoru''" ( Sindhu Bhairavi ); "''Avidunnen Ganam Kelkaan''" ( Pahadi ), "''En Prana Nayakane''" ( Yamuna Kalyani ) and a romantic number, "''Annu Ninte Nunakuzhi''" was highly popular and sometimes regarded by critics as among the best songs in the language.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0155945, Pareeksha 1960s Malayalam-language films 1967 films Films about academic scandals Films about examinations and testing Films about the education system in India Films directed by P. Bhaskaran Films scored by M. S. Baburaj Indian films based on plays