''Ponni'' is a 1976 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 produced by M. O. Joseph under the banner of Manjilas, scripted and directed by

Thoppil Bhasi Thoppil Bhaskara Pillai, known as Thoppil Bhasi (8 April 1924 – 8 December 1992) was an Indian Malayalam-language playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He was associated with the communist movement in Kerala and his play ''Ningalenne C ...

, based on

Malayattoor Ramakrishnan K. V. Ramakrishna Iyer, better known by his pen name, Malayattoor Ramakrishnan (27 May 1927 – 27 December 1997), was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, cartoonist, lawyer, judicial magistrate, and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of ...

's novel of the same name. The film stars Kamal Haasan and

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

, while

M. G. Soman M. G. Soman (28 September 1941 – 12 December 1997) was an Indian actor and former Indian Air Force officer who appeared in Malayalam films. He was one among the leading star actors doing hero roles in Malayalam Cinema during the late 1970s an ...

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 ...

, Sankaradi, Janardhanan and Rajakumari play supporting roles. The film features original songs composed by G. Devarajan, while the cinematography was handled 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 ...

and editing by M. S. Mani. The film was dubbed into Tamil as ''Kollimalai Maaveeran'' and Telugu as ''Kondaraju Koyapilla''.

Plot

An Independence Day celebrations organized by the Sub-Collector of the

Attappadi Attappady (HQ:Agali) is a tribal taluk in Kerala state covering an area of . It is carved out from Mannarkkad taluk in Palakkad district on February 2021. Attappady Reserve Forest is a protected area comprising 249 km2 of land area in ...

area and the participation of various tribal groups of the region. Ponni belonging to the Mudhuga tribe and Maran belonging to the Irula tribe who danced on the day are introduced to each other by the Sub-Collector. Ponni and Maran fall in love at the first sight even as they willingly pose for the media. These two tribes are rivals, who follow separate faiths and traditions. The Independence Day photograph of Ponni and Maran are published in the newspapers next day. Chellan is in love with Ponni, but she dislikes him. Ponni's friend Maashi loves Chellan. Tension and strained relations in the Mudhuga tribes is cleverly exploited by the landlords of the area. The tribals practice the

Slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

cultivation method, which is resented by the landlords who needed the tribals as cheap labour. Ponni revolts against the attempts of the landlords to hamper their traditional agricultural activities. Maran also stands by Ponni. Ponni and Maran love affair is met with widespread animosity and opposition. News is spread that the mountain god and the powers of nature will not be pleased with the inter tribe relationship. Hanuman is a tool in the hands of the landlords. He works for them against the tribals. The tribal chief (Mooppan) warns the Mudhugas that their settlement will be destroyed by natural calamities if Ponni marries Maran and she is banned from meeting Maran. Meanwhile, Ponni's father Nanjan decides to marry her to Chellan. The police arrest Maran on false charges of holding firearms without a licence. Ponni meets the Sub-Collector and pleads with him to save Maran and manages to get him freed. The Mudhuga priest Bomman through the influence of the landlords and Hanuman set a trap to kill Ponni. Bomman makes a prediction that the tribal settlement will soon be destroyed by the anger of 'Jakkamma' (the mountain goddess). Pretending to be possessed by the goddess, Bomman demands human sacrifice to appease the powers and save the tribe. Ponni is chosen for the sacrifice and arrangements are made for the ritual. Maran and Chellan reach the spot in time and save Ponni. In the end Maran and Chellan marrying Ponni and Maashi respectively.

Cast

* Kamal Haasan as Maran *

as Ponni *

as Chellan *

as Bomman * Sankaradi as Nanjan *

Bahadoor Padiyath Kochumoideen Kunjalu (1930 22 May 2000), known by his stage name Bahadoor, was an Indian actor and comedian who, along with Adoor Bhasi, redefined the way in which comedy and funny scenes were perceived in the Malayalam cinema. They ...

as Adhikari (Village officer) * Kunjan as Village officer's assistant * Janardhanan as sub-collector *

Paravoor Bharathan Vadakkekarayil Koran Bharathan (16 January 1929- 19 August 2015), better known as Paravoor Bharatan was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He started his career in movies during the 1950s. Bharathan is known as a versatile actor and h ...

as Hanuman * Manavalan Joseph as Sankaran * Sam(A.T.Samuel) as Aandhi *

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 ...

as Mooppan * J. A. R. Anand as Mooppan's assistant * Rajakumari as Maashi * K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Chikki *

Pala Thankam Pala Thankam (1941 – 10 January 2021) was an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actresses, singers and dubbing artists in the late 1960s and 1970s in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She acted in more than ...

as Chelli *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in 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 over 300 movies. ...

as Chinnan * Punjabi as tea-shop keeper * C. A. Balan as Bhandari * E. Madhavan as Muthalali

Production

The film is based on

's famous novel titled ''Ponni''. The novel was written in 1966-67 and was inspired by true stories that Malayattoor heard when he worked as

Ottappalam Ottapalam, (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk and municipality in the Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ottapalam taluk. Ottapalam is located about 36 km from district headquarters Palakkad. ...

sub-collector during 1959 - 1961. The film was written and directed by

, produced by M. O. Joseph under the banner of Manjilas Cine enterprises. Cinematography was handled by

, editing by M. S. Mani, and choreographed by E. Madhavan. The film was shot in forest area of

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

. Shooting locations included Satya,

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...

, AVM and Karpakam Studios in Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

). The final length of the film was .

Soundtrack

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 ...
Version

The music was composed by G. Devarajan with lyrics by P. Bhaskaran.

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
Version

Tamil lyrics were written by Deva Narayanan. The playback singers are Sherin Peter, Sasirekha, T. R. Sarojarani and Harimathavan.

Release

''Ponni'' was released on 3 September 1976. The film was dubbed into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

under the title ''Kollimalai Maaveeran'' and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''Kondaraju Koyapilla''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponni (Film) 1970s Malayalam-language films Films about social issues in India Films based on Indian novels Films shot in Palakkad Films directed by Thoppil Bhasi Films scored by G. Devarajan Indigenous films Works by Malayattoor Ramakrishnan