''Sukhamo Devi'' () is a 1986 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 wa ...

-language

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

written and directed by

Venu Nagavally Venu Nagavally (16 April 1949 – 10 September 2010) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagavally R. S. Kurup, ...

in his directorial debut. The story was based on his own life's experience. It features

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appe ...

, Shankar, Geetha and

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and '' Puranic'' s ...

in major roles. The film features songs composed by

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 ...

and a score by M. B. Sreenivasan.

Plot

Two good friends, Nandan and Sunny, are singers in their senior year of college. Nandan is a hard working introvert while Sunny is well rounded, sporty, and loved among his friends. Nandan and Sunny have girlfriends Devi and Thara, respectively, who match them exactly in personality. Sunny also has another very loyal pal named Vinod who tends to get a bit annoying sometimes, but Sunny appreciates him nevertheless. When Sunny and Nandan graduate college with highest honors, they decide to marry their girlfriends. Thara's parents approve of Sunny, but Devi's father does not of approve Nandan when he sees that Nandan works as waiter at a restaurant. Devi's father even decides to have an arranged marriage for her, about which Nandan and Sunny get really upset. Sunny promises that he would convince Devi's father to change his mind. Sunny plans to get Nandan and Devi married at a register office with the help of Chandran to get Devi out of her house in disguise of a temple visit. However, things still stay the same, and Devi's arranged marriage goes on as planned. On the morning of Devi's wedding, worse turns to worst when news arrives telling that Sunny got killed in a motorbike accident with Vinod in a critical condition at the hospital. It is later discovered that Vinod survives the accident, but loses his ability to talk. Thara gets extremely devastated and starts living as a widow. Nandan obeys Sunny's wish for him to be a playback singer for movies, and eventually gains fame and wealth from doing so. Sunny's brother introduces Nandan to a music director who promotes him in the film world. From this part of the movie to the end, all of the characters hear Sunny's voice in random places, making them feel his presence in their hearts. On one of Nandan's tours to his hometown, he stays in a hotel and discovers that the receptionist is Devi. He calls her later, telling her, "Sukhamo Devi?" (Are you doing alright, Devi?), the title of the movie. He eventually meets her husband, Dr. Venugopal, who tells Nandan to move on with life, and that the arranged marriage wasn't his choice either. Meanwhile, Nandan tries to cheer up Thara, who has yet to recover from the shock of Sunny's death. Devi, along with her daughter, leaves for Goa to be with her husband for good with Nandan promising her that they will unite in Heaven one day. The final scene shows Nandan and Thara watching Devi's plane leave with Sunny's voice telling Nandan to "look after Thara like gold". At that moment, Nandan and Thara decide to get married until they reunite with their true loves in Heaven. The movie ends with the words "A practical solution for a love tragedy" on the screen.

Cast

* Shankar as Nandan *

as Sunny *

as Devi * Geetha as Thara *

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 Vinod * Janardhanan as Ouseppachan, Thara's brother *

Jagannatha Varma K. N. Jagannatha Varma (1 May 1939 – 20 December 2016) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also a Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also an artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a film dir ...

as Devi's father * Sukumari as Devi's mother * K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Chandran, Devi's brother * M. G. Soman as Dr. Ambikadmajan Nair *

K. P. A. C. Sunny K. P. A. C. Sunny (1934–2006) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. He acted in more than 400 Malayalam films. He occupied the movie industry for four decades. Background Sunny was born as Sunny D'Cruz in Chavara, Kollam on 18 April 1934. ...

as Sunny's brother * Priya * Shankaradi as Fauji Rajashekharan *

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 from ...

as Sunny's father *

Kaviyoor Ponnamma Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing cre ...

as Nandan's mother *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

Sumithra Sumitra ( sa, सुमित्रा, IAST: Sumitrā) is a princess of Kashi in Hindu mythology. The wise Sumitra is the third queen consort of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala, who ruled from Ayodhya. She is the mother of the twins Lakshman ...

as Sunny's sister-in-law *

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in ...

as Dr. Venugopal, Devi's husband (cameo) *

as Man at the bar (guest appearance)

Production

''Sukhamo Devi'' marks the directorial debut of

. The film is based on his own life experience.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by music

to the lyrics penned by O. N. V. Kurup. The soundtrack was well received and includes in the evergreen melodies of all time in Malayalam film music.

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

and K. S. Chithra have lent their voice for the soundtracks of the film.

References

External links

*
Article about the film in ''Deepika''
{{Authority control 1980s Malayalam-language films 1986 directorial debut films 1986 films 1986 romantic drama films Indian romantic drama films Indian films based on actual events Films scored by Raveendran Films scored by M. B. Sreenivasan Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films directed by Venu Nagavally