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

-language

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

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. Kuru ...

in his directorial debut. The story was based on his own life experience. It stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

, Shankar, Geetha, and

Urvashi Urvashi (, ) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the ''Vedas'', the epics ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', as well as the ''Puranas''. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert danc ...

in major roles. The film features songs composed by Raveendran and a score by

M. B. Sreenivasan Manamadurai Balakrishnan Sreenivasan (19 September 1925 – 9 March 1988), or MBS, was a South Indian music director who worked mainly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He was born to an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on 19 Sept ...

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 loyal pal named Vinod who tends to get a bit annoying sometimes, but Sunny appreciates him nevertheless. When Sunny and Nandan graduate college with the highest honors, they decide to marry their girlfriends. Thara's parents approve of Sunny, but Devi's father does not approve of Nandan when he sees that Nandan works as a 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 will convince Devi's father to change his mind. He plans to get Nandan and Devi married at a register office with the help of Chandran by getting Devi out of her house in disguise for a temple visit. However, things still stay the same, and Devi's arranged marriage goes as planned. On the morning of Devi's wedding, worse turns to worst when news arrives saying that Sunny got killed in a motorbike accident with Vinod in 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 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

as Sunny * Shankar as Nandan *

as Devi * Geetha as Thara *

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar Achary (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 deca ...

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 d ...

as Krishnan, Devi's father *

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...

as Radhika, Devi's mother * K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Chandru, Devi's brother * M. G. Soman as Dr. Ambikadmajan Nair * K. P. A. C. Sunny as Stephen, Sunny's brother * Priya *

Shankaradi Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 70 ...

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 fr ...

as Alexander, Sunny's father *

Kaviyoor Ponnamma Kaviyoor Ponnamma (10 September 1945 – 20 September 2024) was an Indian actress who appeared in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She also acted in TV serials and c ...

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 tow ...

* Sumithra 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 M ...

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 Raveendran to the lyrics penned by

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He received ...

. The soundtrack was well received and includes the evergreen melodies of all time in Malayalam film music. K. J. Yesudas and K. S. Chithra have lent their voice to the soundtracks.

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