''Ulsavapittennu'' () is a 1988 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 drama film directed by

Bharath Gopi Gopynathan Velayudhan Nair (2 November 1937 – 29 January 2008), popularly known by the stage name Bharat Gopy, was an Indian actor, producer and director. He was one of the first actors to be associated with the New Wave cinema movement in ...

and written by John Paul. The film stars

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 appeare ...

Parvathy Jayaram Ashwathy Kurup (born 7 April 1970), better known by her stage name Parvathy and married name Parvathy Jayaram (Aswathi Jayaram) , is a former Indian actress, costume designer and classical dancer, who appeared in Malayalam films. Parvathy was ...

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...

and

Sukumaran Edappal Ponnamkuzhi Veettil Parameswaran Sukumaran Nair (10 June 1948 – 16 June 1997), known mononymously as Sukumaran, was an Indian actor and producer of Malayalam films. Sukumaran became a popular film star in Malayalam cinema during the 1 ...

in the lead roles. The film has musical score composed by

G. Devarajan Paravoor Govindan Devarajan (1927–2006), popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was an Indian music composer and Carnatic singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Indian film music. He sco ...

. The film was a commercial success at the box office. Mohanlal won the

Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award The Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the ...

for his performance in the film.

Plot

It is from a festival of the family temple that the movie starts; a very auspicious moment. Once a prestigious Brahmin family, Poovulla Kovilakom is now in the verge of the destruction of all means. The Kovilakom is now administered by Ravi, Ettan Thampuran. His younger brother Aniyan Thampuran (Unni), though an adult, is a meek and gullible person. He has no interest in the matters concerning the governance and administration of a seemingly big family. He often plays with children and among the people of the place, he has gotten no respect and power because of his inefficacy. Ettan Thampuran's misadministration leads the house and family to debts which are exploited by the land-agent Pangunni Nair who arrange people to buy the Kovilakom's land. Ettan Thampuran's wife called ‘ettathi’ is a very domineering kind of a person who does nothing significant. She has a company, Pangunni Nair's daughter with her all the time and with whom Ettan Thampuran has an extra marital relationship of an unwritten consent. Kalyaniyamma, relative of the two brothers, who cares Aniyan Thampuran as a mother cares her child, is one among the only persons who support and understand him. Aniyan Thampuran's friend Madhavan Kutty, though belongs to a lower caste has a relationship with Indira who belongs to the caste or family of Pothuvals. Indira's family has some financial difficulties and their condition is not so good. One day she elopes with Madhavan Kutty. This becomes a piece of news in the place but about which Aniyan Thampuran finds nothing wrong. Indira's brother Rajan is a jobless person who sings in the temple over which the Kovilakom has some power, probably that is passed on from different generations. A marriage proposal from a not so wealthy and prestigious family comes for Aniyan Thampuran and the marriage takes place. The girl he married, Karthika who belongs to Nair caste, is a person who marries Aniyan Thampuran more for her concerns about her family's poor conditions but later becomes a person who understands Aniyan Thampuran's special behaviors and accepts him by offering him all emotional support. Their first-night after marriage goes on with Aniyan Thampuran narrating silly and trivial things. He and Karthika visit Karthika's house and he learns the poor conditions of her family. Though Aniyan Thampuran offers help to the family, her father declines it telling it will tarnish his prestige if he took any help from the family to where his daughter is married off. Meanwhile, there comes a person named Balan Master who claims to be a writer. Aniyan Thampuran befriends him. Aniyan Thampuran's childish acts continue even after marriage. One day he requests Pushpangadan, pappan of an elephant to take him on the elephant back. He agrees this but Aniyan Thampuran is scolded by Ettan Thampuran when he sees his brother on elephant back. Ettan Thampuran continuously sells land to make up for his debts. In all these land proceedings Aniyan Thampuran has no role to play than to sign the documents where he is instructed to. In one of the evenings of Aniyan Thampuran with Balan Master, while narrating his (Aniyan Thampuran's) demeanour and how people sees him Balan Master tells casually to him to show some courage and authority so that gradually people's attitude toward him will be changed. Aniyan Thampuran takes this and he becomes successful to some extent like when the issue of selling one of their properties is raised and when Pangunni Nair's daughter tried to raise her voice in the Kovilakom. He feels great after doing this and tells so to his wife Karthika. One day he learns that Balan Master had a romantic relationship with his wife Karthika and the Master has not emotionally recovered from it yet. He confirms this with Balan Master. Some days later Ravi, Ettan Thampuran is bitten by a snake after his stay with Pangunni Nair's daughter. Before death he tells Aniyan Thampuran that he (Aniyan Thampuran) was right but it is too late for any amendments. After Ettan Thampuran's death creditors arrive at the Kovilakom and demand money. Some days later a letter of attachment (for seizing all of the property) from court arrives. The next day, concerning the situations, Ettan Thampuran's widow leaves the house. The night before the tragic events unfold, Aniyan Thampuran muses over his misfortune and the ill fate of the Kovilakom. In the morning, determined to do something tragic Aniyan Thampuran walks happily to the place where children, his old company play. Near there, on a tree using the cord of a swing he kills himself (before the next festival) asking the children to clap, for which he calls a trick in a circus. In the end we see Karthika, wife of Aniyan Thampuran is cherishing her emotional connection with him, determined not to have a new life.

Cast

as Aniyan Thampuran *

as Karthika *

as Rajan *

as Ravi *

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 cred ...

as Kalyaniyamma * Devan as Balan Master *

Sankaradi Chandrashekaran 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 700 Malayalam films to his credit. He dominated the ...

as Pangunni Nair * Sumithra as Ettathi *

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, Tam ...

as Bhageerathi *

Philomina Philomina (1926 – 2 January 2006) was an Indian actress, who worked in the Malayalam film industry. She acted in more than 750 films in her career. She played mostly character and comedy roles, besides that of mother and grandmother. She star ...

as Muthassi *

Valsala Menon Valsala Menon (born 1945) is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam films. She has acted in over 200+ films. Currently she is active in Malayalam television serials. Early life Valsala Menon was born in 1945 to Raman Menon and Devakiyamma in ...

as Narayanikutty *

Urmila Unni Urmila Unni is an Indian classical dancer and actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Her daughter Utthara Unni is also an actress. Personal life Unni was born on June 14th, 1962 into a royal family as the daughter of K. C. Anuja ...

Sabitha Anand Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress who has performed in Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of Jacoob Abdu Rahman Anand, an Indian actor in Malayalam movies during the 1960 ...

as Indira *

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 Madhavan Kutty *

Kuthiravattam Pappu Padmadalakshan, better known by his stage name Kuthiravattam Pappu (24 December 1936 – 25 February 2000), was a popular Indian stage and film actor. His repertoire of acting was based on his unique style and use of the ''Kozhikodan'' dialect, i ...

as Pushpangadan *Vishnu Ravee as Junior Aniyan Thampuran *Suma Jayaram as Malathi

Reception

The film performed well at the box office. Mohanlal won the

for his performance in the film.

References

External links

* * {{YouTube, id=hNrf9X8s-qc, title=Ulsavapittennu 1989 films 1980s Malayalam-language films