''Vazhve Mayam'' () is a 1970

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 film, directed by

K. S. Sethumadhavan K. S. Sethumadhavan (15 May 1931 – 24 December 2021) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He also directed films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Since the early 1960s, he directed over 60 mov ...

. Sathyan plays the lead role. The film also has Sheela,

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 ...

K. P. Ummer Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer (Malayalam: കെ.പി. ഉമ്മർ) was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from early sixties until late ...

, Bahadoor, Adoor Bhasi,

K. P. A. C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in Malyalam. She started her acting career with K. P. A. C., a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a caree ...

, Khadeeja,

N. Govindan Kutty N. Govindan Kutty was a Malayalam film actor. He has appeared in around 100 films, acting mainly in villain roles. Background Kutty was born at Fort Kochi in 1924, Ernakulam as the son of Sankara Narayanan and Nanukutty Amma. He was a natura ...

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 ...

, C. A. Balan, Kuttan Pillai and Philomina. Sankarady won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor for his performance in the film. It has had a long lasting impact on

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

, and was screened as part of the Sathyan retrospective at the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala held at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. It was a Super Hit movie.

Plot

Sudhindharan Nair ( Sathyan) or Sudhi and Sarala ( Sheela) are a newly married couple. Sudhi loves his wife a lot. But he is also possessive and highly suspicious of her, who is beautiful. One night he sees a man run out of his house when returning from work. He accuses Sarala of infidelity and this forces her to leave the house. He concludes that she had been sexually involved with his friend Sasidharan Nair (

). A few months later, he discovers that the man he saw the other day was actually Sasidharan's wife Kamalakshi's (

Khadeeja ''Khadeeja'' is a 1967 Indian Malayalam film, directed by M. Krishnan Nair and produced by Kalaratnam. The film stars Sathyan, Madhu, Sheela and Sukumari in the lead roles. The film had musical score by M. S. Baburaj. Cast * Sathyan * Mad ...

) extramarital partner. He is filled with remorse. He now wants to bring Sarala back into his life. But, it is too late. Sarala's father Pillai ( Adoor Bhasi) had already married her off to Neelakanta Pillai (

), a widower. This tires him out mentally. As the years pass by, he becomes mentally ill and turns an alcoholic. Twenty years later, he gets a letter from Sarala informing him of their daughter's marriage and she wants him to bless her. He blesses her and goes back home. He dies soon. Sarala comes to see his dead body, and dies next to him.

Cast

* Sathyan as Sudhi (Sudhindharan Nair) * Sheela as Sarala, Sarala's daughter (double role) *

as Neelakantappillai *

as Sasidaharan Nair, Sudhi's friend * Bahadoor as Kuttappan, Sudhi's neighbour * Adoor Bhasi as Achuthan Nair, Sarala's father *

as Gowri, Kuttappan's wife *

as Kamalkshi, Sasidharan's wife *

as Panchayat member * Philomina as Parukutty * C. A. Balan * Paul Vengola * Paravoor Bharathan as Swami *

as Ramachandran Nair * P. R. Menon as Raghavan * Kochi Ammini * Kuttan Pillai

Soundtrack

The music was 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 ...

and the lyrics were written by Vayalar Ramavarma.

Remakes

The movie was remade in Telugu as ''Edadugula Bandham'' (1985) and as '' Aap Ki Kasam'' (1974) in Hindi.

Awards

Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, an ...

won by

M. O. Joseph Manjilas Ouseph Joseph (15 January 1929 – 8 January 2016) was a Malayalam producer. He produced over 30 films in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably Yakshi, Adimakal, Devi, Chattakkari, Anubhavangal Palichakal, and Punarjanmam. He won numerous ...

(1970)

References

External links

*
''Vazhve Mayam''
at the Malayalam Movie Database {{K. S. Sethumadhavan 1970s Malayalam-language films Malayalam films remade in other languages Films directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan Films with screenplays by Thoppil Bhasi