''Velutha Kathreena'' is a 1968

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

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 ...

film, directed by

J. Sasikumar Nambiathusseril Varkey John (14 October 1927 – 17 July 2014), better known by his stage name, screen name Sasikumar, was an Indian film director who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed more than 141 films in his career which began in ...

and produced by P. Balthasar, based on the famous novel of the same name, written by Muttathu Varkey. The film stars Prem Nazir, Sathyan,

Sheela Sheela Ravichandran (Born 22 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as he ...

and

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

in the lead roles. The film had musical score by G. Devarajan.

Plot

Kathreena is an odd-woman out in her untouchable caste (

Pulaya The Pulayar (also Pulaya, Pulayas, Cherumar, Cheramar, and Cheraman) is a caste group mostly found in the southern part of India, forming one of the main social groups in modern-day Kerala, Karnataka and historically in Tamil Nadu. Traditio ...

) and the film depicts the atrocities she had to endure due to her skin colour.

Cast

* Prem Nazir as Thirumeni * Sathyan as Chellappan *

as Kathreena *

as Rosa *

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 Marthappulayi *

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 ...

as Kurayachan *

Jose Prakash Jose Prakash (14 April 1925 – 24 March 2012) was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was a singer turned actor who had appeared in more than 300 films mostly in antagonist roles. He was awarded with the J. C. Daniel ...

as Manoharan * Manavalan Joseph as Krishnappanikkar * T. R. Omana as Dr.Sainabha * T. S. Muthaiah as Thevan *

Kumari Padmini Kumari Padmini (Tamil: குமாரி பத்மினி), born as Padmini (died 1980), was an actress who was active in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam industry during the 1960s and 70s. Bio Kumari Padmini acted mainly in Tamil films. She ...

* Khadeeja *

Aravindan Aravindan is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * G. Aravindan (1935–1991), Indian film director, screenwriter, musician, cartoonist, and painter *Aravindan Neelakandan (born 1971), Indian writer *Mala Aravinda ...

as Madhavan *

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 Appayi *Mala Shantha as Lakshmikkutti *

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the st ...

as Meriyamma *Panjabi as Maniyappan * Shailasree as Narthaki *Parvathy *Leela

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Devarajan and the lyrics were written by

Sreekumaran Thampi Sreekumaran Thampi (born 16 March 1940) is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer, and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel ...

. The violin trio of L. Subramaniam,

L. Shankar Lakshminarayana Shankar (born 26 April 1950), better known as L. Shankar, Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer. Early life, family and education Shankar was born in Madras, India, and raised in Ceylon (current- ...

, and

L. Vaidyanathan Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and compo ...

have played this instrument in the song "Kattuchembakam Poothulayumbol" and famous sitarist Pandit Janardhan Mitta's sitar is heard in "Prabhaatham Vidarum" as well.

Trivia

A television serial named ''Velutha Katrina'' was telecast by Kairali channel in 2006, where Sheela returned to play the title character of Katrina. The serial was not a spin-off of the movie. It just utilized name of Sheela's memorable character in the movie.Liza George. (29 September 2009)
"Yen to be different"
''The Hindu''. 21 June 2011.

References

External links

* 1968 films 1960s Malayalam-language films Films directed by J. Sasikumar {{1960s-Malayalam-film-stub