''Kadalpalam'' is a 1969

Malayalam language 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 ...

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 mo ...

, written by

K. T. Mohammed K. T. Muhammed (29 September 1927 – 25 March 2008), popularly known as KT, was a Malayalam playwright and screenwriter. He had scripted about 40 stage plays, including ''Idhu Bhumiyanu'' (''This is the Earth''), considered to be his masterpie ...

and produced by M. O. Joseph under Manjilas Films. The film stars Sathyan,

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the history of India ...

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 ...

with

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

in other prominent roles. The film features original songs composed by

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 ...

, cinematography by Melli Irani. The film is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed professional stage play of the same name authored by the renowned dramatist

, which is an adaptation of the 1940 Hindi film '' Prem Nagar''. The film revolves around Narayana Kaimal, a successful lawyer, who loses his eyesight and has to rely on his servant Appu. Then after a while he regains his eyesight but pretends to be blind in order to test his children. The film was released on 25 July 1969. The film was critically well received and was a box office hit. The film won 5 film awards in the inaugural

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 Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Ch ...

for Best Dialogues (K. T. Mohammed),

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

(Sathyan), for Best Music Director (Devarajan), Best Lyrics (Vayalar Ramavarma), Best Singer (P. Leela) The film is probably best remembered for the performance by Sathyan who received the first ever State Award for Best Actor for his memorable performance in the film. Noted singer

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

debuted in Malayalam cinema with this film.

Plot

The story revolves round the family of Narayana Kaimal, a leading advocate who loses his eyesight. Kaimal is a strict disciplinarian and always tries to impose his thoughts and principles on his children and fellow beings. This creates a conflict with others. Kaimal's elder son Raghu dislikes the obstinate nature of his father leading to constant conflicts between the two. Kaimal's younger son Prabhakaran who is an advocate and daughter Geetha try to obey their father, but at times they only pretend to obey him. Kaimal now sees the world through the eyes of his faithful servant Appu. Prabhakaran is in love with Sarala, daughter of Kaimal's servant Sreedharan Pillai. Geetha is in love with Murali, the adopted son of Kadeeja, who lives in the neighbourhood. Appu is warned against telling anything about the love affairs to Kaimal. Raghu believes that they lost their mother at very young age only because of the arrogance of their father. Raghu is married to Prashanthi who was his father's choice. Raghu shows his protest by his rude behavior towards his wife. Kaimal demands to give back the tile factory which he had given to Raghu. But Raghu refuses to part with the factory. Kaimal files a court case against his son. Geetha marries Murali and Raghu supports them. Kaimal regains his eyesight and is thunderstruck to know about the happenings that took place while he was blind. He decides to pretend to be blind so as to know more about his children. Only Appu is aware that Kaimal is now not blind. Kaimal plots to stop the marriage of Prabhakaran. He offers partnership of the factory to the manager Nanukuttan Nair if he could help conduct the marriage of his son, who is a police inspector, with Sarala. Nair agrees to carry out the crooked plan. The verdict of the court goes against Kaimal. But Prabhakaran hides this from his father. Prabhakaran does not allow Geetha to meet Kaimal and when Kadeeja come and raises voice for justice, Kaimal hits her. Murali attacks Kaimal and now all come to know that Kaimal is not blind. Prabhakaran comes to know about the crooked plan of his father. All the children turn against Kaimal. Unable to stand the setback and the thought that he had failed in his attempts to control his children with an iron hand he suffers a heart attack and dies.

Cast

* Sathyan as Narayana Kaimal/Raghu (double role) *

as Murali *

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 ...

as Prabhakaran *

as Sarala *

as Geetha *

as Nanukkuttan Nair *

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 Sreedharan Pillai *

Adoor Bhavani Adoor Bhavani (1927 – 25 October 2009) was an Indian actress in Malayalam cinema, best known for her appearance in the National Award-winning film '' Chemmeen'' (1965), directed by Ramu Kariat. She had acted in about 450 films, including ''M ...

as Khadeeja *

as Appu * Kuttyedathi Vilasini *

N. Govindankutty 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 natural ...

as Karthavu *Thodupuzha Radhakrishnan Police Inspector *Vijayachandrika as Prasanthi

Soundtrack

The film had four songs penned by

Vayalar Ramavarma Vayalar Ramavarma (March 25, 1928 – October 27, 1975), also known as Vayalar, was an Indian poet and lyricist of Malayalam language. He was known for his poems which include ''Sargasangeetham'', ''Mulankaadu'', ''Padamudrakal'', ''Aayisha'' a ...

and set to tune by

debuted in Malayalam with this film. It was

R. K. Shekhar Rajagopala Kulashekharan or R. K. Shekhar (21 June 1933 – 09 September 1976) was an Indian music composer who worked mainly for Malayalam movies. He composed music for 52 films (23 in Malayalam with 127 songs), and was the music conductor for ...

who recommended S.P. Balasubrahmanyam. to Devarajan. P Leela received the first Kerala State Award for Best Female Singer for ''Ujjayiniyile Gaayika''.

Reception

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

'' wrote, "Sathyan excelled in his double role. The film dispensed with comic scenes. Deviating from their usual comedy roles, Bahadur and Adoor Bhasi performed character roles in the film. Bahadur's performance as the faithful servant who is under pressure to act against his conscience is considered as one of the best he has essayed. Prem Nazir, Sheela, Jayabharathi and Adoor Bhavani also performed their roles impressively.

Accolades

References

{{reflist 1969 films 1960s Malayalam-language films Films directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan Films scored by G. Devarajan