''Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu'' () is a 1988 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 2 ...

-language romantic comedy-drama film, written by

Raghunath Paleri Raghunath Paleri (born 7 February 1954) is an Indian novelist, screenwriter, director and actor from Kerala. Career He has directed three films'' Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare'' (1986), '' Vismayam'' (1998), and ''Kanneerinu Madhuram'' (unreleased); ...

and directed by

Sathyan Anthikad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

. It stars

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ...

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' scr ...

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 occasional ...

and

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

in the lead roles. It was Sreenivasan's first role as a hero after ''

Sanghaganam ''Sanghaganam'' () is a 1979 Indian Malayalam-language political drama film directed by P. A. Backer based on a story by M. Sukumaran and starring Sreenivasan, Ramu Karyat, P. R. Nambyar and Madhu Master. Plot An unemployed youth decides to pr ...

'' (1979). The film was remade in Hindi in 2010 as ''

Dus Tola ''Dus Tola'' (English:''Ten units'') is a 2010 Indian Hindi comedy drama film remake of 1988 Malayalam film '' Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu'', directed by Ajoy Varma and starring Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role. ''Dus Tola'' was released on 22 Octobe ...

''.

Plot

Bhaskaran (

), the local village

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

is in love with Snehalatha (

), the daughter of P. V. Panicker (

), the local astrologer, his neighbour. Panicker wants his daughter to marry a rich man working in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

region. Snehalatha asks for a gold necklace made of ten sovereigns as a symbol of Bhaskaran's love and also to impress her father. Bhaskaran makes a necklace and hands it over to Snehalatha. An angry Panicker finds this out, admonishes her and pockets the golden necklace. He reasons that it was "brotherly love" which made Bhaskaran give the necklace to his daughter. Panicker receives a marriage proposal from Pavithran (

), who is an orphan and working in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

, and accepts it. A few days before the marriage, Panicker walks up to the tea-shop where the regular patrons are in attendance. There, he shows a golden necklace saying that he purchased it from a nearby town and that it was a gift from him to his daughter. The village crowd appreciates Panicker's fatherly love. Bhaskaran finds out that this necklace was none other than the one he had given to Snehalatha a few days back. Bhaskaran becomes impatient and finally he decides to march to Panicker's home and ask Snehalatha to marry him. In this daring mission he is accompanied by his friends and well wishers, namely the ''Velichappadu'', an oracle (

Jagathi 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 decades ...

), Pappi the cattle trader (

Oduvil Unnikrishnan Oduvil Unnikrishnan (13 February 1943 – 27 May 2006) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has portrayed supporting roles in both dramatic and comedic roles.The HindMalayalam film actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan dead He is a four- ...

), Aboobacker (

Mamukkoya Mamukkoya (born 5 July 1946) is an Indian actor known for his work in Malayalam cinema, and has also appeared in French film ''Flammens of Paradise''. He has mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of the Mappila dialect and style mar ...

) the tea-shop owner and Hajiyar (

Karamana Janardanan Nair Karamana Janardanan Nair (25 July 1936 – 24 April 2000) was a Malayalam film actor, who was active during the 1980s and 1990s. He was especially known for his character roles. He won wide acclaim especially for the role of the protagonis ...

). Madhavan Nair ( Sankaradi), an elderly respectable citizen of the village also joins in. A heated argument ensues at Panicker's household, Snehalatha finally denying any love affair with Bhaskaran and Panicker refusing to return the golden necklace. Panicker argues that such a golden necklace was never given by Bhaskaran. Bhaskaran soon becomes the joke of the village, with people saying that he was a fool to give the necklace (if such a thing existed), without any guarantee or surety. Life goes on in the village. Parvathy teacher ( Shari) teaches dance on the second floor of Aboobacker's dilapidated tea shop. Pappi continues to buy and sell

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

, and Madhavan Nair makes his routine night visits to the village prostitute, Devayani. The Oracle is busy organising the local temple festival. Supported by his friends Bhaskaran starts a small jewellery shop (Bhaskaran & Sons) in the village. Pavithran marries Snehalatha and returns to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. Snehalatha is pregnant and she comes back to her house for delivery. Soon the baby girl is born, and Pavithran also comes back. To the shock of the Panicker family, Pavithran says he is not planning to go back and plans to buy a few trucks and settle down in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. His job abroad was not good and he even spent some time in jail there. He invites Baskaran to Pierce his child's ear, but is insulted by his wife stating that he is not good at his work and it may harm baby, Baskaran, when he learns about this becomes very sad . Pavithran is in need of more funds to finance his truck. He notices the gold necklace his wife regularly adorned herself with, which was worth ten sovereigns. Although Snehalatha refuses to give it, Pavithran takes it from her to pawn it for some quick money. Pavithran consults Bhaskaran as he is the village goldsmith. Bhaskaran checks the necklace and confirms whether the necklace was given to him by Panicker. And when his regular friends have gathered in the village square, Bhaskaran declares that the necklace is made of copper, containing very little gold. Pavithran now humiliated, with his wife and kid storms into Panicker's home. He feels that he has been shortchanged, and Snehalatha was not true to him. Panicker is forced to admit that this necklace was not some thing which he purchased, but was given by Bhaskaran to Snehalatha some years back. The love affair of Snehalatha and Bhaskaran also now comes out in the open. This irritates Pavithran even further as he now feels everyone was tricking him. The villagers too take up sides, and a huge fight starts. Like in a typical village, the fight soon stops and every thing returns to normal. When asked by Bhaskaran's father as to who gave him the idea to mix copper with gold. Bhaskaran replies that he learnt the idea from his father, who used to fool his wife (Bhaskaran's mother) by polishing copper with gold. Pavithran finally decides to take back his wife and daughter. The movie ends with a note which indicates that Bhaskaran too has found his true love in the dance teacher, Parvathi.

Cast

as thattan Bhaskharan * Shari as Parvathi *

as Pavithran *

as Snehalatha *

as P. V. Panicker * K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Bhagiradhi *

as the Velichappadu *

as Pappi * Sankaradi as Madhavan Nair *

as Hajiyar * Parvathy as Khalmayi, Hajiyar's wife *

as Abubakr * Krishnan Kutty Nair as Gopalan *

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 Bhaskaran's mother *

Shyama Shyama may refer to: * Shyama (Hindi actress) (1935–2017), Indian actress in Hindi films * Shyama (Malayalam actress) (?–1996), Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films * Shyama (Jain monk) ( 247 BC–151 BC), Jain monk * Shama Dulari ( 19 ...

as Savithry *Aloor Elsy as Devayani

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

with lyrics by O. N. V. Kurup.

Awards

Filmfare Awards South *

Filmfare Award for Best Actress The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise the female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954 ...

Trivia

* This movie was initially titled ''Ponmutta Idunna Thattaan''(പൊന്മുട്ടയിടുന്ന തട്ടാൻ) (the goldsmith who lays the golden eggs). This was later changed after severe protests from the goldsmith community in

. * This movie was shot in a village called Thanneercode near

Thrithala Thrithala is a town and a village in Pattambi taluk in Palakkad District of Kerala state, South India. The town is located along the banks of Bharathapuzha and is famed for its Shiva temple. History The legend of ' Parayi petta panthirukulam ...

(തൃത്താല) in Palakkad District of Kerala. * This film was remade in Hindi as ''

''. starring

Manoj Bajpai Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema and has also done Telugu and Tamil language films. Regarded as one of the finest actors of Hindi cinema, he i ...

in Sreenivasan's role. This film is distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

References

External links

* {{Sathyan Anthikad 1980s Malayalam-language films 1988 films Films directed by Sathyan Anthikad Films with screenplays by Sreenivasan Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Thrissur Malayalam films remade in other languages Films scored by Johnson