''Shantham'' ( en, Calmness, italic=yes) is a

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 ...

feature film directed by

Jayaraj Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden ...

. It stars I M Vijayan, a leading Indian football player of modern times, M G Shashi,

Seema Biswas Seema Biswas (born 14 January 1965) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur's film '' Bandit Queen'' (1994), for which she won the National Fi ...

and K P A C Lalitha. The renowned Kathakali artiste

Kalamandalam Gopi Vadakke Manalath Govindan Nair popularly known as Kalamandalam Gopi, is an Indian dancer who is an exponent of the classical dance-drama style known as Kathakali. Life Born as Vadakke Manalath Govindan Nair in the Southern Indian village of ...

and the Malayalam writer Madambu Kunjukuttan have also starred in the film. It was released in 2001 and won the Swarna Kamal Award for the Best Feature Film in the 48th National Film Awards, 2001.Press Information Bureau, Government of India
/ref> The film was produced by P V Gangadharan. According to the citation of the Award Jury: 'Shantham addresses the very contemporary issue of political rivalry and violence in our society in an unusually imaginative way. The language of the film goes beyond the conventional narrative for appeal to calmness and good sense'.The film is the first installment in director Jayaraj's "Navarasa Series". The film also received the National Best Supporting Actress Award for K P A C Lalitha. This is Jayaraj's third National Award. In 1996, his film 'Desadanam', won the award for the Best Malayalam Film and in the next year he was named the Best Director.

Plot

Persons on both sides of a bloody political struggle search for grace and forgiveness in this emotional drama. Velayudhan (I M Vijayan) is a young man living in a place torn apart by civil strife. In the midst of a raging street war, he kills his best friend. He was overcome by guilt and remorse for his actions as Narayani (K P A C Lalitha), his friend's mother, tries to hold herself together while she arranges for her son's funeral. Velayudhan's mother Karthiyayani (Seema Biswas) goes to a temple and prays for her son's forgiveness despite his violence and wrongdoing. There she meets Narayani who is stricken with her own feelings of grief over the death of her child. She orders a pleading Kathiyayani to move out of her sight. in the meantime, Narayani learns more about life from the people around her. Also, the political enemies plot revenge on Velayudhan. Karthiyayani is often told that Narayani's inner turmoil and rage would boil initially and will ultimately recede into a state of calmness. Narayani barely leaves her raging mindset to curse Karthiyayani. In the due course of time, Narayani and Kartiyayani reconcile leaving behind their troubled minds. As Narayani performs spiritual homage to her son, she realizes of her other son's plan to avenge Velayudhan by killing him. A horrorstruck Narayani rushes to Velayudhan's exile and pleads him to run for his life, but he takes a knife to protect himself from any danger that may befall him. He escapes through the widespread riverbed of

Bharathapuzha Bharathappuzha ("River of Bhārata"), also known as the Nila or Ponnani River, is a river in India in the state of Kerala. With a length of 209 km, it is the second longest river that flows through Kerala after the Periyar. It flows thr ...

and sees the men approach him with weapons. Karthiyayani and Narayani run towards them and begs them to do no wrong. But they simply push them aside and move towards Velayudhan who stands ready to accept his fate. The final scene shows a group of grief-stricken mothers running towards the armed men, shouting at them to retract from the sin they are about to do. The final shot shows a gentle dragonfly resting on the very sword that is about to draw blood, emphasizing the very theme of the plot.

Cast

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 ...

as Narayani *

I.M. Vijayan Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (born 25 April 1969), also known by the nickname Kalo Harin (Blackbuck), is a former professional football player who also captained the India national football team. He played as a striker, where he formed a successf ...

as Velayudhan *

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

as Raghavan's Wife

Soundtrack

The film had musical score composed by

Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannet ...

. Rajamani composed the background music for the film.

Awards

; National Film Awards *2000 -

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

*2000 -

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcast ...

External links

References

{{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilm 2001 films 2001 drama films 2000s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri Indian political drama films Best Feature Film National Film Award winners Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award-winning performance