''Oru Cheru Punchiri'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''A Slender Smile'') is a

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, 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, ...

written and directed by

M.T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

. This is his sixth film as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. The film stars

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- ...

and Nirmala Sreenivasan in the lead roles. The film is based on

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

writer Sriramana's short story ''Mithunam'' from the novel of the same title.

Plot

Oru Cheru Punchiri tells the story of a retired estate manager Krishna Kuruppu (

) in his mid seventies and his wife Ammalukutty (Nirmala Sreenivasan) in her mid sixties continuing their married life in a honeymoon mood. This couple wake up to romantic mornings dense with sweet herbal aroma with the melodious music of birds as the background. They spend their time engaged in games of mischief and even some social activities that they could manage. They make it clear that they would never surrender to the plea of their children coated in love, to sell the ancestral property in the village and move to the city with them. They are happy doing agriculture in the land they own. They have some good neighbours in Janu (Roslyn), her daughter Malathi (sindhu) and helper-boy Kannan (Master Vignesh). Krishna Kuruppu was instrumental in Janu getting a sweeper's job in the Urban bank there. He also sponsors for Kannan's education. Krishna Kuruppu helps Bhaskaran (Jayakrishnan) get a job in the estate he worked. He also arranges the marriage of Bhaskaran and Malathi. He also supports the love affair of his granddaughter Beena (

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 ...

) with a Muslim youth. The movie ends with Ammalukutty's decision to continue with this celebration of life even after the death of Krishna Kuruppu.

Cast

as Krishna Kuruppu * Nirmala Sreenivasan as Ammalukutty(Voice by Thankamani) *

Jayakrishnan Jayakrishnan (born 11 April 1974) is an Indian film and television actor known for his work in the Malayalam industry. Often regarded as Immortal Star JK by the Malayalam film fanatics for his unaging appearance for decades. He was introduced a ...

as Bhaskaran *

Sindhu Shyam Sindhu Shyam is an Indian film and television actress, and a Bharathanatyam dancer. She made her acting debut through the Malayalam film Bhoothakkannadi directed by A. K. Lohithadas. Her role as Thilagavathi in Deivamagal increased her fame an ...

as Nirmala(Voice by Nithuna) * P. K. Venukuttan Nair as Govindettan * Aliyar as Postman Ramankutty * Master Vignesh as Kannan *

Thampi Kannanthanam Thampi Kannanthanam (11 December 1953 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed 16 films. Personal life Thampi was born on 11 December 1953 as the sixth son ...

as Ravi * Sreedevi Unni as Radha * Paul as Kesu * Manka Mahesh as Subhadra *

as Beena * Mukundan as Jayan * Roslyn as Janu * Vijayan Peringode as Paulose * Sarada as Chinnamani

Soundtrack

This film has no songs.

Filming

The film was shot on the banks of the

Periyar River Periyar, , (meaning: ''big river'') is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns. ...

at Parappuran, Puthiyedam,

Chowwara Chowara is a small town in Aluva in the Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala, India. Demographics At the 2001 India census, Chowwara had a population of 13,603. Males constituted 50% of the population and females 50%. Chowwara had an avera ...

, Sreemoolanagaram, and Aluva in

Kochi, India Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Ke ...

Awards and recognitions

* Special mention at the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

awards in 2000. *

Indian National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

for the Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation in 2001. * The

Kerala State Film Award 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 Cha ...

for the best director of 2000. * Screened at the third

Mumbai International Film Festival The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It ...

in November 2000. * Screened at the

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

in 2001. * Selected for the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

International Film Festival. * last few scenes of the screen play of this

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

has been included in the

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 ...

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

for class IX formulated by SCERT

References

External links

*
OneIndia article
{Dead link, date=October 2022 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Upperstall article
2000 films 2000s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Johnson Environmental films Films with screenplays by M. T. Vasudevan Nair Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Kochi Films about couples Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation National Film Award winners Films directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair