Chemmeen

This article is about the 1966 Indian film. For the novel on which the film is based on, see Chemmeen (novel).

Chemmeen
Poster
Directed byRamu Kariat
Screenplay byS. L. Puram Sadanandan
Based onChemmeen
by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
Produced byBabu Ismail Sait (Kanmani Babu)
StarringSathyan
Sheela
Madhu
Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair
CinematographyMarcus Bartley
U. Rajagopal
Edited byHrishikesh Mukherjee
K. D. George
Music bySalil Chowdhury
Production
company
Kanmani Films
Release date
  • 19 August 1966 (1966-08-19)
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹8 lakhs[1]
Box office₹40 lakhs [1]

Chemmeen (lit. 'The Prawn') is a 1966 Indian Malayalam-language romance film, based on the novel of the same name by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. It was adapted into a screenplay by S. L. Puram Sadanandan, directed by Ramu Kariat, and produced by Babu Ismail Sait under the banner Kanmani Films. The film stars Sheela as Karuthamma, Sathyan as Palani, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair as Chembankunju, and Madhu as Pareekutty. The film tells the story of a pre-marital and later extra-marital relationship between Karuthamma, the daughter of an ambitious fisherman, and Pareekutty, the son of an affluent trader.

The theme of the film is a popular legend among the fishermen communities along the coastal Kerala State in southern India regarding chastity. If a married fisher woman is faithless when her husband is out in the sea, the Sea Goddess (Kadalamma literally meaning the Mother Sea) would consume him. It has cinematography by Marcus Bartley and U. Rajagopal, and editing by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and K. D. George. The original score and songs were composed by Salil Chowdhury, with lyrics by Vayalar, and songs featuring the voices of K. J. Yesudas, P. Leela, Manna Dey and Santha P. Nair.

The film was sensored in late 1965 and got released on 19 August 1966. It received strongly positive critical reviews and was recognised as a technically and artistically brilliant film. This movie was a blockbuster and broke many records. It is usually cited as the first notable creative film in South India and is one of the popular cult classics in Malayalam cinema.[2][3] It was also the first South Indian film to win the Indian President's Gold Medal for the Best Film, which it did so in 1965. It was screened at various international film festivals and won awards at the Cannes and Chicago festivals. The film was included in the list of 100 greatest Indian films by IBN Live.[4] Chemmeen was dubbed and released in Hindi as Chemmeen Lahren and in English as The Anger of the Sea. A sequel, Thirakalkkappuram, was released in 1998.[5]

  1. ^ a b Pradeep, K (13 August 2015). "Behind the scenes of Chemmeen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017.
  2. ^ Venkiteswaran, C. S. (13 August 2015). "Chemmeen: 50 Years of a Classic". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  3. ^ Gupta 1980, Chemmeen (1965), by Ramu Kariat in Kerala, is usually cited as the first notable creative film in the South.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference IBN2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ [1]