| Swathi Muthyam | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | K. Viswanath |
| Written by | K. Viswanath |
| Dialogue by | Sainath Thotapalli |
| Produced by | Edida Nageswara Rao |
| Starring | Kamal Haasan Radhika |
| Cinematography | M. V. Raghu |
| Edited by | G. G. Krishna Rao |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | Poornodaya Movie Creations |
| Distributed by | Sri Venkata Krishna Films Ramana Movies |
Release date |
|
Running time | 161 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Swathi Muthyam (transl. White pearl) is a 1986 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath and produced by Edida Nageswara Rao.[1] The film stars Kamal Haasan and Radhika, while Gollapudi Maruti Rao, J. V. Somayajulu, Nirmalamma, Sarath Babu, and Y. Vijaya play supporting roles. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[2] Swathi Muthyam depicts the plight of a young widow who is rescued by an autistic man.
Swathi Muthyam was a box office success and attained cult status.[3] The film was screened at the Moscow Film Festival, the Asian and African film festival in Tashkent, the 11th IFFI in the inaugural mainstream section.[1][4][5] The film received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, three Nandi Awards and the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. The film was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1986, but was not nominated.[6][3] It is currently the only Telugu film to be selected as the Indian Oscar submission.
The film was later dubbed into Tamil as Sippikkul Muthu, released on October 2, 1986. Upon its success, Viswanath directed its Hindi version Eeshwar (1989) and in Kannada it was remade as Swathi Muthu (2003).[7][8][9]
- ^ a b "Phalke nomination". The Hindu. 17 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "30 Years: Swathi Muthyam...Priceless Pearl". Telugucinema.com. 13 March 2016. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Frame by frame". The Hindu. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Festival of world cinema begins Bollywood style". The Hindu. 21 December 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Kamal Haasan". Bharatwaves.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "K Viswanath's film at the Oscars". The Times of India (Press release). 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013.
- ^ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (29 July 2012). "Poster boy". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "They copied it from us : Kamal Haasan [Interview]". IndiaGlitz. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ Krishnamoorthy, Suresh (24 May 2015). "Kamal Haasan to act in a Telugu movie after 20 years". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2020.