''Randu Penkuttikal'' is a

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

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 ...

-language

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

directed by Mohan from a screenplay by Surasu, which is partially based on the novel of the same name by V. T. Nandakumar. It is one of the earliest films in Malayalam to explore themes of lesbianism in a nuanced manner.Director and Film producer P.Stanley (Varadakshina/ Mochanam/

Thoovanathumbikal ''Thoovanathumbikal'' () or, Dragonflies in the Gentle Rain, is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film written and directed by P. Padmarajan, based partly on his own novel ''Udakappola''. It revolves around Jayakrishnan (Mohanlal) ...

) first acquired the rights to the story after reading the novel but was discouraged from making it into a film by a close friend. He then resold the rights to Mohan after the latter requested it (Stanley's health issues were also a contributing factor to giving up of the story).In a later interview, director Mohan said that he never read the novel completely, before or after the making of this film. He adapted the title as well as the lead characters but asked Surasu to weave a script based on those characters and not necessarily based on the novel. However, V. T. Nandakumar is given credit for the story.

Plot

One of the earliest movies to explore the theme of lesbianism in a normalised way.

Cast

* Shoba * Anupama Mohan *

Madhu Madhu (Sanskrit: ) is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning ''honey'' or ''sweet''. It is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/médʰu, ''*médʰu'', whenc ...

Sukumaran E. P. P. Sukumaran Nair (10 June 1948 – 16 June 1997), known mononymously as Sukumaran, was an Indian actor and producer of Malayalam films. Sukumaran became a popular film star in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. He was considered one o ...

Jayan Krishnan Madhavan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, born as the son of Madhavan Pillai (Kerala title), Pillai and Bharathiyamma in Kollam district, Kollam, was an Indian actor, Officer (armed forc ...

as Collector (Guest Role) * Surasu * Janardhanan *

Vidhubala Vidhubala (born 24 May 1952) is an Indian actress started her career in the mid-1960s and retired from the industry in 1981. She is well known for hosting the family reality show '' Kadhayallithu Jeevitham'' in Amrita TV spanning for 10 years. ...

* Innocent *

Jalaja Jalaja (born 13 December 1961) is an Indian actress in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films and few Tamil cinema, Tamil films, who was active during the 1970s and 1980s. She had won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Award fo ...

* Santhadevi *

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...

* P. K. Abraham

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and the lyrics were written by

Bichu Thirumala Bhaskaran Sivasankaran Nair, popularly known as Bichu Thirumala (13 February 1942 – 26 November 2021), was an Indian lyricist and poet. He is known for creating the style of arranging beautiful words in Malayalam film songs. In Malayalam cinem ...

and

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (; 8 November 1937 – 23 April 2023), better known by his pen name Randor Guy (), was an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He was also the of ...

References

External links

* 1978 films 1970s Malayalam-language films 1970s Indian films Films directed by Mohan Films based on Indian novels Indian LGBTQ-related films Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan 1978 drama films 1978 LGBTQ-related films 1970s LGBTQ-related drama films Indian drama films {{1970s-Malayalam-film-stub