Ulladakkam
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''Ulladakkam'' () is 1991 Indian
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 ...
-language
psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...
film directed by Kamal and written by P. Balachandran from a story by
Cheriyan Kalpakavadi Cheriyan Kalpakavadi ( ml, ചെറിയാൻ കൽ‌പകവാടി) is an Indian story, screenplay and dialogue writer known for his association with director Venu Nagavally and actor Mohanlal. The partnership has produced some of the m ...
. It stars
Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...
,
Shobana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...
and Amala. The film, produced by
Suresh Balaje Suresh Balaji is an Indian film producer, primarily concentrating in Malayalam and Tamil films. He is the son of producer and actor K. Balaji. He has produced many successful ventures like ''Billa'', ''Vazhvey Maayam'', ''Gandharvam'', ''Ullad ...
features a soundtrack composed by
Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State ...
. The plot follows a psychiatrist, Dr. Sunny (Mohanlal) and one of his patients, Reshma (Amala), who gets obsessed with him romantically, but Sunny is already engaged with Annie (Shobana). The film explores the phenomenon of transference. Upon release, it received critical acclaim. ''Ulladakkam'' is now regarded as one of the best films of Kamal. The film won three Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Actor (Mohanlal),
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, and Best Dubbing Artist ( Bhagyalakshmi). Amala won the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Malayalam films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. Film world, p 43 The year indicates the year of release of ...
.


Plot

Dr Sunny is a psychiatrist who is engaged to his girlfriend Annie. One day a girl named Reshma is admitted to Sunny's hospital by her brother Roy, who is a close friend of Sunny. Sunny is led to Reshma's room, where he catches a glimpse of the trashed-out room, with Reshma crouching in a corner, in a highly agitated state. She is later brought to the hospital, and we see her less agitated, but with a vacant expression, suggestive of a dissociation from her surroundings. While she is managed with tranquilizers, Sunny probes into her background. He discovers a few clues in her diary. There are traits of heightened emotionality in her writings – letters to her mother, who died when she was ten. Her brother adds that she had a transient psychotic episode when their mother had died. Sunny tries to explore the trigger for the current psychotic episode. From the placards he shows her, he gathers that there is a connection with the sea, for Reshma becomes highly agitated when she sees a placard depicting the sea. With further clues, he associates it to the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend, Arun. He subjects Reshma to hypnosis and elicits the whole story of how a mafia group closes in on the duo at the beach, and kill Arun, whose body is washed into the sea, while Reshma watches helplessly. Reshma is made to narrate the event and she is also given a guarded exposure to the sea, which cures her of her sea phobia. And thus, we see Reshma gradually recovering from her dissociation. She focusses on her surroundings and develops a special bonding with one of the inmates (Sukumari), in whom she sees a mother figure. Her recovery is complicated by her fundamental emotional insecurity and dependent personality. When Sukumari is discharged from the asylum, Reshma's unconscious seeks a strong replacement for Arun and she clings to Sunny. Sunny's personality and his degree of involvement with Reshma makes it easy for her to transfer her emotions for Arun towards Sunny. With an unconscious that refuses to come to terms with Arun's permanent loss, and that refuses to acknowledge the loss of a relationship in which Reshma's involvement was overt (with dependence), Reshma's unconscious transfers the relationship to the receptive and reciprocative Sunny (the phenomenon of transference, described by Freud). And thus, her dependence shifts to Sunny. The movie takes a final turn when at Sunny's wedding party, Reshma finds herself disturbed by the sound of the drums and the sight of the drummer (Arun was a drummer). In a fit of psychosis, Reshma murders Sunny's wife, Annie. The majority of the movie is a flashback to 7 years ago. Sunny receives a call from Roy stating Reshma is now normal. She spent the last 7 years healing from the events that transpired. Roy brings Reshma to Sunny and asks his forgiveness. Roy tells Sunny that Reshma will be serving others under Mother Teresa for the rest her life for penance. Sunny forgives Reshma by telling her it was not her but her mental condition that was to blame, and they embrace.


Cast

*
Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...
as Dr. Sunny Joseph * Amala as Reshma, Sunny's patient (Voiced by Bhagyalakshmi and Sreeja Ravi) *
Shobana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...
as Annie, Sunny's fiancé (Voiced by Anandavally) * Murali as Roy * Ashokan as Kishore *
M. G. Soman M. G. Soman (28 September 1941 – 12 December 1997) was an Indian actor and former Indian Air Force officer who appeared in Malayalam films. He was one among the leading star actors doing hero roles in Malayalam Cinema during the late 1970s an ...
as Mathachan * Sukumari as Mental Patient *
Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...
as Kunjachan *
Kaviyoor Ponnamma Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing cred ...
as Sunny's Mother *
Philomina Philomina (1926 – 2 January 2006) was an Indian actress, who worked in the Malayalam film industry. She acted in more than 750 films in her career. She played mostly character and comedy roles, besides that of mother and grandmother. She star ...
as Hospital Attendant *
Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decades ...
as Burning Desire - Mental Patient * Zainuddin as Chakrapani * Krishnan Kutty Nair as Mental Patient *
Mavelikkara Ponnamma Mavelikkara Ponnamma (died 6 September 1995) was an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actress in late 1970s and 1990s in Malayalam movies. She is noted for her performance in ''Ulladakkam'' (1991), ''Aa ...
as Mental Patient *
Kunchan Kunchan is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Kunchan Nambiar Kunchan Nambiar was a prominent Malayalam poet of the 18th century (1705-1770). Apart from being a prolific poet, Nambiar is also famous as the originator of the da ...
as Freddy *
T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (born 7 November 1935) is an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. He started acting at the age of 40. He has acted in more than 600 films. He came into the film industry playing villain roles; later he started doing com ...
as Doctor *
Zeenath Zeenath A.P is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. She was a prominent supporting actress during the 1990s in Malayalam films. Background Zeenath was born to Abu Achippuram and Fathima in Nilambur, Malappuram district. She had her primary ed ...
as Reena


Other crew

* Art director: Roy P. Thomas * Production controller: M. Salim * Assistant director:
Lal Jose Lal Jose is an Indian 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 * Direc ...
,
Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...
, Akbar


Soundtrack

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State ...
composed the soundtrack for the film, to which the lyrics were written 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 ...
. The original soundtrack consisting four tracks was released by Ranjini Cassettes on 14 July 1991.


Reception

Upon release, it received critical acclaim. ''Ulladakkam'' is now regarded as one of the best films of Kamal.


Awards

; Kerala State Film Awards * Best Actor -
Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...
*
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
- Kamal * Best Dubbing Artist - Bhagyalakshmi ;
Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...
* Best Actress (Malayalam) - Amala ;
Kerala Film Critics Association Awards The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...
* Best Actor - Mohanlal


References


External links

* {{Kamal (director) 1990s Malayalam-language films 1991 films 1991 romantic drama films Films directed by Kamal (director) Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films scored by Ouseppachan Medical-themed films Indian romantic drama films