''Asthram'' () is a 1983 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 directed by P. N. Menon. The film stars

Bharath Gopi Gopynathan Velayudhan Nair (2 November 1937 – 29 January 2008), popularly known by the stage name Bharat Gopy, was an Indian actor, producer, and director. Considered one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema, Gopy was one of ...

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in M ...

and Jyothi in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Shyam. This movie is loosely based on the Nanavati murder case. Author Bibekanada Ray described the film as one of Menon's films "dealing with various contemporary political and social concerns" in her book about India's offbeat cinema.

Plot

Capt. C. S. Nair, a Naval officer, and Rekha constitute a happily married couple. Inspector Stephen and captain are good friends. When the captain leaves for his job, Rekha has to spend a lonely life in their big mansion. She occasionally takes a drive and spends time with Stephen's daughter Lilly. The Captain's elder sister Sharada, who was staying separate from her husband, had a kid Biju. Sharada had died of a tumor and since then Rekha was taking care of Biju like her own son. During the next occasion of leave, when captain is informed that Sharada is no more, he suggests to admit Biju in a boarding school, so that he gets the best schooling possible. The Captain meets Balu, a photographer, accidentally, he likes him very much and treats him as his own brother. They spend times together along with Balu's friends in outings and other leisure events. Captain leaves for his job and Rekha and Balu fall in an affair accidentally. Balu realizes that it is a mistrust and runs away from the affair. Rekha had a difficult time to recover from the incident. However she could not conceal it for long, and during the next visit of the Captain she discloses about the affair. Though she doesn't reveal the man, the Captain traces that Balu is the culprit owing to the indifference in behaviour of Balu. As he couldn't be the same husband again, Captain insists that Balu marry Rekha, which Balu declines, leading to what is in his mind, forming the climax.

Cast

as Captain C. S. Nair *

as Balu *

as Das *

as Krishnanunni * Jyothi as Rekha *

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 ...

as Sharada Chechi *

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar Achary (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 deca ...

as Philip *

Sankaradi Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 70 ...

as Nanu Maashu *Isaac Thomas as Dr. Thomas *

Jesey Jeassy, also known as J. C. or Jesey, was an Indian director and actor of Malayalam movies. His first film as an actor was Ramu Kariat's '' Ezhu Rathrikal''. Some of his notable films as an actor were '' Adimakal, Kallichellamma, Allahu A ...

as Rev. Father * Lissy as Lilly *

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor * Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films * ...

Balan K. Nair Balakrishnan Kuttiraman Nair, more popularly known as Balan K. Nair (4 April 1933 26 August 2000) was an Indian actor known for his roles in Malayalam cinema. Although he appeared as a villain in most films, he was also noted for his performanc ...

as Stephen *

Bhagyalakshmi Bhagyalakshmi (born 1 November 1961) is an Indian actress, activist, and dubbing artist. She works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. She has collaborated with several actresses from Malayalam industries as well as other south India ...

*Chamundeswary *Master Twinku as Biju *

Meghanathan Meghanathan (November 1964 – 21 November 2024) was an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam and Tamil films. The son of actor Balan K. Nair, he debuted in 1983 in the Malayalam film '' Asthram''. He acted in more than 50 Malayalam films. B ...

as Johny *Punnapra Appachan * Chamundeswari

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Shyam and the lyrics were written by

Poovachal Khader Poovachal Khader (25 December 1948 – 22 June 2021) was a Malayalam lyricist from Kerala who worked mainly in Malayalam film industry. His first movie as a lyricist was ''Kaattuvithachavan'' (1973) but his first released movie was ''Chuzhi'' (1 ...

and

Sathyan Anthikkad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

References

External links

* 1983 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Films directed by P. N. Menon (director) {{1980s-Malayalam-film-stub