''Chattakkari'' () is a 1974 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 K. S. Sethumadhavan and produced by M. O. Joseph, starring

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

(in her major

debut),

Mohan Sharma Mohan Sharma is an Indian film and television actor, film producer, director and screenwriter, who works in Cinema of South India, South Indian films. He has produced more than 15 films in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. He became noted th ...

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), professionally credited by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director. He was mostly cast as a sidekick to protagonists, particularly Prem Nazir. His comedic roles were w ...

and

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 ...

. The film was written by

Thoppil Bhasi Thoppil Bhaskara Pillai, known as Thoppil Bhasi (8 April 1924 – 8 December 1992) was an Indian Malayalam-language playwright, screenwriter, and film director. He was associated with the communist movement in Kerala and his play ''Ningalenne C ...

based on

Pamman Pamman (28 February 1920 – 3 June 2007; born R. Parmeswara Menon) was a Malayalam novelist from Kollam, Kerala, India. Life He is best known for his novels which grapple with the sensual imagery of the human psyche. He has also written the ...

's famous novel of the same name. It was the first Malayalam film of

and also the start of her romance with co-star

. It won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards w ...

and Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam for

. The film won

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor is an award, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to an actor for best performance in a Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed direct ...

for

who played Laxmi's alcoholic father, and the Filmfare Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam. Storywriter

received the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Story The Kerala State Film Award for Best Story is an honour, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Award of India to a writer for the best story in a Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Departme ...

. It has the distinction of being the first Malayalam film to run continuously for 40 weeks in a

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

theatre. All Songs composed by well known music director G. Devarajan were instant hits. In 2012, it was remade in the same name, directed by Santosh Sethumadhavan and produced by Suresh Kumar under the banner of Revathy Kalamandir and starring

Shamna Kasim Shamna Kasim, also known by her stage name Poorna is an Indian actress, dancer, and model, who appears in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. Early life She was born in Kannur to a Malayalee couple Kasim and Ramla. She has done her ...

in the title roles.

Plot

''Chattakkari'' is the love story of an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

girl (

) and a Hindu boy (

) who consummate the relationship. She has a child out-of-wedlock in secret.

Summary

Julie is the eldest daughter of Morris, an Anglo-Indian engine-driver. Usha her close friend is from an orthodox

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Warrier family. At Usha's residence she (Julie) meets her brother Sasi who is studying at a different place. Julie soon falls in love with Sasi, and even Usha is aware of it. The relationship gets more cozy and Julie gets pregnant. Her alcoholic father Morris soon dies. Julie is taken to a remote place where her mother's aunt lives. There she gives birth to a boy. Julie's mother who feels that

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

is their true motherland decided to migrate to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Soon Julie confesses about every thing to Usha. She also meets Sasi who is now ready to accept her. But Sasi's orthodox mother rejects her outright. Sasi's father Mr. Warrier questions him, and Sasi confesses about his role in ruining Julie's life. Mr. Warrier then helps Julie's family in packing up and invites them to his home for a small farewell. Here he introduces his wife and also his daughter Usha. Usha comes out with a small baby in her arms, and Julie recognizes it as her kid. Mr. Warrier then says that he and his family has no hesitations in accepting Julie as their daughter-in-law and encourages the rest of the Morris family to stay back in India.

Cast

as Julie * Mohan as Sasi * Sujatha as Usha *

as Morris *

Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...

as Mrs. Warrier, Sasi's Mother *

as Margarette * Reena as Ilin *

M. G. Soman M. G. Soman (28 October 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 and ...

as Richard *

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 Mr. Warrier *

Bahadoor Padiyath Kochumoideen Kunjalu (1930 22 May 2000), better known by his stage name Bahadoor, was an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films, primarily in comedic roles. He, along with Adoor Bhasi, were the two major comedians in Malayalam ...

Paravoor Bharathan Vadakkekarayil Koran Bharathan (16 January 1929- 19 August 2015), better known as Paravoor Bharatan was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He started his career in movies during the 1950s. Bharathan is known as a versatile actor and ...

Prem Prakash Cherian Joseph, popularly known as Prem Prakash is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam television serials and a producer in Malayalam movies. He is mainly known for supporting roles and character roles. He has produced 19 Mala ...

* Master Sathyajith * Vinodini

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Devarajan and the lyrics were written by

Vayalar Ramavarma Vayalar Ramavarma (25 March 1928 – 27 October 1975), also known as Rama Varma Vayalar and simply Vayalar, and was an Indian poet and lyricist of Malayalam literature, Malayalam language. He was known for his poems, including ''Sargasangeetham ...

and

Usha Uthup Usha Iyer Uthup (born 8 November 1947) is an Indian singer known for her deep contralto voice and her versatility across genres and languages. A prominent figure in Indian music since the 1970s, she has received a Filmfare Award, and was honoure ...

Production

Writing and casting

Pamman's story was published in ''Jay Keralam'' a weekly published in Chennai. Producer M. O. Joseph bought the rights. He signed director K. S. Sethumadhavan, cinematographer

Balu Mahendra Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil ...

and scriptwriter

for the film. The director suggested

as heroine and Mohan who had acted in P. N. Menon's art film as hero.

was Lakshmi's mother in the film.

played an Anglo Indian girl who wore short skirts throughout the film, which made her a sex symbol as well. The sensuous songs and the youthful pair set the box office on fire. The film's ending is different from that of the book. In the book the Hindu boy deserts his Anglo Indian girlfriend who is pregnant and never comes back but in the films, he comes back to accept her. Rahim, an admirer of Julie whom she had rejected, tries to influence her father by giving him booze and due to this the old man vomits blood and dies. In the film, Rahim has no role in the death of the old man.

Filming

The film was shot at Shornur Junction, a famous railway Junction in the Southern Railway especially during the steam era. Shornur had one of the largest steam locomotive workshops.

Remakes

The Hindi remake became very famous in 1975.

repeated her role by playing the title role in '' Julie'' (1975). She received the Filmfare Best Actress Award. The music composed by Rajesh Roshan won him the Filmfare Best Music Director Award, and his songs "Dil Kya Kare" and "My heart is beating" are still evergreen hits. Nadira won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for playing Julie's mother. Future superstar

Sridevi Sridevi Kapoor (née Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan; 13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), known mononymously as Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. She is regarded as one of ...

played Julie's younger sister. Tamil remake titled '' Oh Maane Maane'' (1984) had Urvasi playing the lead role and Mohan as her lover.

also starred in the Telugu remake titled ''Miss Julie Prema Katha'' (1975). The

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

remake titled '' Julie'' (2006) had Ramya in the title role of Julie and

Dino Morea Dino Morea (; born 9 December 1975) is an Indian actor and former model who has appeared in Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu language, Telugu films. He began his career as a fashion model and made his film debut in ' ...

as her lover. The movie was remade in

with the same name in 2012. The remake was directed by Santhosh Sethumadhavan, son of K. S. Sethumadhavan who directed the original version. The remake was produced by Suresh Kumar under Revathy Kalamadhir banner. It was shot in a timespan of 25 days, setting a new record in Malayalam cinema. It was released in September 2012.

References

External links

* {{K. S. Sethumadhavan 1970s Malayalam-language films 1970s Indian films 1974 romantic drama films Films based on Malayalam novels Malayalam films remade in other languages Indian romantic drama films Films directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan Teenage pregnancy in film Films with screenplays by Thoppil Bhasi Indian pregnancy films Indian interfaith romance films Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Ottapalam 1974 films 1970s pregnancy films