''Chithramela'' is a 1967

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 wa ...

-language anthology film directed and produced by T. S. Muthiah. It was

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, '' Elippat ...

's first anthology film, consisting of three short films.B. Vijayakumar. (19 June 2011)
"CHITRAMELA 1967"
'' The Hindu''. Retrieved 11 July 2011. The cast includes

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the history of Indi ...

, Sharada,

Sheela Sheela Ravichandran (Born 22 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as ...

K. P. Ummer Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer (Malayalam: കെ.പി. ഉമ്മർ) was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from early sixties until late ...

, Kottayam Chellappan,

S. P. Pillai S. P. Pillai (28 November 1913 – 12 June 1985) was an Indian film and stage actor, best known for his comic roles in Malayalam films. Biography S. Pankajakshan Pillai alias S. P. Pillai was born in 1913 in the temple town of Ettumanoor i ...

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), known by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director from Kerala. Adoor Bhasi was almost always cast as the man who stands next to the hero. His hilarious actions and ro ...

Bahadoor Padiyath Kochumoideen Kunjalu (1930 22 May 2000), known by his stage name Bahadoor, was an Indian actor and comedian who, along with Adoor Bhasi, redefined the way in which comedy and funny scenes were perceived in the Malayalam cinema. They ...

and Manavalan Joseph.

List of short films

Plots

First segment (''Nagarathinte Mukhangal'')

The short film showed the tragic fate of children left alone at home while the parents enjoyed themselves at late-night parties and meetings. One such couple,

and

Ummer Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer (Malayalam: കെ.പി. ഉമ്മർ) was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from early sixties until lat ...

, leave their daughter at home with the servant and go for a party . The naughty girl plays with the telephone, dials numbers and interacts with the person at the other end of the line. One such call results in trouble. The call was to a house which happened to be the venue of a murder. The girl says over the phone that she knew what was happening there. The murderer (Kottayam Chellappan) locates the number, kidnaps the girl and attempts to kill her. But the intervention of the police saves the girl's life.

Second segment (''Penninte Prapancham'')

The characters in the film were the original film stars themselves.

, Manavalan Joseph and

are trained to drive a car by

, their ''ashan'' or teacher. They encounter hilarious situations with the women they meet. All the students and their teacher go into a deep sleep. They wake up after 50 years to find that men have lost dominance; women, they find, have become all-powerful in the world.

Third segment (''Apaswarangal'')

The film told the story of a tragic love affair between a blind girl and a street singer. Seetha ( Sharada), the daughter of a ''coolie'' in a colony is in love with Babu (

), a street singer. A city wastrel's evil eye falls on Seetha and Babu is beaten up severely by his goons. A famous dancer happens to listen to Babu's singing. Babu goes on to accept the patronage of the dancer, separating him from Seetha. The colony is hit by an outbreak of smallpox. Except for Seetha and a small boy, all the others die. Seetha and the boy leave in search of Babu. She hears Babu's voice from a theatre. Babu rushes to meet his lover. Seetha, who is elated falls into his arms and dies.

Cast

* Sharada * Sukumari *

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri from ...

Manavalan Joseph Manavalan Joseph was a Malayalam film actor. He is an actor who worked in many movies during the 1950s and 1960s. He died in 1986 Background Manavalan Joseph was born at Fort Kochi then in the Malabar District of the Madras Presidency of Britis ...

T. R. Omana T. R. Omana is an Indian actress in Malayalam films. She mainly acts in supporting roles and mother roles. She has acted in more than 500 films. Personal life T. R. Omana was born as eldest among five children to T R Gopala Pillai, Timber mer ...

Baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in over 300 movies. ...

*Abhayam *Baby Rajani *

*C. R. Lakshmi *Devi Chandrika * G. K. Pillai * J. A. R. Anand *

Kaduvakulam Antony Kaduvakkulam Antony (9 November 1936 – 4 February 2001) was an Indian actor from Kerala who performed in more than 300 films as a comedian during the 1960s and 1970s. One journalist considers him to have been one of the best and most popular ...

*Kashmiri *

Khadeeja ''Khadeeja'' is a 1967 Indian Malayalam film, directed by M. Krishnan Nair and produced by Kalaratnam. The film stars Sathyan, Madhu, Sheela and Sukumari in the lead roles. The film had musical score by M. S. Baburaj. Cast *Sathyan *Madh ...

Kottayam Chellappan Kottayam Chellappan (10 November 1923 – 26 December 1971) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. He was also a renowned stage actor and film actor who was very active in Malayalam films during the 1960s and '70s. He died on 26 December 197 ...

*Kuttan Pillai * Master Sridhar *

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

Nellikode Bhaskaran Nellikode Bhaskaran (21 April 1924 – 11 August 1988) was an Indian actor in Malayalam movies. His real name was Bhaskara Menon. He mostly played character roles and supporting roles. Awards Kerala State Film Awards: * Second Best Actor ...

*Rajeshwari *

*Usha *Wahab

Production

Veteran actor T. S. Muthiah made his directorial debut with ''Chithramela''. He also produced the film under the banner of Sree Movies. Director M. Krishnan Nair is credited for giving technical assistance in direction. The idea for the short film ''Penninte Prapancham'' was by film producer T. E. Vasudevan. He, in turn, was inspired by a

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo ...

film. ''Chithramela'' was the first anthology film (portmanteau film) in Malayalam. The Tamil film ''Sirikkathe'' (1939) was the first anthology film in India. The Malayalam film industry has produced only a handful of anthology films to date, which include ''Yauvanam''/''Vandikkari'' (1974), ''

Naalu Pennungal ''Naalu Pennungal'' (''Four Women'') is a 2007 Malayalam film produced and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan based on four short stories written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. The film stars Padmapriya, Geethu Mohandas, Manju Pillai, and Nandit ...

'' (2007), ''

Kerala Cafe ''Kerala Cafe'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language anthology film produced by Ranjith and directed by a team of ten directors including Lal Jose, Shaji Kailas, Anwar Rasheed, Shyamaprasad, B. Unnikrishnan, Revathy, Anjali Menon, M. Padmakumar, ...

'' (2009) and ''

Oru Yathrayil ''Oru Yathrayil'' is a 2013 Indian Malayalam anthology film. The film comprises four shorts namely ''Honeymoon'', ''I Love My Appa'', ''Marichavarude Kadal'' and ''Amma'' which all are half an hour long each. The four featurettes are directed by ...

'' (2013), among others. However, since the advent of new-wave Malayalam cinema of the 2010s, many films which used hyperlink format for storytelling came out. Some film pundits consider these films also as portmanteau films.

Soundtrack

The film's music was provided by

G. Devarajan Paravoor Govindan Devarajan (1927–2006), popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was an Indian music composer and Carnatic singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Indian film music. He sco ...

, assisted by

R. K. Shekhar Rajagopala Kulashekharan or R. K. Shekhar (21 June 1933 – 09 September 1976) was an Indian music composer who worked mainly for Malayalam movies. He composed music for 52 films (23 in Malayalam with 127 songs), and was the music conductor for ...

. There are eight songs in the film, all of them included in the third and longest segment ''Apaswarangal''. The lyrics were penned by

Sreekumaran Thampi Sreekumaran Thampi (born 16 March 1940) is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer, and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Danie ...

, who also penned the script for ''Apaswarangal''. All the songs became super hits. Seven solos by

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as ...

and a duet with

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, are considered gems in Malayalam film music.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0061475
''Chithramela''
at the Malayalam Movie Database 1960s Malayalam-language films Indian anthology films 1960s crime thriller films 1967 romantic comedy films 1960s musical films 1967 directorial debut films Indian comedy films 1967 comedy films 1967 films