''Kakkothikkavile Appooppan Thaadikal'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

: Woolly pods of Kakkothikkavu) is a 1988

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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

produced jointly by Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy and Fazil, directed by Kamal and written by Fazil. The film is heroine-oriented, in which

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won severa ...

and Ambika play the lead roles. The film features original songs 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 Stat ...

, while cinematography was done by Vipin Mohan. The film is pictured in rural locations such as

Pandalam Pandalam is a municipal town in Pathanamthitta district Kerala, India. Pandalam is considered a holy town due to its connection with Lord Ayyappa and Sabarimala. Rightly recognised to be the ''educational and cultural capital of Central Tra ...

, Kudassanad and

Venmony Venmony is a village in Chengannur taluk of Alappuzha district of Central Travancore area in Kerala state, India. Venmoney is 18 km south of Thiruvalla, 11 km east of Mavelikkara and 9 km northwest of Pandalam. 12 k ...

. The film includes many sequences in school settings and gypsy life. The film was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

at the box office.

won the

Filmfare Award for Best Actress The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise the female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954 ...

for her performance in this film.41st filmfare tamil best director music film.jpg (2448×3264) (archive.org)

Plot

The film is about two sisters who were separated in early childhood. One day, a beggar ( V. K. Sreeraman) comes to their house and asks for some water. Leaving the young sister ( Raasi) in the courtyard, the elder sister (

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu di ...

) goes to fetch water and returns to find the beggar vanished along with her sister. The second part of the film progresses through the life of a schoolboy, Murali, who is scoffed at in his school because of his poor background. One day, Murali skips his studies and runs away with some gypsies. He becomes good friends with a gypsy girl whom he names Kakkothi (

), after a local legend. Kakkothi is being hunted by a beggar who wants her for his nefarious purposes. In the meantime, Murali's school teacher Valsala ( Ambika) enquires about Murali's background and recognizes his pitiable condition. One day, the school teacher finds him and persuades him to stay at her own house and study. Later, Kakkothi comes across Murali and insists that as a friend, he should stay with her. After their tents are raided, Murali convinces her of the goodness of his school teacher and takes her to the teacher's house. On seeing the teacher's house, Kakkothi reminisces about her past. She finds her own childhood photo in the house. She was in fact the girl kidnapped by the beggar years ago. Frantic, she then runs away from the house. The beggar who is hunting her closes in on her. Just like the Kakkothi legend, she kills the beggar in self-protection. Both the sisters recognize each other and embrace in joy.

Cast

as Lakshmi a.k.a. Vavachi, Kakkothi * Renny as Murali * Ambika as Valsala * V. K. Sreeraman as Poovachu the evil beggar * Krishnan Kutty Nair as Mathai aka Kalan Mathai *

M. S. Thripunithura Madathilparambil Seshan Venkitaraman (26 May 1943 – 8 March 2006) known by his stage name M. S. Thripunithura was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film Industry. He was born in Thripunithura in the erstwhile Cochin State. He died in Sho ...

as father of Valsala and Lekshmi * Surasu as male beggar *

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 sta ...

as female beggar * Mela Raghu *

as Young Valsala * Raasi as Young Lakshmi (in Malayalam credited as Manthra) *

K. B. Ganesh Kumar Keezhoote Balakrishna Pillai Ganesh Kumar (born 25 May 1966) is an Indian actor, television host, and politician. Ganesh Kumar is a proposed cabinet minister for the last 2.5 years in the ongoing 2nd LDF govt in Kerala and he is also the curre ...

* Appa Haja

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

and the lyrics were written by

Bichu Thirumala B. 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 cinema, Bi ...

References

External links

* {{Kamal (director) 1988 films 1980s Malayalam-language films Films directed by Kamal (director) Films scored by Ouseppachan