''Kandam Becha Kottu'' () is a 1961 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 drama film directed and produced by T. R. Sundaram under the banner of

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English ...

. It stars

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 fr ...

and Prem Nawas in the lead roles, along with T. S. Muthaiah,

Aranmula Ponnamma Aranmula Ponnamma (8 April 1914 – 21 February 2011) was an Indian actress known for her roles as mother of the protagonist in numerous films in a career spanning over five decades. She is widely described as a mother figure in Malayalam ...

and

Ambika Sukumaran Ambika Sukumaran Nair is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. She is a close relative of the Travancore Sisters; Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, and also Shobana, Vineeth, Krishna and Sukuma ...

in supporting roles. The film deals with the negative effects of the

dowry system in India The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the groom, his parents and his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Dowry is called "दहेज" in Hindi and as ' ...

through customs of the

Muslim community ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective comm ...

. ''Kandam Becha Kottu'' was based on a popular novel by T. Muhammad Yusuf. Sundaram had earlier produced and directed

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

's first talkie '' Balan'' (1938). The film was initially planned to be K. S. Sethumadhavan's directorial debut. However, when Sundaram decided to shoot the film in colour, which would be much more expensive than planned, he decided to direct the film himself. The screenplay of the film was written by K. T. Muhammed in the Kozhikodan dialect. The film's music was composed by

M. S. Baburaj Mohammad Sabir Baburaj (3 March 1929 – 7 October 1978) was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs. Earl ...

, while the cinematography was done by T. Sundarababu. ''Kandam Becha Kottu'' was released on 24 August 1961 to high expectations. The film was the first

colour Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...

film and

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was o ...

film in Malayalam. The film was a huge box office success, running for weeks in packed theatres. The film received the Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in Malayalam at the 9th National Film Awards.

Cast

as Alikoya Haji * Prem Nawas as Ummer * T. S. Muthaiah as Mammadikka *

as Kunju Bivi *

Pankajavalli Pankajavalli is an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was known for her supporting roles during the late 1960s and 1970s in Malayalam. She made her debut in Jeevitha Nouka in 1951. She has acted in more than 50 movies. Her grand daughter ...

as Kadeeja *

as Amina *

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 ...

as Hassan *

Kedamangalam Sadanandan Kedamangalam Sadanandan (1926 – 13 April 2008) was a Kadhaprasangam artist, actor, screenwriter and lyricist from Kerala. He performed Kadhaprasangam (story telling) in more than 15,000 stages for over 50,000 hours in a career spanning about ...

as Avaran * S. P. Pillai as Minnal Moideen *

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 ...

as Khader * Nilambur Ayisha as Bethatha *Chandni as Beechipathu *Kottayam Chellappan *Omana *Muttathara Soman

Crew

* director - T. R. Sundaram * producer - Modern Theatres * writer - K. T. Muhammed -T. Muhammad Yusuf * music - Baburaj * Art Direction - A.J.Dominic

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

and lyrics were written by P. Bhaskaran.

Reception

The film was a big box office success and ran for weeks in packed theatres.

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

: Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in Malayalam

References

External links

* *http://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movie.php?i=89
''Deshabhimani'' article on the Golden Jubilee of the film

''Madhyamam'' article on the Golden Jubilee of the film
{{T. R. Sundaram 1961 films 1960s Malayalam-language films 1961 directorial debut films