''Manassinakkare'' (''On the Other Bank of the Mind'') is a 2003 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 ...

family drama film directed by

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 ...

and written by Ranjan Pramod. It stars

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

Sheela Sheela Celine (born 24 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 heroine ...

, and

Nayanthara Nayanthara (born Diana Mariam Kurian; 18 November 1984) is an Indian actress and producer known for her work in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she ...

in lead roles, while Innocent, Oduvil Unnikrishnan,

K. P. A. C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest ...

, Siddique,

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 ...

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 Mammukoya play supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Ilayaraja. The film marked the return of Sheela as an actress and the film debut of

. It won five awards at

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

Plot

Kochu Thresia is a rich widow living a retired life in a quaint but beautiful village filled with eclectic characters. Living with her are her eldest son and family. Her son and daughter-in-law are tired of Kochu's eccentricities, which they consider bad behavior for a woman of her age; they think she is a nuisance who creates unnecessary trouble for them in their busy lives. Though old, Kochu is still young at heart and knows how to enjoy life, getting into humorous predicaments which further incense her grown-up children. She then meets the young, down-to-earth Reji a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

, in whom she finds a sympathetic and understanding friend, and starts seeing him like a son. Reji eagerly fulfills her wishes, including riding on an

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

, and they enjoy their time together. However, as troubles occur on the way and her children dislike her presence in the family, Kochu decides these problems must be ended.

Cast

as Reji *

as Kochu Thresia *

as Gauri * Innocent as Chacko Mappila * Siddique as Tony Kombanakkadan *

KPAC Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest actresses in the ...

as Kunju Maria * Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Sreedharan *

as Shanthamma *

as Kuriakose * Sona Nair as Sherin Kuriakose, Kochu Tresia's daughter * Madhupal as Party Leader Benny Kombanakkadan * Rajesh Hebbar as George Kombanakkadan * Reshmi Nambiar as Molikutty, Tony's wife * Reena as Sherly Kombanakkadan * Anitha Nair as Reetha George * Mamukoya as Kunji Khader *

T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (7 November 1935 – 9 October 2024) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He began acting at age 40 and appeared in over 600 films. Initially known for playing antagonistic roles, he transitioned t ...

as Advocate Charles *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur tow ...

as Kochuthressia's house asst. * Manikandan Pattambi as Philipose, a politician *

Joju George Joseph "Joju" George (born 22 October 1977) is an Indian actor, playback singer, director, writer and producer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema along with Tamil, and Telugu cinemas. In 2015, he won the Kerala State Film Award � ...

as Shaju, a politician *

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

as CI of Police * Ottapalam Pappan as Chandy * Dinesh Prabhakar as Rameshan * Vijayan Peringod as Kelu Police * Salu Kootanadu as coconut climber Satheesan *

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

as Mathukkutty (Uncredited)

Production

''Manassinakkare'' was

's debut film. During pre-production, Sathyan cast every major character except the role of Gauri, for which he sought a newcomer to keep Sheela as the major attraction in the cast. Filming was in Pattambi,

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

, with the major location being the house of Kochu Thresia. Since Gauri's scenes were not involved in the house, Sathyan started filming hoping he could find a cast before wrapping. During one of the filming days, he was reading '' Vanitha'' magazine and was struck by

's picture in a jewellery advertisement. She was contacted and cast as Gauri.

Soundtrack

The film features songs composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

and written by Gireesh Puthenchery.

Reception

A critic from ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

'' wrote: "Shot mostly around the beautiful locations of Pattambi, Sathyan Anthikad's Manassinakkare is a beautiful mix of emotional situations and comic interlude".

Box office

The film was a commercial success and ran for more than 200 days in theatres.

Awards

;

* Best Film -

Maha Subair Maha Subair, born Subair Pareed, is an Indian film producer, predominantly working in Malayalam films. He is associated with ''Varna Chithra'' and has produced a number of films such as ''Meesa Madhavan'', ''Manassinakkare'', ''Thirakkatha'', ' ...

* Best Director -

* Best Music Director -

* Best Actor -

* Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Malayalam -

; Asianet Film Awards * Best Director -

* Best Male Playback Singer - M. G. Sreekumar * Best Makeup Artist - Pandyan * Best New Face of the Year - (Female) -

; Kerala Film Critics Awards * Best Dubbing Artist Female - Sreeja for Nayantara

References

External links

* {{Filmfare Award for Best Film – Malayalam 2003 films 2000s Malayalam-language films 2000s Indian films Indian family films Indian drama films Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Munnar Films directed by Sathyan Anthikad Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja