''Santhwanam'' () is a 1991 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 by

Sibi Malayil Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name. Etymology The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hin ...

and written by

J. Pallassery Joseph Pallassery aka. J.Pallassery is an Indian film scriptwriter and actor in Malayalam movies. He did story, screenplay and dialogue for more than 50 Malayalam movies. He has also acted in many movies and teleserial. Filmography Dialogue ...

. It is a remake of the 1991

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

film '' Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu''. The film stars

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 ...

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 ' ...

, and Bharathi. The music was composed by

Mohan Sithara Mohan Sithara (born 30 May 1959) is an Indian music composer. He received the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Music Director (2009) for the songs in Priyanandan's ''Soofi Paranja Kadha''. Since 1986 he has been an active musician in the Mal ...

. ''Swanthwanam'' was released in theatres on 19 December 1991. The film is noted for the song "Unni Vaavavo," often credited as one of the best

lullabies A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural know ...

in Malayalam.

Plot

Thambi and his wife Subhadra had only one child, Rajakumaran, who was fondly called Unni and was the pride of their joy. However, Unni fell for a woman and married against his parents' wishes. Years later, their granddaughter Rajalakshmi paid her first visit, bringing her closer to her grandparents without knowing that Unni and their daughter-in-law Chrisy had died.

Cast

as Rajasekaran Thambi *

as Rajalakshmi * Bharathi as Subhadra *

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter and politician who is currently serving as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Minister of Tourism since June 2024. He was ele ...

as Rajakumaran Thambi, Thambi's son *

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar Achary (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four deca ...

as Kunjunni Nair *

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 ...

as Swaminathan, Thambi's friend *

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

as James * Zainuddin as Venu, bank staff *

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (; born 10 October 1954), better known by her mononymous stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in mo ...

as Thambi's Niece *

Mamukkoya Mamukkoya (5 July 1946 – 26 April 2023) was an Indian actor known for his work predominately in Malayalam cinema. He mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of Kozhikode dialect and style marked his presence in the industry. In a c ...

as Kareem bhai, boat driver *Bindu Ramakrishnan as Thambi's relative

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack contains three songs, all composed by

, with lyrics by

Kaithapram Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannettante in 19 ...

. "Unni Vaavavo" is composed in

sankarabharanam Sankarabharanam may refer to: * ''Sankarabharanam'' (1980 film), an Indian Telugu-language musical drama film * ''Sankarabharanam'' (2015 film), an Indian Telugu-language crime comedy film * Sankarabharanam (raga), a rāga in Carnatic music ...

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

''.

Release

''Swanthwanam'' was released in theatres on 19 December 1991. The lullaby "Unni Vaavavo" is often credited as one of the best lullabies in Malayalam, along with "

Omanathinkal Kidavo Omanathinkal Kidavo () is a lullaby in Malayalam that was composed by Irayimman Thampi on the birth of Maharajah Swathi Thirunal of Travancore. To date, it remains one of the most popular lullabies in the Malayalam language. History The lulla ...

" and "Thamarakannan Urangenam".

References

External links

* 1990s Malayalam-language films Malayalam remakes of Telugu films Films scored by Mohan Sithara Films directed by Sibi Malayil {{1990s-Malayalam-film-stub