''Shaalini Ente Koottukaari'' is a 1978 Indian

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 ...

film, written by

Padmarajan P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, ...

and directed by Mohan. The film is loosely based on a story of

named "Parvathikutty". The film stars

Shobha Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her r ...

Jalaja Jalaja is an Indian actress in Malayalam films who was active during the 1970s and 1980s. She had won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1981 for the movie Venal directed by Lenin Rajendran. Pe ...

Sukumaran Edappal Ponnamkuzhi Veettil Parameswaran Sukumaran Nair (10 June 1948 – 16 June 1997), known mononymously as Sukumaran, was an Indian actor and producer of Malayalam films. Sukumaran became a popular film star in Malayalam cinema during the ...

and Venu Nagavalli in the lead roles. The film has musical score by G. Devarajan. The movie is about the friendship between two young girls named Shalini and Ammu. Shobha's suicide was during when the movie was running successfully in the box office. The film was remade in Tamil as '' Sujatha'' (1980).

Plot

The plot revolves around the life of ''Shalini'' (

), a young college girl, who faces emotional isolation in many places of life. Much of the story is revealed through the memories of ''Ammu'' (

), Shalini's intimate friend both in college and in their village. Shalini and her brother ''Prabha'' ( Venu Nagavally) experience a sort of emotional trauma and loneliness in their home, especially in the presence of their adamant father ( K.P Ummer) and their stepmother ( Sukumari). As Shalini is not satisfied with the barren life of her home, except in her attachment with her brother, she finds solace and comfort in the happiness provided by her college. As a young, smart and beautiful graduate student, she is attracted to many of the males of the campus, especially to ''Roy'' (

Ravi Menon Chalappurathu Raveendranatha Menon (1950 – 24 November 2007), popularly known as Ravi Menon was a veteran Indian film actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was born in Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad in 1950. He completed diploma from the Fil ...

), one of the smartest boys of the college. But his love is rejected by Shalini, even though she felt a temporary fascination towards him. Later the suicide of her brother makes her life uneasy, as she experiences an emotional isolation. However, she overcomes the pain inflicted by the death. She returns to college with an aim to turn over a new leaf in her life. Here, she develops a love affair with a newly appointed, young and handsome lecturer ''Jayadevan'' (

). In the shade of his love, ''Shalini'' gains confidence and feels aspirations towards life. But this unnatural relationship between a teacher and his student stirs up a little trouble in their college. Both of them ignore this as a wretched part of the social outlook. But their relation doesn't culminate in marriage, because Shalini falls ill with a brain tumor. This evaporates her confidence and finally she succumbs, leaving Jayadevan alone in the world and leaving everlasting memories in the mind of Ammu.

Cast

as Shalini *

as Ammu *

as Jayadevan * Venu Nagavalli as Prabha * K. P. Ummer as Shalini's Father * Sukumari as Shantha *

Vanitha Krishnachandran Vanitha Krishnachandran is an Indian film and television actress. She acted during the 1980s in nearly 170 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films along with several Malayalam and Tamil Television serials. Personal life Vanitha wa ...

as Shalini's Stepsister *

as Roy * Sreenath as Unnikrishnan * Sathyakala

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Devarajan and the lyrics were written by

M. D. Rajendran M. D. Rajendran is a malayalam poet ,lyricist and novelist. His father Ponkunnam Damodaran was a poet and activist. His siblings, M D Rathnamma and M D Ajayaghosh are also writers in malayalam. He was employed with All India Radio and retired ...

References

External links

* {{Padmarajan 1970s Malayalam-language films 1978 films 1978 romantic drama films Films scored by G. Devarajan Films directed by Mohan Films with screenplays by Padmarajan Malayalam films remade in other languages