Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu
| Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sathyan Anthikkad |
| Produced by | B Sasikumar |
| Written by | Raghunath Paleri |
| Screenplay by | Raghunath Paleri |
| Starring |
Sreenivasan Jayaram Urvashi Shari Innocent Parvathy |
| Music by | Johnson |
| Cinematography | Vipin Mohan |
| Edited by | K Rajagopal |
Production company |
Mudra Productions |
| Distributed by | Mudra Productions |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu (English: The Duck that Lays Golden Eggs; Malayalam: പൊന്മുട്ടയിടുന്ന താറാവ്) is a 1988 Malayalam comedy drama film written by Raghunath Paleri and directed by Sathyan Anthikkad. It stars Sreenivasan, Jayaram, Urvashi, Innocent, Parvathy, and Shari in pivotal roles.[1][2][3] The film was critically acclaimed and was a big commercial success. Late actor Krishnankutty Nair played the role of Thattan Gopalan (Sreenivasan's father) and once Sathyan Anthikkad referred to it as the most brilliant performances by any actor in his films.
Plot
Bhaskaran(Sreenivasan), the local village goldsmith is in love with Snehalatha(Urvashi), the daughter of P.V.Panicker(Innocent), the local astrologer. They are neighbours. Panicker wants his daughter to get married to a rich man settled in Dubai. Snehalatha asks for a gold necklace made of 10 pavans (sovereigns) as a symbol of Bhaskaran's love and also to impress her father. Bhaskaran makes a necklace and hands it over to Snehalatha. An angry Panicker finds this out, admonishes her and pockets the golden necklace. He reasons that it was "brotherly love" which made Bhaskaran give the necklace to his daughter.
Bhaskaran becomes impatient and finally he decides to march to Panicker's home and ask Snehalatha to marry him. In this daring mission he is accompanied by his friends and well wishers namely the Velichappad, an oracle(Jagathi Sreekumar), Paappi the trader (Oduvil Unnikrishnan), Aboobacker(Mamukkoya) the tea-shop owner and Hajiyar(Karamana Janardanan Nair). Madhavan Nair(Sankaradi), an elderly respectable citizen of the village also joins in. A heated argument ensues at Panicker's household, Snehalatha finally denying any love affair with Bhaskaran and Panicker refusing to return the golden necklace. Panicker argues that such a golden necklace was never given by Bhaskaran.
Panicker receives a marriage proposal from Pavithran(Jayaram), who is an orphan and settled in Dubai, and accepts it. A few days before the marriage, Panicker walks up to the tea-shop where the regular patrons are in attendance. There he shows a golden necklace saying that he purchased it from a nearby town and that it was a gift from him to his daughter. The village crowd appreciates Panicker's fatherly love. Bhaskaran finds out that this necklace was none other than the one he had given to Snehalatha a few months back.
Bhaskaran soon becomes the joke of the village, with people saying that he was a fool to give the necklace (if such a thing existed), without any guarantee or surety. Life goes on in the village. A dancing school is started by a lady (Shari) on the second floor of Aboobacker's dilapidated tea-shop building. Paappi continues to buy and sell cows and calves, and Madhavan Nair makes his routine night visits to the village prostitute. The Velichappad is busy organising the local temple festival. Supported by his friends Bhaskaran starts a small jewellery shop (Bhaskaran & Sons) in the village.
Pavithran marries Snehalatha and he goes back to the Middle east. Snehalatha is pregnant and she comes back to her house for delivery. Soon the baby is born, and Pavithran also comes back. To the shock of the Panicker family, Pavithran says he is not planning to go back and plans to buy few trucks and settle down in Kerala. His job in the foreign country was not good & he even spent some time in jail there. He is in need of more funds to finance his truck. He notices the gold necklace his wife regularly adorned herself with, which was worth 10 pavans. Although Snehalatha refuses to give it, Pavithran takes it from her to pawn it for some quick money.
Pavithran consults Bhaskaran as he is the village goldsmith. Bhaskaran checks the necklace and confirms whether the necklace was given to him by Panicker. And when his regular friends have gathered in the village square, Bhaskaran declares that the necklace is made of brass, containing very little gold. Pavithran now humiliated, with his wife and kid storms into Panicker's home. He feels that he has been shortchanged, and Snehalatha was not true to him. Panicker is forced to admit that this necklace was not some thing which he purchased, but was given by Bhaskaran to Snehalatha some years back. The love affair of Snehalatha and Bhaskaran also now comes out in the open. This irritates Pavithran even further as he now feels everyone was tricking him. The villagers too take up sides, and a huge fight starts.
Like in a typical village, the fight soon stops and every thing returns to normal. When asked by Bhaskaran's father as to who gave him the idea to mix brass with gold. Bhaskaran replies that he learnt the idea from his father, who used to fool his wife by polishing brass with gold. Pavithran finally decides to take back his wife and daughter. The movie ends with a note which indicates that Bhaskaran too has found his true love in the dance teacher.
Cast
- Sreenivasan as Bhaskharan (the goldsmith)
- Jayaram as Pavithran (Husband of Snehalatha)
- Urvashi as Snehalatha
- Shari as Parvathi (the dance teacher at Parvathi Dance School)
- Innocent as P.V. Panicker (പണിക്കർ), Snehalatha's proud father
- K. P. A. C. Lalitha as the mother of Snehalatha, wife of P.V Panicker
- Jagathi Sreekumar as the temple Oracle (വെളിച്ചപാട്)
- Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Paappi (പശു പോയ പാപ്പി), the cattle trader
- Sankaradi as Madhavan Nair (Panchayath member and respected elder of the community)
- Karamana Janardanan Nair as Hajjiyar
- Parvathy as Khalmayi (Hajji's third wife)
- Mamukkoya as Aboobacker (the village tea-shop owner)
- Krishnan Kutty Nair as Thattan Gopalan, Bhaskaran's father who is always bed ridden
- Philomina as Bhaskaran's mother
- Shyama as Savithry (Bhaskaran's Sister)
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Johnson and lyrics was written by ONV Kurup.
| No. | Song | Singers | Lyrics | Length (m:ss) |
| 1 | Kunnimani Cheppu | KS Chithra | ONV Kurup | |
| 2 | Theeyilurukki | K. J. Yesudas | ONV Kurup |
Awards
Trivia
- This movie was initially titled Ponmutta Idunna Thattaan(പൊന്മുട്ടയിടുന്ന തട്ടാൻ) (the goldsmith who lays the golden eggs). This was later changed after severe protests from the goldsmith community in Kerala.
- This movie was shot in a village near Thrithala (തൃത്താല) in Palakkad Dt. Kerala.
- This film was remade in Hindi as Dus Tola starring Manoj Bajpai in Sreenivasan's role. This film is distributed by Warner Bros..
References
- ↑ "Ponmuttayidunna Thaaravu". www.malayalachalachithram.com. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ↑ "Ponmuttayidunna Thaaravu". malayalasangeetham.info. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
- ↑ "Ponmuttayidunna Thaaravu". spicyonion.com. Retrieved 2014-10-24.