Mazha
Mazha (transl. Rain) is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran based on the short story Nashtappetta Neelambari by Madhavikkutty. It stars Biju Menon, Samyuktha Varma and Lal. The music was composed by Ravindran. The film won five Kerala State Film Awards, a National Film Award and a South Filmfare Award.[1][2][3]
| Mazha | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Lenin Rajendran |
| Written by | Lenin Rajendran |
| Based on | Nashtappetta Neelambari by Madhavikkutty |
| Produced by | G. Harikumar |
| Starring | Biju Menon Samyuktha Varma Lal Thilakan |
| Cinematography | S. Kumar |
| Edited by | Beena Paul B. Ajithkumar |
| Music by | Ravindran |
Production company | Millenium Cinema Productions |
| Distributed by | Murali Films Aakash Films Thanoof Films |
Release date |
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| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Plot
Mazha tells the love story of Bhadra (Samyuktha Varma) and her music teacher Sastrigal (Biju Menon). The film begins with teenager Bhadra coming to learn music under Sastrigal and getting infatuated with him and his singing in Sivapuram. The story describes the teenager Bhadra's characters and behavior in a nice mood. At her teenage time the madhura is a beautiful village having a lot of Tamil Brahmins, the shasthrikal is also one of them. Bhadhra falls in love with her music teacher (shasthrikal) because of her teenage nature and curiosity towards his music.
The story runs in the surroundings of the famous Meenakshi Amman Temple in Tamil Nadu. Bhadra's creative talents for poetry start to flourish, under his influence. Sastrigal is not much aware of Bhadra's love and considers her only as his talented student. Coming to know about Bhadra's infatuation, her parents took her with them and Sastrigal is obliged to marry his fiancée(Sindhu).
Bhadra becomes a doctor (like her father) and is married to Chandran (Lal) who is a computer engineer. Chandran happens to see her diary one day and the relationship goes for a toss. Of course, there are no names in the diary. So he goes off to doubt every male in her life – including the elderly senior doctor Thilakan. He becomes a victim to his drinking and dies of related illness.
In the end, Bhadra sets out in search of Sastrigal to Madurai where she discovers that Sastrigal also has lost much – his wife is a mental patient and the final shock is when she finds out that Sastrigal has lost his beautiful voice due to cancer.
Cast
- Biju Menon as Ramanuja Sasthrigal
- Samyuktha Varma as Dr. Bhadra Nair
- Lal as Chandran
- Sindhu Shyam as Jnanam
- Thilakan as Dr.
- Devi Ajith as Gayathri
- Urmila Unni as Saraswathy Madhavan Nair
- Jagathy Sreekumar as vaikunda Shastrikal
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack contains 9 songs, all composed by Ravindran. Lyrics were by Bharathiyar, Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, O. V. Usha, Yusuf Ali Kecheri and K. Jayakumar.
| # | Title | Singer(s) | Raga(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ithramel Manamulla" | K. J. Yesudas | Mohanam | |
| 2 | "Manjinte" | K. S. Chitra | Bageshri | |
| 3 | "Geyam Harinaamadheyam" | K. J. Yesudas, Arundhathi, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan | Charukesi | |
| 4 | "Himashaila" | K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chitra, Arundhathi |
(Raagamalika: Neelambari, Kharaharapriya, Kalyanavasantam) | |
| 5 | "Vaarmukile" | K. S. Chitra | Jog | |
| 6 | "Aashaadham" | K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chitra | Amrithavarshini | |
| 7 | "Paarukkulle Nalla Naadu" | Neyyattinkara Vasudevan | Jonpuri | |
| 8 | "Aaraadyam" | Asha G. Menon | Mohanam | |
| 9 | "Himashaila" | K. J. Yesudas |
(Raagamalika: Neelambari, Kharaharapriya, Kalyanavasantam) |
Reception
Despite positive reviews, the film was a commercial failure.[4][5]
According to Arun of The Indian Express, "it's due to the phenomenal success of Narasimham. Its massive success cast a gigantic shadow that devoured the entire Malayalam film industry. Well almost "The Narasimham hangover is terrifically strong and it has, at least for the moment, killed the prospects of good films. I don't see any other reason for the failure of well made female-oriented films like Mazha and Madhuranombarakkattu."[6]
Awards
- Best Actress: Samyuktha Varma
- Best Lyrics: O. V. Usha
- Best Background Score: Biju Paulose
- Best Singer: Asha G. Menon
- Best Sound Recordist: N. Hari Kumar
- Best Actress : Samyuktha Varma
- Best Lyrics : O V Usha & Jayakumar
- Music Direction : Raveendran
- Best Female Playback Singer : K S Chithra
- Voice of the year : Asha G Menon
- Best Supporting Actor : Biju Menon
- Best Malayalam Actress : Samyuktha Varma
References
- Praveen, S. r. (February 2019). "Lenin Rajendran: Chronicler of the oppressed". The Hindu.
- "Malayalam director Lenin Rajendran successfully straddled parallel, commercial cinema".
- "From not having a voice to owning it: Different dubbing trends in Malayalam cinema". 15 October 2021.
- "rediff.com, Movies: Sleaze time, folks!". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- "Indiainfo: Malayalam: Movie Reviews". movies.indiainfo.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2001. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
- "rediff.com, Movies: Sleaze time, folks!". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 2 June 2022.