Bhargavi Nilayam
Encyclopedia
Bhargavi Nilayam is a 1964 Malayalam horror
- romance
film written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
and directed by A. Vincent
. The film stars Prem Nazir
, Madhu
and Vijaya Nirmala
in the lead roles, and had its story, screenplay and dialogues are written by noted Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, which was adapted from his shot story Neela Velicham. It was the directorial debut of noted cinematographer A. Vincent. The film is especially noted for its camera works by P. Bhaskar Rao and music by M. S. Baburaj. It was the first horror film in Malayalam and was one of the biggest hit films of all time.
The letters give some indication about their love affair and their tragic death. The novelist decides to probe the matter. He starts writing the story of Bhargavi. The information gathered from the local people and the hints in the letters help him in his writing. The story develops. Bhargavi falls in love with her neighbour Sasikumar who is a talented poet and singer. Bharagavi’s father’s nephew, Nanukuttan (P. J. Antony) is also in love with Bhargavi. But Bhargavi hates Nanukuttan who is a wicked wastrel. Nanukuttan tries all nasty tricks to separate the lovers. He kills Sasikumar. Bharagavi becomes furious when she comes to know of her lover’s murder. In a scuffle Nanukuttan pushes Bhargavi into a well, killing her. Nanukuttan spreads the news that Bhargavi had committed suicide.
The novelist reads out the story to the ghost who by now has become quite compassionate with him. Nanukuttan overhears the story. He fears that once the story is published the truth behind the death of Bhargavi and Sasikumar will be out. He attacks the novelist and a fight ensues. Both of them fall into the well in which Bharagavi was drowned. The novelist is helped by the ghost but Nanukuttan is killed. This is Bharagavi’s revenge.
has written the screen play. The Screen play is based on the short story Neela Velicham by Basheer. But the movie also contains instances from some of his other short stories which he claims as his own life experiences. The scene were the young writer saw a beautiful woman on a beach is actually adapted from the short story Nilavu Kanumbol were Basheer himself claims that he has seen a naked woman taking bath in a beach and when he tried to speak to her she disappeared. Similarly the scene where the young Bhargavi requests Sasikumar's help for preparing a speech is actually based on the short story Hunthrappy Bussatto, which again we can find in the Novel Anuragathinte Dinangal. The lyrics for the song "Ekanthathayude Apaara Theeram" is taken from the short story Anargha Nimisham.
. The soundtrack consists of seven songs, mostly based on Hindustani
. Some of the songs were sampled from other language songs like "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" from "Mere Mehboob", "Vasantha Panchami" from "Chaudhwin Ka Chand" etc.
The soundtrack received immense critical praise for the high quality instrumentation and was one of the biggest audio hits of all time. The song "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" was selected by Naushad Ali as one of the few of his favourite songs when he visited Baburaj Music Academy in 1988. "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" is also regarded as one of the most loved songs in Malayalam music history.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
- romance
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
film written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer was a Malayalam fiction writer from the state of Kerala in India. He was a humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer. He is noted for his pathbreaking, disarmingly down-to-earth style of writing that made him equally popular among literary critics as well...
and directed by A. Vincent
A. Vincent
Aloysius Vincent born June 14, 1928 in Calicut, Kerala, India is an Indian cinematographer of Hindi movies and director of Malayalam movies. Since the mid 1960s he has directed some 30 movies...
. The film stars Prem Nazir
Prem Nazir
Abdul Khader , better known by his stage name Prem Nazir , was an Indian film actor. He is considered one of the all time super stars in Malayalam cinema...
, Madhu
Madhu (actor)
Madhavan Nair , commonly known by his stage name Madhu is an actor in Malayalam cinema. He was a prominent lead actor during the 60s and 70s. He has also directed and produced films, and at one time he owned Uma film studio.-Early life:...
and Vijaya Nirmala
Vijaya Nirmala
Vijaya Nirmala is a South Indian actress and director. In 2002, the Guinness Book of Records named her as the female director who had made the highest number of films. She has directed 47 movies.-Career:...
in the lead roles, and had its story, screenplay and dialogues are written by noted Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, which was adapted from his shot story Neela Velicham. It was the directorial debut of noted cinematographer A. Vincent. The film is especially noted for its camera works by P. Bhaskar Rao and music by M. S. Baburaj. It was the first horror film in Malayalam and was one of the biggest hit films of all time.
Plot
An enthusiastic and talented novelist (Madhu) comes to stay in a desolate mansion named Bhargavi Nilayam. The novelist and his servant Cheriya Pareekkanni (Adoor Bhasi) experience the presence of a strange entity here. They come to know from the local people that it is a haunted house. The story is that it is haunted by the ghost of the daughter of the previous owner. The novelist and his servant encounter strange happenings here - the gramophone plays on its own, objects move around. The novelist finds some old letters written to Bhargavi (Vijaya Nirmala) by her lover Sasikumar (Prem Nazir). It is believed that the ghost of Bhargavi now haunts this house.The letters give some indication about their love affair and their tragic death. The novelist decides to probe the matter. He starts writing the story of Bhargavi. The information gathered from the local people and the hints in the letters help him in his writing. The story develops. Bhargavi falls in love with her neighbour Sasikumar who is a talented poet and singer. Bharagavi’s father’s nephew, Nanukuttan (P. J. Antony) is also in love with Bhargavi. But Bhargavi hates Nanukuttan who is a wicked wastrel. Nanukuttan tries all nasty tricks to separate the lovers. He kills Sasikumar. Bharagavi becomes furious when she comes to know of her lover’s murder. In a scuffle Nanukuttan pushes Bhargavi into a well, killing her. Nanukuttan spreads the news that Bhargavi had committed suicide.
The novelist reads out the story to the ghost who by now has become quite compassionate with him. Nanukuttan overhears the story. He fears that once the story is published the truth behind the death of Bhargavi and Sasikumar will be out. He attacks the novelist and a fight ensues. Both of them fall into the well in which Bharagavi was drowned. The novelist is helped by the ghost but Nanukuttan is killed. This is Bharagavi’s revenge.
Cast
- Prem NazirPrem NazirAbdul Khader , better known by his stage name Prem Nazir , was an Indian film actor. He is considered one of the all time super stars in Malayalam cinema...
as Sasikumar - MadhuMadhu (actor)Madhavan Nair , commonly known by his stage name Madhu is an actor in Malayalam cinema. He was a prominent lead actor during the 60s and 70s. He has also directed and produced films, and at one time he owned Uma film studio.-Early life:...
as Novelist - Vijaya NirmalaVijaya NirmalaVijaya Nirmala is a South Indian actress and director. In 2002, the Guinness Book of Records named her as the female director who had made the highest number of films. She has directed 47 movies.-Career:...
as Bhargavi - P. J. AntonyP. J. AntonyP. J. Antony was a Malayalam film actor. He received the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Nirmalyam in 1974. He was also the first actor working in Malayalam cinema to receive the award...
as Narayanan Nair aka Nanukuttan - Adoor BhasiAdoor BhasiAdoor Bhasi was an Indian film actor and film director from Kerala. Adoor Bhasi was almost always cast as the man who stands next to the hero. His hilarious actions and roles became the cynosure of comic scenes in the Malayalam films of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. He is also famous for his...
as Cheriya Pareekanni - Kuthiravattam PappuKuthiravattam PappuKuthiravattam Pappu, often credited as Pappu, was a popular Indian stage and film actor. His repertoire of acting was based on his unique style and use of the Kozhikodan dialect, impeccable timing and the capability to grasp the subtle nuances of any character and mould it into his signature "Pappu...
as Pappu aka Kuthiravattam - Kottayam Santha
Inspirations
Bhargavi Nilayam is the only movie for which Vaikom Muhammad BasheerVaikom Muhammad Basheer
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer was a Malayalam fiction writer from the state of Kerala in India. He was a humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer. He is noted for his pathbreaking, disarmingly down-to-earth style of writing that made him equally popular among literary critics as well...
has written the screen play. The Screen play is based on the short story Neela Velicham by Basheer. But the movie also contains instances from some of his other short stories which he claims as his own life experiences. The scene were the young writer saw a beautiful woman on a beach is actually adapted from the short story Nilavu Kanumbol were Basheer himself claims that he has seen a naked woman taking bath in a beach and when he tried to speak to her she disappeared. Similarly the scene where the young Bhargavi requests Sasikumar's help for preparing a speech is actually based on the short story Hunthrappy Bussatto, which again we can find in the Novel Anuragathinte Dinangal. The lyrics for the song "Ekanthathayude Apaara Theeram" is taken from the short story Anargha Nimisham.
Soundtrack
The film had a successful and acclaimed soundtrack composed by M. S. Baburaj which is regarded as the noted composer's master piece. The lyrics are penned by noted poet P. BhaskaranP. Bhaskaran
Pulloottupadathu Bhaskara Menon , better known as P. Bhaskaran, was a famous Malayalam poet and lyricist of Malayalam film songs. He penned more than 3000 songs for about 250 films. He also directed 44 Malayalam feature films and 3 documentaries, produced 6 feature films and acted in several movies...
. The soundtrack consists of seven songs, mostly based on Hindustani
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
. Some of the songs were sampled from other language songs like "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" from "Mere Mehboob", "Vasantha Panchami" from "Chaudhwin Ka Chand" etc.
The soundtrack received immense critical praise for the high quality instrumentation and was one of the biggest audio hits of all time. The song "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" was selected by Naushad Ali as one of the few of his favourite songs when he visited Baburaj Music Academy in 1988. "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" is also regarded as one of the most loved songs in Malayalam music history.
| Song | Artist(s) |
|---|---|
| "Ekanthathayude" | Kamukara Purushothaman |
| "Anuraga" | S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35... |
| "Arabikkadaloru" | P. Susheela P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka... , K. J. Yesudas K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,... |
| "Pottatha" | S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35... |
| "Pottithakarnna" | S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35... |
| "Thamasamenthe Varuvan" | K. J. Yesudas K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,... |
| "Vasantha Panchami" | S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35... |