Kutty Shranku
Encyclopedia
Kutty Srank is a 2009 Indian film directed by Shaji N. Karun
Shaji N. Karun
Shaji Neelakantan Karun is a National Award-winning Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi won the Caméra d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival...

. Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

 played the title role for the film. The film was produced by Reliance Entertainment under the banner of Big Motion Pictures, the first ever production by Anil Ambani
Anil Ambani
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is an Indian-Gujarati business baron and chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest private conglomerates. Anil's elder brother, Mukesh Ambani, is worth more than 29 billion dollars, and owns another company called Reliance Industries...

's newly launched entertainment concern in Malayalam. The film was released at the theatres of Kerala on 23 July 2010.

Plot

Kutty Srank (translated as junior boat captain in Malayalam) is a film about a mariner who operates a cargo vessel near the sea port of Kodungalloor near Kochi, once a roaring port town in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

.

One day, the local police station discovers an unidentified body that has washed ashore. A Budhist nun (Revamma) comes forward to claim that she can identify the rotten body, and she recognises it as that of one kutti Srank. Police enquire her relationhip with kutti Srank. Meanwhile, another woman (Pemenna) too claims to recognize the dead man. Both women assure the investigators that the body is that of kutti Srank. Finally a mute woman (Kali) joins them and seeks permission to see the corpse. She, however, rejects the claim made by the other women and argues that the body is not that of kutti Srank. Pemmanna identifies Kali and tells Revamma that Kali is kutti Srank’s wife. Eventually each woman shares her acquaintance and relation with kutti Srank. Kutty Srank ultimately leaves behind a story of a man who convinced three very different women that he was a committed and faithful husband while successfully keeping his relation with the other two women a secret.

Script

The film is structurally divided into four different settings, three of which are set in north, mid and south Kerala, respectively. The fourth is a hyper-link set in a police station. The script featured various visual and thematic elements to delineate the three primary sub-plots in both spatial and temporal dimensions, connected through the protagonist. The major devices used for achieving this separation were moods and emotions expressed by the character, (psychological) nature of female protagonists, time-period, geographical locations, religious & social landscapes and seasons. The below table summarizes the different themes associated with each of the women. (Unreported or unverified entries of the table are kept blank.)
Actress Kamalinee Mukherjee Padmapriya Meenakumari
Character Name Pemmena Revamma Kali
Geographical Location of the story Kochi Malabar Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

Season monsoon summer winter
Time Period/Era unspecified 1950 Mid 1950s

Cast

  • Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

     as Kutty Srank
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....

     as Pemenna
  • Padmapriya as Revamma
  • Meena Kumari as Kali
  • Wahiida as Nalini
  • Suresh Krishna
    Suresh Krishna (actor)
    Suresh Krishna is a Malayali film actor, known for his negative and character roles. He is noted for his strong characters in Manju Poloru Penkutti, Christian Brothers, Pazhassi Raja and Kutty Srank...

     as Loni Ashan
  • Saikumar as Unnithan
  • Siddique
    Siddique (actor)
    Siddique is a Malayalam film actor, producer, and television compere. He started his film career doing comedy roles and later performed in a variety of roles.-Early career:...

     as Fr. Jonas
  • P. Sreekumar as Paskal
  • Satheesh Chandra as Mooppan
  • Amit as Joppan
  • Maya Viswanath as Madhavi
  • Padma kumar as Neelan
  • Gaurav Moudgill as Prasanna
  • M. A. Balachandran as Karan
  • Gopalakrishnan as Appunni
  • Valsala Menon as Paru
  • Nanda lal as Vishnu

Crew opinion

  • Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

    , who plays the title role of Kutty Srank in the film, said "I am really excited because I will be playing three different characters but not three different roles. It is going to be a challenge for me because the basic nature of all the three characters is the same but there are different behavioural patterns and mannerisms based on what the three women say."
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....

     on her character Pemmena, stated "All my characters have a certain kind of reserve where sexuality is concerned. The character I am playing hails from a village and she's very raw. Since it's a period film, it gave me a chance to look at this other side which I have never really tried to explore before. She's got a strong sexual nature."
  • Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla is a national award winning Indian cinematographer.She is the first woman camera person in India to win the National Film Award for Best Cinematography...

    , the director of photography, opined "I am told he (Shaji) chose me because he wanted a woman behind the camera to add that feminine perspective to the theme that revolves around the perspectives of three women. The story is woven around three women and their relationships with the protagonist, Kutti Srank, played by Mammmotty. The instances are set in three different moods and seasons.So each one needs an individualistic treatment; at the same time, it should not stand out from the total cohesive structure of the film."

Filming

The film premiered internationally at Montreal International Film festival 2009 and nationally at IFFI, Goa 2009. As the film is involves change in seasons, environmental and climatic changes, the film was shot in three schedules. The first schedule (depicting the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

) was held between 15 June 2008 and 10 July 2008 in the backwaters of Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...

. The second schedule of shooting (depicting summer) took place at Chavara and Sasthankotta near Kollam
Kollam
Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

 during September 2008. The third and final schedule (depicting winter) took place at Kundapura near Mookambika
Mookambika
The Mookambika Devi Temple of Kollur, dedicated to Mookambika Devi, is one of the most prominent shrines for people in the state of Karnataka and Kerala, India. Located at a distance of 147 km from Mangalore in the picturesque surroundings presented by the banks of the river Sauparnika and...

 during December 2008.

Awards

In the 57th National Film Awards
57th National Film Awards
The 57th National Film Awards is presented to the best of Indian Cinema released during the year 2009.Couple of new awards has been introduced for Location Sound Recordist and Sound Designer in the Audiography category, for Background Score in addition to the existing award for Best Music Direction...

, Kutty Srank emerged the biggest winner with five awards, including the one for Best Film. Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

, who played the lead role of the film, was amongst the two finalists for the award for best actor
National Film Award for Best Actor
The National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...

. However, he lost the award to Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

. The awards received by the film are
  • National Film Award for Best Film
    National Film Award for Best Film
    The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...

    : Reliance Big Pictures (producer), Shaji N. Karun
    Shaji N. Karun
    Shaji Neelakantan Karun is a National Award-winning Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi won the Caméra d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival...

     (director)
  • National Film Award for Best Screenplay
    National Film Award for Best Screenplay
    The National Film Award for Best Screenplay winners:-References:...

     (Original): P.F. Mathews & Harikrishna
  • National Film Award for Best Cinematography
    National Film Award for Best Cinematography
    The National Film Award for Best Cinematography are given annually. The only female who has won this award is Anjuli Shukla, who won the award for her debut film, Kutty Srank . The most time winners are Santosh Sivan & K.K. Mahajan - 4 awards each for best cinematography category....

    : Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla is a national award winning Indian cinematographer.She is the first woman camera person in India to win the National Film Award for Best Cinematography...

     (camera), Adlabs Films Ltd. (processing laboratory)
  • National Film Award for Best Costume Design
    National Film Award for Best Costume Design
    The National Film Award for Best Costume Design winners:...

    : Jayakumar
  • Special Jury Award (Feature Film): Sreekar Prasad (editing)

Film festivals in which the film was screened

  • Montreal World Film Festival
    Montreal World Film Festival
    The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...

    , 2009
  • Pusan International Film Festival
    Pusan International Film Festival
    Busan International Film Festival , held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan , South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia...

    , 2009
  • Mumbai International Film Festival, 2009
  • International Film Festival of India
    International Film Festival of India
    The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...

    , 2009
  • Dubai International Film Festival
    Dubai International Film Festival
    The Dubai International Film Festival is an international film festival based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched in 2004, it aims to foster the growth of filmmaking in the Arab world.-Overview:...

    , 2009

Music

The background score and songs were composed by Isaac Thomas Kottakapally. The soundtrack features 8 songs, including one sung by Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

. The lyrics were penned by S. Ramesan Nair. The music and lyrics used for the Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam is a highly colorful Christian classical art form originated in Gothuruth village, Kerala state in India. It is noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the rhythmic playback...

 were sourced from Father Joseph who has been doing research on the subject for quite some time. The lyrics are believed to have been written by a priest in Velakanni and that is why there are a lot of Tamil words. Most of the songs were choreographed by the Asans of Yore.

Tracklisting
  1. "Oru Minnaminni" (performed by Jassie Gift
    Jassie Gift
    Jassie Gift is a Malayalam film music composer and singer from Thiruvananthapuram, India. He became famous after his song "Lajjavathiye" in the film 4 the people.-Biography:...

    , Devanand, Pradeep Palluruthy
    Pradeep Palluruthy
    Pradeep Palluruthy is a noted Malayalam singer. He is from Cochin and is a bit hit in the Malayalam film industry.-References:...

    )
  2. "Aarandum Koorukutti" (performed by Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

    , Basheer
    )
  3. "Rajadambathimaar" (performed by Ramesh)
  4. "Maga Chandira" (performed by Rajalakshmi, Ramesh)
  5. "Neshamana" (performed by Ramesh, Basheer)
  6. "Kattiyakkaran" (performed by Basheer)
  7. "Ivalaarivalaar" (performed by Ramesh)
  8. "Thangameyyole" (performed by Rajalakshmi, Ramesh)

External links


Kutty Srank (The Sailor of Hearts; ) is a 2009 Indian film directed by Shaji N. Karun
Shaji N. Karun
Shaji Neelakantan Karun is a National Award-winning Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi won the Caméra d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival...

. Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

 played the title role for the film. The film was produced by Reliance Entertainment under the banner of Big Motion Pictures, the first ever production by Anil Ambani
Anil Ambani
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is an Indian-Gujarati business baron and chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest private conglomerates. Anil's elder brother, Mukesh Ambani, is worth more than 29 billion dollars, and owns another company called Reliance Industries...

's newly launched entertainment concern in Malayalam. The film was released at the theatres of Kerala on 23 July 2010.

Plot

Kutty Srank (translated as junior boat captain in Malayalam) is a film about a mariner who operates a cargo vessel near the sea port of Kodungalloor near Kochi, once a roaring port town in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

.

One day, the local police station discovers an unidentified body that has washed ashore. A Budhist nun (Revamma) comes forward to claim that she can identify the rotten body, and she recognises it as that of one kutti Srank. Police enquire her relationhip with kutti Srank. Meanwhile, another woman (Pemenna) too claims to recognize the dead man. Both women assure the investigators that the body is that of kutti Srank. Finally a mute woman (Kali) joins them and seeks permission to see the corpse. She, however, rejects the claim made by the other women and argues that the body is not that of kutti Srank. Pemmanna identifies Kali and tells Revamma that Kali is kutti Srank’s wife. Eventually each woman shares her acquaintance and relation with kutti Srank. Kutty Srank ultimately leaves behind a story of a man who convinced three very different women that he was a committed and faithful husband while successfully keeping his relation with the other two women a secret.

Script

The film is structurally divided into four different settings, three of which are set in north, mid and south Kerala, respectively. The fourth is a hyper-link set in a police station. The script featured various visual and thematic elements to delineate the three primary sub-plots in both spatial and temporal dimensions, connected through the protagonist. The major devices used for achieving this separation were moods and emotions expressed by the character, (psychological) nature of female protagonists, time-period, geographical locations, religious & social landscapes and seasons. The below table summarizes the different themes associated with each of the women. (Unreported or unverified entries of the table are kept blank.)
Actress Kamalinee Mukherjee Padmapriya Meenakumari
Character Name Pemmena Revamma Kali
Geographical Location of the story Kochi Malabar Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

Season monsoon summer winter
Time Period/Era unspecified 1950 Mid 1950s

Cast

  • Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

     as Kutty Srank
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....

     as Pemenna
  • Padmapriya as Revamma
  • Meena Kumari as Kali
  • Wahiida as Nalini
  • Suresh Krishna
    Suresh Krishna (actor)
    Suresh Krishna is a Malayali film actor, known for his negative and character roles. He is noted for his strong characters in Manju Poloru Penkutti, Christian Brothers, Pazhassi Raja and Kutty Srank...

     as Loni Ashan
  • Saikumar as Unnithan
  • Siddique
    Siddique (actor)
    Siddique is a Malayalam film actor, producer, and television compere. He started his film career doing comedy roles and later performed in a variety of roles.-Early career:...

     as Fr. Jonas
  • P. Sreekumar as Paskal
  • Satheesh Chandra as Mooppan
  • Amit as Joppan
  • Maya Viswanath as Madhavi
  • Padma kumar as Neelan
  • Gaurav Moudgill as Prasanna
  • M. A. Balachandran as Karan
  • Gopalakrishnan as Appunni
  • Valsala Menon as Paru
  • Nanda lal as Vishnu

Crew opinion

  • Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

    , who plays the title role of Kutty Srank in the film, said "I am really excited because I will be playing three different characters but not three different roles. It is going to be a challenge for me because the basic nature of all the three characters is the same but there are different behavioural patterns and mannerisms based on what the three women say."
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....

     on her character Pemmena, stated "All my characters have a certain kind of reserve where sexuality is concerned. The character I am playing hails from a village and she's very raw. Since it's a period film, it gave me a chance to look at this other side which I have never really tried to explore before. She's got a strong sexual nature."
  • Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla is a national award winning Indian cinematographer.She is the first woman camera person in India to win the National Film Award for Best Cinematography...

    , the director of photography, opined "I am told he (Shaji) chose me because he wanted a woman behind the camera to add that feminine perspective to the theme that revolves around the perspectives of three women. The story is woven around three women and their relationships with the protagonist, Kutti Srank, played by Mammmotty. The instances are set in three different moods and seasons.So each one needs an individualistic treatment; at the same time, it should not stand out from the total cohesive structure of the film."

Filming

The film premiered internationally at Montreal International Film festival 2009 and nationally at IFFI, Goa 2009. As the film is involves change in seasons, environmental and climatic changes, the film was shot in three schedules. The first schedule (depicting the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

) was held between 15 June 2008 and 10 July 2008 in the backwaters of Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...

. The second schedule of shooting (depicting summer) took place at Chavara and Sasthankotta near Kollam
Kollam
Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

 during September 2008. The third and final schedule (depicting winter) took place at Kundapura near Mookambika
Mookambika
The Mookambika Devi Temple of Kollur, dedicated to Mookambika Devi, is one of the most prominent shrines for people in the state of Karnataka and Kerala, India. Located at a distance of 147 km from Mangalore in the picturesque surroundings presented by the banks of the river Sauparnika and...

 during December 2008.

Awards

In the 57th National Film Awards
57th National Film Awards
The 57th National Film Awards is presented to the best of Indian Cinema released during the year 2009.Couple of new awards has been introduced for Location Sound Recordist and Sound Designer in the Audiography category, for Background Score in addition to the existing award for Best Music Direction...

, Kutty Srank emerged the biggest winner with five awards, including the one for Best Film. Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

, who played the lead role of the film, was amongst the two finalists for the award for best actor
National Film Award for Best Actor
The National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...

. However, he lost the award to Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

. The awards received by the film are
  • National Film Award for Best Film
    National Film Award for Best Film
    The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...

    : Reliance Big Pictures (producer), Shaji N. Karun
    Shaji N. Karun
    Shaji Neelakantan Karun is a National Award-winning Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi won the Caméra d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival...

     (director)
  • National Film Award for Best Screenplay
    National Film Award for Best Screenplay
    The National Film Award for Best Screenplay winners:-References:...

     (Original): P.F. Mathews & Harikrishna
  • National Film Award for Best Cinematography
    National Film Award for Best Cinematography
    The National Film Award for Best Cinematography are given annually. The only female who has won this award is Anjuli Shukla, who won the award for her debut film, Kutty Srank . The most time winners are Santosh Sivan & K.K. Mahajan - 4 awards each for best cinematography category....

    : Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla is a national award winning Indian cinematographer.She is the first woman camera person in India to win the National Film Award for Best Cinematography...

     (camera), Adlabs Films Ltd. (processing laboratory)
  • National Film Award for Best Costume Design
    National Film Award for Best Costume Design
    The National Film Award for Best Costume Design winners:...

    : Jayakumar
  • Special Jury Award (Feature Film): Sreekar Prasad (editing)

Film festivals in which the film was screened

  • Montreal World Film Festival
    Montreal World Film Festival
    The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...

    , 2009
  • Pusan International Film Festival
    Pusan International Film Festival
    Busan International Film Festival , held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan , South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia...

    , 2009
  • Mumbai International Film Festival, 2009
  • International Film Festival of India
    International Film Festival of India
    The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...

    , 2009
  • Dubai International Film Festival
    Dubai International Film Festival
    The Dubai International Film Festival is an international film festival based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched in 2004, it aims to foster the growth of filmmaking in the Arab world.-Overview:...

    , 2009

Music

The background score and songs were composed by Isaac Thomas Kottakapally. The soundtrack features 8 songs, including one sung by Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

. The lyrics were penned by S. Ramesan Nair. The music and lyrics used for the Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam is a highly colorful Christian classical art form originated in Gothuruth village, Kerala state in India. It is noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the rhythmic playback...

 were sourced from Father Joseph who has been doing research on the subject for quite some time. The lyrics are believed to have been written by a priest in Velakanni and that is why there are a lot of Tamil words. Most of the songs were choreographed by the Asans of Yore.

Tracklisting
  1. "Oru Minnaminni" (performed by Jassie Gift
    Jassie Gift
    Jassie Gift is a Malayalam film music composer and singer from Thiruvananthapuram, India. He became famous after his song "Lajjavathiye" in the film 4 the people.-Biography:...

    , Devanand, Pradeep Palluruthy
    Pradeep Palluruthy
    Pradeep Palluruthy is a noted Malayalam singer. He is from Cochin and is a bit hit in the Malayalam film industry.-References:...

    )
  2. "Aarandum Koorukutti" (performed by Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

    , Basheer
    )
  3. "Rajadambathimaar" (performed by Ramesh)
  4. "Maga Chandira" (performed by Rajalakshmi, Ramesh)
  5. "Neshamana" (performed by Ramesh, Basheer)
  6. "Kattiyakkaran" (performed by Basheer)
  7. "Ivalaarivalaar" (performed by Ramesh)
  8. "Thangameyyole" (performed by Rajalakshmi, Ramesh)

External links


Kutty Srank (The Sailor of Hearts; ) is a 2009 Indian film directed by Shaji N. Karun
Shaji N. Karun
Shaji Neelakantan Karun is a National Award-winning Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi won the Caméra d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival...

. Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

 played the title role for the film. The film was produced by Reliance Entertainment under the banner of Big Motion Pictures, the first ever production by Anil Ambani
Anil Ambani
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is an Indian-Gujarati business baron and chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest private conglomerates. Anil's elder brother, Mukesh Ambani, is worth more than 29 billion dollars, and owns another company called Reliance Industries...

's newly launched entertainment concern in Malayalam. The film was released at the theatres of Kerala on 23 July 2010.

Plot

Kutty Srank (translated as junior boat captain in Malayalam) is a film about a mariner who operates a cargo vessel near the sea port of Kodungalloor near Kochi, once a roaring port town in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

.

One day, the local police station discovers an unidentified body that has washed ashore. A Budhist nun (Revamma) comes forward to claim that she can identify the rotten body, and she recognises it as that of one kutti Srank. Police enquire her relationhip with kutti Srank. Meanwhile, another woman (Pemenna) too claims to recognize the dead man. Both women assure the investigators that the body is that of kutti Srank. Finally a mute woman (Kali) joins them and seeks permission to see the corpse. She, however, rejects the claim made by the other women and argues that the body is not that of kutti Srank. Pemmanna identifies Kali and tells Revamma that Kali is kutti Srank’s wife. Eventually each woman shares her acquaintance and relation with kutti Srank. Kutty Srank ultimately leaves behind a story of a man who convinced three very different women that he was a committed and faithful husband while successfully keeping his relation with the other two women a secret.

Script

The film is structurally divided into four different settings, three of which are set in north, mid and south Kerala, respectively. The fourth is a hyper-link set in a police station. The script featured various visual and thematic elements to delineate the three primary sub-plots in both spatial and temporal dimensions, connected through the protagonist. The major devices used for achieving this separation were moods and emotions expressed by the character, (psychological) nature of female protagonists, time-period, geographical locations, religious & social landscapes and seasons. The below table summarizes the different themes associated with each of the women. (Unreported or unverified entries of the table are kept blank.)
Actress Kamalinee Mukherjee Padmapriya Meenakumari
Character Name Pemmena Revamma Kali
Geographical Location of the story Kochi Malabar Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

Season monsoon summer winter
Time Period/Era unspecified 1950 Mid 1950s

Cast

  • Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

     as Kutty Srank
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....

     as Pemenna
  • Padmapriya as Revamma
  • Meena Kumari as Kali
  • Wahiida as Nalini
  • Suresh Krishna
    Suresh Krishna (actor)
    Suresh Krishna is a Malayali film actor, known for his negative and character roles. He is noted for his strong characters in Manju Poloru Penkutti, Christian Brothers, Pazhassi Raja and Kutty Srank...

     as Loni Ashan
  • Saikumar as Unnithan
  • Siddique
    Siddique (actor)
    Siddique is a Malayalam film actor, producer, and television compere. He started his film career doing comedy roles and later performed in a variety of roles.-Early career:...

     as Fr. Jonas
  • P. Sreekumar as Paskal
  • Satheesh Chandra as Mooppan
  • Amit as Joppan
  • Maya Viswanath as Madhavi
  • Padma kumar as Neelan
  • Gaurav Moudgill as Prasanna
  • M. A. Balachandran as Karan
  • Gopalakrishnan as Appunni
  • Valsala Menon as Paru
  • Nanda lal as Vishnu

Crew opinion

  • Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

    , who plays the title role of Kutty Srank in the film, said "I am really excited because I will be playing three different characters but not three different roles. It is going to be a challenge for me because the basic nature of all the three characters is the same but there are different behavioural patterns and mannerisms based on what the three women say."
  • Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee
    Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as in a few Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada language films....

     on her character Pemmena, stated "All my characters have a certain kind of reserve where sexuality is concerned. The character I am playing hails from a village and she's very raw. Since it's a period film, it gave me a chance to look at this other side which I have never really tried to explore before. She's got a strong sexual nature."
  • Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla is a national award winning Indian cinematographer.She is the first woman camera person in India to win the National Film Award for Best Cinematography...

    , the director of photography, opined "I am told he (Shaji) chose me because he wanted a woman behind the camera to add that feminine perspective to the theme that revolves around the perspectives of three women. The story is woven around three women and their relationships with the protagonist, Kutti Srank, played by Mammmotty. The instances are set in three different moods and seasons.So each one needs an individualistic treatment; at the same time, it should not stand out from the total cohesive structure of the film."

Filming

The film premiered internationally at Montreal International Film festival 2009 and nationally at IFFI, Goa 2009. As the film is involves change in seasons, environmental and climatic changes, the film was shot in three schedules. The first schedule (depicting the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

) was held between 15 June 2008 and 10 July 2008 in the backwaters of Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...

. The second schedule of shooting (depicting summer) took place at Chavara and Sasthankotta near Kollam
Kollam
Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

 during September 2008. The third and final schedule (depicting winter) took place at Kundapura near Mookambika
Mookambika
The Mookambika Devi Temple of Kollur, dedicated to Mookambika Devi, is one of the most prominent shrines for people in the state of Karnataka and Kerala, India. Located at a distance of 147 km from Mangalore in the picturesque surroundings presented by the banks of the river Sauparnika and...

 during December 2008.

Awards

In the 57th National Film Awards
57th National Film Awards
The 57th National Film Awards is presented to the best of Indian Cinema released during the year 2009.Couple of new awards has been introduced for Location Sound Recordist and Sound Designer in the Audiography category, for Background Score in addition to the existing award for Best Music Direction...

, Kutty Srank emerged the biggest winner with five awards, including the one for Best Film. Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

, who played the lead role of the film, was amongst the two finalists for the award for best actor
National Film Award for Best Actor
The National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...

. However, he lost the award to Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

. The awards received by the film are
  • National Film Award for Best Film
    National Film Award for Best Film
    The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...

    : Reliance Big Pictures (producer), Shaji N. Karun
    Shaji N. Karun
    Shaji Neelakantan Karun is a National Award-winning Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi won the Caméra d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival...

     (director)
  • National Film Award for Best Screenplay
    National Film Award for Best Screenplay
    The National Film Award for Best Screenplay winners:-References:...

     (Original): P.F. Mathews & Harikrishna
  • National Film Award for Best Cinematography
    National Film Award for Best Cinematography
    The National Film Award for Best Cinematography are given annually. The only female who has won this award is Anjuli Shukla, who won the award for her debut film, Kutty Srank . The most time winners are Santosh Sivan & K.K. Mahajan - 4 awards each for best cinematography category....

    : Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla
    Anjuli Shukla is a national award winning Indian cinematographer.She is the first woman camera person in India to win the National Film Award for Best Cinematography...

     (camera), Adlabs Films Ltd. (processing laboratory)
  • National Film Award for Best Costume Design
    National Film Award for Best Costume Design
    The National Film Award for Best Costume Design winners:...

    : Jayakumar
  • Special Jury Award (Feature Film): Sreekar Prasad (editing)

Film festivals in which the film was screened

  • Montreal World Film Festival
    Montreal World Film Festival
    The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...

    , 2009
  • Pusan International Film Festival
    Pusan International Film Festival
    Busan International Film Festival , held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan , South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia...

    , 2009
  • Mumbai International Film Festival, 2009
  • International Film Festival of India
    International Film Festival of India
    The International Film Festival of India , founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually in the beach town of Goa, in the Western Coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of...

    , 2009
  • Dubai International Film Festival
    Dubai International Film Festival
    The Dubai International Film Festival is an international film festival based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched in 2004, it aims to foster the growth of filmmaking in the Arab world.-Overview:...

    , 2009

Music

The background score and songs were composed by Isaac Thomas Kottakapally. The soundtrack features 8 songs, including one sung by Mammootty
Mammootty
Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

. The lyrics were penned by S. Ramesan Nair. The music and lyrics used for the Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam is a highly colorful Christian classical art form originated in Gothuruth village, Kerala state in India. It is noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the rhythmic playback...

 were sourced from Father Joseph who has been doing research on the subject for quite some time. The lyrics are believed to have been written by a priest in Velakanni and that is why there are a lot of Tamil words. Most of the songs were choreographed by the Asans of Yore.

Tracklisting
  1. "Oru Minnaminni" (performed by Jassie Gift
    Jassie Gift
    Jassie Gift is a Malayalam film music composer and singer from Thiruvananthapuram, India. He became famous after his song "Lajjavathiye" in the film 4 the people.-Biography:...

    , Devanand, Pradeep Palluruthy
    Pradeep Palluruthy
    Pradeep Palluruthy is a noted Malayalam singer. He is from Cochin and is a bit hit in the Malayalam film industry.-References:...

    )
  2. "Aarandum Koorukutti" (performed by Mammootty
    Mammootty
    Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

    , Basheer
    )
  3. "Rajadambathimaar" (performed by Ramesh)
  4. "Maga Chandira" (performed by Rajalakshmi, Ramesh)
  5. "Neshamana" (performed by Ramesh, Basheer)
  6. "Kattiyakkaran" (performed by Basheer)
  7. "Ivalaarivalaar" (performed by Ramesh)
  8. "Thangameyyole" (performed by Rajalakshmi, Ramesh)

External links

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