Poochakkoru Mookkuthi
Encyclopedia
Poochakkoru Mookkuthi is a 1984 screwball comedy
Malayalam film
written and directed by Priyadarshan
, with the story adapted from Charles Dickens
's play
The Strange Gentleman. The film features an ensemble cast
featuring Mohanlal
, Shankar
, Menaka
, M G Soman, Nedumudi Venu
, C.I. Paul, Sukumari
, Baiju, Jagathy Sreekumar
, Kuthiravattam Pappu
, and Sreenivasan.
The film, released in 1984, was the debut of Indian director Priyadarshan
. Poochakkoru Mookkuthi brought together Mohanlal
and Priyadarshan for the first time. Singer M. G. Sreekumar
made his debut singing the title song of this movie.
) comes to the city from a small town in search of job and to have a good life and as it is with everyone her problem starts with finding a house. Shyam (Shankar
) loves to become a popular singer. His parents are dead against his will. So he runs away from home and needs a shelter.
Revathi accidentally meets Shyam who too is in search of a house through the common Milkboy, Chikku (Baiju). Chikku offers them both a house to rent if they are ready to pose as husband and wife in front of the landlord.
Supran (Poojapura Ravi), a miserly moneylender who doesn't trust his much younger wife Kousalya (Thodupuzha Vasanthi) is their landlord.
Revathi in search of a job meets Ravunni Menon (Nedumudi Venu
), a rich man who owns a bungalow in the heart of the city. Ravunni Menon stays with his wife whose name too is Revathi (Sukumari
).
Gopalakrishnan (Mohanlal
) needs some investment to come up in business and life. But to get started, he ends having to rob his stingy father (Sankaradi
) of money that the latter had hidden away out of sight of tax authorities. He is in search of a rich woman he can marry. Accidentally Revathi meets Gopalakrishnan who has come to Ravunni Menon's house to repair the electronic equipment, which he had sold to him. Gopalakrishnan thinks that Revathi is Ravunni Menon's daughter and her beauty enchants him. Revathi comes to know that there is a job in Gopalakrishnan's showroom and manages to get a job with him by playing along with his mistaken belief that she is Ravunni Menon's wife. She is aided in this subterfuge by the fact that she shares the same name as Ravunni Menon's wife and all of his business interests are named after 'Revathi'.
After office hours, Gopalakrishnan drops Revathi outside Ravunni Menon's house, thinking it to be her house. She always enters the bungalow through the front gate and skips out through the gate itself after hiding in the garden until Gopalakrishnan drives away. Ravunni Menon's wife, Revathi, sees her coming and going out of the bungalow and starts suspecting her husband of an affair. Gopalakrishnan frequently visits the bungalow to visit Revathi, who is never there, and Ravunni Menon thinks his wife is having an affair with Gopalakrishnan. Further her encounter with 'Thenga' Govindan Pillai (C.I.Paul) makes the older Revathi believe that her husband has sons and daughters out of wedlock and, thus, quite capable of another affair now.
Shyam in the meantime begins falling in love with Revathi and to make her jealous, he pretends that he is attracted to Kousalya, who in turn thinks this to be true and is ready to elope with him after robbing her miser husband.
Pappu plays the memorable role of a completely unrelated character who ends up playing a role of his own ("Cherian Nair") and providing some of the best comic relief of the film.
What ensues is a comedy-drama about the different roles that people play in life.
with lyrics by Chunakkara Ramankutty.
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
Malayalam film
Malayalam cinema
The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...
written and directed by Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...
, with the story adapted from Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
's play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
The Strange Gentleman. The film features an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
featuring Mohanlal
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
, Shankar
Shankar (actor)
Shankar Panikkar, popularly known as Shankar is an Indian film actor and director. He was one of the prominent lead actors of Malayalam cinema during the 1980s.- As an Actor :...
, Menaka
Menaka (actress)
Menaka is an Indian film actress. In her short film career 1980-86, Menaka acted in 116 films, mostly in Malayalam. She also did a few movies in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. She has worked with many leading actors of the time, including the late Prem Nazir, Soman and Sukumaran. She has also acted...
, M G Soman, Nedumudi Venu
Nedumudi Venu
Nedumudi Venu is a popular Malayalam film actor from Kerala, India. He has also written screenplays and has directed one film.- Early life :...
, C.I. Paul, Sukumari
Sukumari
Sukumari is an Indian film actress who has primarily acted in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has been acting since she was 10 years old and has acted in various roles. The total number of her films is presumed to be about two-thousand. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of...
, Baiju, Jagathy Sreekumar
Jagathy Sreekumar
Sreekumar Achary, better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar, is an Indian film actor who has performed in more than 1,000 Malayalam films. He has also directed two films and has written screenplays for two films...
, Kuthiravattam Pappu
Kuthiravattam Pappu
Kuthiravattam 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...
, and Sreenivasan.
The film, released in 1984, was the debut of Indian director Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...
. Poochakkoru Mookkuthi brought together Mohanlal
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
and Priyadarshan for the first time. Singer M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has...
made his debut singing the title song of this movie.
Plot
Revathi (MenakaMenaka (actress)
Menaka is an Indian film actress. In her short film career 1980-86, Menaka acted in 116 films, mostly in Malayalam. She also did a few movies in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. She has worked with many leading actors of the time, including the late Prem Nazir, Soman and Sukumaran. She has also acted...
) comes to the city from a small town in search of job and to have a good life and as it is with everyone her problem starts with finding a house. Shyam (Shankar
Shankar (actor)
Shankar Panikkar, popularly known as Shankar is an Indian film actor and director. He was one of the prominent lead actors of Malayalam cinema during the 1980s.- As an Actor :...
) loves to become a popular singer. His parents are dead against his will. So he runs away from home and needs a shelter.
Revathi accidentally meets Shyam who too is in search of a house through the common Milkboy, Chikku (Baiju). Chikku offers them both a house to rent if they are ready to pose as husband and wife in front of the landlord.
Supran (Poojapura Ravi), a miserly moneylender who doesn't trust his much younger wife Kousalya (Thodupuzha Vasanthi) is their landlord.
Revathi in search of a job meets Ravunni Menon (Nedumudi Venu
Nedumudi Venu
Nedumudi Venu is a popular Malayalam film actor from Kerala, India. He has also written screenplays and has directed one film.- Early life :...
), a rich man who owns a bungalow in the heart of the city. Ravunni Menon stays with his wife whose name too is Revathi (Sukumari
Sukumari
Sukumari is an Indian film actress who has primarily acted in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has been acting since she was 10 years old and has acted in various roles. The total number of her films is presumed to be about two-thousand. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of...
).
Gopalakrishnan (Mohanlal
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
) needs some investment to come up in business and life. But to get started, he ends having to rob his stingy father (Sankaradi
Sankaradi
Sankaradi was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artiste, who had over 700 Malayalam films to his credit....
) of money that the latter had hidden away out of sight of tax authorities. He is in search of a rich woman he can marry. Accidentally Revathi meets Gopalakrishnan who has come to Ravunni Menon's house to repair the electronic equipment, which he had sold to him. Gopalakrishnan thinks that Revathi is Ravunni Menon's daughter and her beauty enchants him. Revathi comes to know that there is a job in Gopalakrishnan's showroom and manages to get a job with him by playing along with his mistaken belief that she is Ravunni Menon's wife. She is aided in this subterfuge by the fact that she shares the same name as Ravunni Menon's wife and all of his business interests are named after 'Revathi'.
After office hours, Gopalakrishnan drops Revathi outside Ravunni Menon's house, thinking it to be her house. She always enters the bungalow through the front gate and skips out through the gate itself after hiding in the garden until Gopalakrishnan drives away. Ravunni Menon's wife, Revathi, sees her coming and going out of the bungalow and starts suspecting her husband of an affair. Gopalakrishnan frequently visits the bungalow to visit Revathi, who is never there, and Ravunni Menon thinks his wife is having an affair with Gopalakrishnan. Further her encounter with 'Thenga' Govindan Pillai (C.I.Paul) makes the older Revathi believe that her husband has sons and daughters out of wedlock and, thus, quite capable of another affair now.
Shyam in the meantime begins falling in love with Revathi and to make her jealous, he pretends that he is attracted to Kousalya, who in turn thinks this to be true and is ready to elope with him after robbing her miser husband.
Pappu plays the memorable role of a completely unrelated character who ends up playing a role of his own ("Cherian Nair") and providing some of the best comic relief of the film.
What ensues is a comedy-drama about the different roles that people play in life.
Cast
- MohanlalMohanlalMohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
as Gopalakrishnan - ShankarShankar (actor)Shankar Panikkar, popularly known as Shankar is an Indian film actor and director. He was one of the prominent lead actors of Malayalam cinema during the 1980s.- As an Actor :...
as Shyam - MenakaMenaka (actress)Menaka is an Indian film actress. In her short film career 1980-86, Menaka acted in 116 films, mostly in Malayalam. She also did a few movies in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. She has worked with many leading actors of the time, including the late Prem Nazir, Soman and Sukumaran. She has also acted...
as Revathi - Nedumudi VenuNedumudi VenuNedumudi Venu is a popular Malayalam film actor from Kerala, India. He has also written screenplays and has directed one film.- Early life :...
as Ravunni Menon - SukumariSukumariSukumari is an Indian film actress who has primarily acted in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has been acting since she was 10 years old and has acted in various roles. The total number of her films is presumed to be about two-thousand. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of...
as Revathi - M. G. SomanM. G. SomanM. G. Soman was an actor in Malayalam film. He was considered to be one of the superstars in Malayalam cinema along with Sukumaran and Jayan during the 1970s. He was born in Tiruvalla, Travancore...
as Hari - Baiju as Chikku
- SankaradiSankaradiSankaradi was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artiste, who had over 700 Malayalam films to his credit....
as Adv. Sankaran Kutty - JagathyJagathyJagathy is a place in the district of Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India....
as Chellappan - 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 Kuttan - Pujappura Ravi as Supran
- C.I. PaulC.I. PaulC. I. Paul was a Malayalam film and television actor.He was a member of the working party led by Fr. Vadakkan and came to acting through the famous dramas by V. L. Jose. He was well appreciated for his performance in Kalanilayam dramas....
as 'Thenga' Govinda Pillai - Sreenivasan as Narayanan
- Mala AravindanMala AravindanMala Aravindan is a Malayalam film actor.- Biography :He was born in Kerala, India as the eldest son of Ayyappan, an Excise department employee and Ponnamma, a school teacher. Later, he relocated to Mala and started using the place name along with his name....
as 'Shakthi' Raghavan Pillai - Santhakumari as Kalyani
- Thodupuzha Vasanthi as Kousalya
- V.D. Rajappan as Keshu Pillai
Soundtrack
The songs were composed by M. G. RadhakrishnanM. G. Radhakrishnan
M. G. Radhakrishnan was a senior music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala. He is highly regarded as one of the most successful light music and film music composer in Malayalam.- Personal life :M. G...
with lyrics by Chunakkara Ramankutty.
| Track | Song | Artist(s) | Raga Raga A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poochakkoru Mookkuthi | 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,... |
|
| 2 | Kannane Kandu Sakhi | M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has... |
Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is the 56th melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chāmaram in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub... |
| 3 | Oru Mridhu Mozhiyaay | M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has... , P. Susheeladevi |
Mohanam Mohanam Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is an audava rāgam . It is a janya rāgam , as it does not have all the seven swaras .The equivalent of Mohanam in Hindustani music is Bhoop Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an audava rāgam (or... |
| 4 | Panineerumaanam | M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has... |