Avalude Ravukal
5.6 /10 2 Votes
Director I. V. Sasi Release date 1978 (India) Country India | 7/10 Genre Drama Music director A. T. Ummer Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 3 March 1978 (1978-03-03) Based on Avalude Ravukal Pakalukal by Alleppey Sheriff Cast Similar movies Related I V Sasi movies |
Avalude Ravukal (English: Her Nights) is a 1978 Indian Malayalam drama film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by Alleppey Sheriff. The film explores the life of Raji (Seema), a teenage prostitute and those of the people around her. It was the debut film of Seema. Sasi and Kamal Haasan made guest appearances in the film. Upon release, the film received less audience in the first three days but the situation changed in the coming days and it became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.
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Avalude Ravukal is the first Malayalam film to receive an "A" certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification. It is considered as one of the boldest Malayalam films of all time. Sasi, the experimental and the most popular director at that time, tried to highlight a theme which most mainstream directors are scared to get into. The film was dubbed and released in Tamil as Avalin Iravugal and in Hindi as Her Nights were also a commercial success at the box office. It was remade in Kannada as Kamala (1979).

Plot

The story pivots around Raji (Seema), a young prostitute, and three young men in her life: Two college-going youngsters, Babu (Ravikumar), Jayan (Sukumaran) and a school teacher Chandran (Soman).

Raji loses her parents early in her life leaving the responsibility of bringing up her younger brother Sudhakaran (Master Raghu) on her shoulders. Circumstances and her unskilled status force her into a life of a prostitute. She begins living in a slum with (Meenakumari) and a cycle-rickshaw driver Damu (Kuthiravattom Pappu) working as her ���agent��� or pimp.
Babu who stays in a nearby hostel takes a fancy to Raji. Babu becomes a regular customer of hers; she visits him at his place. Babu���s friend Jayan also attempts to approach Raji but possessive Babu doesn't allow this. News spreads about Babu���s relationship with Raji. Raji's brother Sudhakaran has a teacher-student relationship with Chandran. One day a beggar steals Chandran���s wrist watch through an open window. Sudhakaran is arrested by the police, because he is a regular at Chandran's room. He is beaten up by the cops in police custody and Sudhakaran dies from the physical trauma after his release. The real thief is later arrested and Chandran is uneasy about it and whether his judgement resulted in loss of life. From remorse Chandran offers support to Raji, but she refuses to accept it and to forgive him in any manner.
Babus's father Karunakaran (Bahadoor) decides to marry his son to his wife Lakshmi's (Kaviyoor Ponnamma) brother's daughter, Damodaran's (Sankaradi) daughter Radha (Usharani). Karunakaran, Damodaran, and Radha reach Babu���s hostel and are shocked to see Raji in his room. They come to know about Babu���s premarital relations with Raji. Damodaran, ashamed and angered, marries Radha to another successful man.
Jayan, who had a severe drinking problem, dies of liver-related complications. On his death bed he asks Babu to not abandon Raji and emphasizes it with the justification that her love for him is pure, even if its ���impure��� in the eyes of the society. Raji gets gang-raped and Chandran���s timely intervention saves her.
Knowing her son's waywardness Lakshmi comes to the town to meet Babu and eventually Raji. She takes pity on Raji when she comes to know about her past and her son's blind love to her. Lakshmi accepts her as her daughter-in-law and takes her home.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by A. T. Ummer and lyrics were written by Bichu Thirumala. The song Raagendu Kiranangal was a super hit and is today considered an all-time classic. Guna Singh composed the background score.
References
Avalude Ravukal WikipediaAvalude Ravukal IMDb Avalude Ravukal themoviedb.org