Kutty Srank

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, once a roaring port town in Kerala.

One day, the local police station discovers an unidentified body that has washed ashore. A Buddhist 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 relationship with kutti Srank. Meanwhile, another Latin Christian 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 share her different acquaintance and relation with kutti Srank.

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.)

Cast

Crew opinion

Filming

The film premiered internationally at Montreal International Film Festival 2009 and nationally at IFFI, Goa 2009. As the film involves change in seasons, environmental and climatic changes, the film was shot in three schedules. The first schedule (depicting the monsoon) was held between 15 June 2008 and 10 July 2008 in the backwaters of Alappuzha. The second schedule of shooting (depicting summer) took place at Chavara and Sasthankotta near Kollam during September 2008. The third and final schedule (depicting winter) took place at Kundapura near Mookambika during December 2008.

Awards

In the 57th National Film Awards, Kutty Srank emerged the biggest winner with five awards, including the one for Best Film. Mammootty, who played the lead role of the film, was amongst the two finalists for the award for best actor. However, he lost the award to Amitabh Bachchan. The awards received by the film are

Film festivals in which the film was screened

Release

The film was released on 23 July 2010 in thirty eight theatres.

Music

The background score and songs were composed by Isaac Thomas Kottakapally. The soundtrack features 8 songs, including one sung by Mammootty. The lyrics were penned by S. Ramesan Nair. The music and lyrics used for the Latin Christian art form of Chavittu Nadakam were sourced from Fr. 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 Velankanni and that is why there are a lot of Tamil words. Most of the songs were choreographed by the Asans of Yore.

Track listing

1. "Oru Minnaminni" (performed by Jassie Gift, Devanand, Pradeep Palluruthy)
2. "Aarandum Koorukutti" (performed by Mammootty, 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)