Neelathamara (2009 film)

Plot

Beena (Amala Paul), a program Producer with NDTV 24x7, is in her ancestral village for a television program. She wants her fiancé (Tony Kattukaran) to meet her grandmother, who has just been discharged from hospital. Beena, the daughter of K.P. Haridas, who died a few years back is not in good terms with her mother Ratnam over her second marriage. Ratnam happens to visit the house at the same time. There she meets Kuttimalu, a middle-age lady, who was once a housemaid in her teenage days. Kuttimalu is welcomed by grandmother with the same warmth that she enjoyed long back, and she says that her daughters are now well settled and are leading a happy lives. Ratnam is also affectionate towards Kuttimalu, who had once had an affair with Haridas.

In the night, while arranging the old books of Haridas, Ratnam comes across the snaps of Kuttimalu, which he had taken in his college days. She hands them over to Kuttimalu, which takes her back to the old days. The story switches to the late 1970s, when Kuttimalu (Archana Kavi) had arrived as a maid with Appukuttan, her cousin and her grandmother. Kuttimalu succeeds in winning the heart of Haridas's mother in no time. She was an innocent village girl who always found fun in sharing secrets with Ammini (Rima Kallingal), a girl of her age.

Ammini informs her about the myth of Neelathamara (blue lotus). According to believers, if they offer a one rupee note at the temple pond and prays deeply to the god, the flower will blossom the next morning and his/her wish will turn into truth. The arrival of Haridas (Kailash), a final-year law student, adds more color to her life. He succeeds in alluring Kuttimalu in a short span, which she believes is real. She fails to understand that it was just fun that Haridas is looking for. Her prayer at the river pond results in blossoming of Neelathamara, which takes her to cloud nine. But news of the engagement of Haridas to Ratnam comes in as a shock, which breaks her down mentally. She slowly realizes that Haridas was never serious in his affair with her and tries to overcome the grief by silently serving Ratnam, his new wife. Ratnam one day comes to know about the affair and, when asked, Haridas replies casually, which makes her go berserk. Ratnam orders Kuttimalu to leave the house' she accepts silently. She is taken home by Appukuttan, whom she married.

Now years have passed and Haridas is no more and both ladies have matured. The film ends with Kuttimalu once again with full heart preparing to take care of the octogenarian mother of Haridas.

Production

Cast

Soundtrack

This film features a successful soundtrack composed by Vidyasagar with lyrics penned by Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma. Vijay Prakash, famous through recent A. R. Rahman songs, was introduced to Malayalam through this film. The track "Anuraga Vilochananayi", sung by Shreya Ghoshal and V.Shreekumar (Shreekumar Vakkiyil), turned out to be one of the most successful songs of the year. It was the chart topper for many continuous weeks.

Vidyasagar won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and Mathrubhumi-Amrita Film Award for Best Music Director, for his work in the film. The track "Anuraga Vilochananayi" won the Most Popular Song of the Year Award at 2009 Vanitha Film Awards.