Shantham

Narayani prays for her murdered son, while the murderers mother, Karthiyayani, is praying her own son wont be killed in retaliation. At the urging of the priests, Narayani decides she will forgive her sons killer.

Contents

• Plot
• Awards
• References

Shantham (Malayalam: ??????, English translation : Calmness) is an award-winning Malayalam feature film directed by Jayaraj. It stars I M Vijayan, a leading Indian football player of modern times, M G Shashi, Seema Biswas and K P A C Lalitha. The renowned Kathakali artiste Kalamandalam Gopi and the Malayalm writer Madambu Kunjukuttan have also starred in the film. It was released in 2001 and won the Swarna Kamal Award for the Best Feature Film in the 48th National Film Awards, 2001. The film was produced by P V Gangadharan. According to the citation of the Award Jury: Shantham addrsses the very contemporary issue of political rivalry and violence in our society in an unusually imaginative way. The language of the film goes beyond the conventional narrative for appeal to calmness and good sense.

The film also received the National Best Supporting Actress Award for K P A C Lalitha.

This is Jayarajs third National Award. In 1996, his film Desadanam, won the award for the Best Malayalam Film and in the next year he was named the Best Director.

Persons on both sides of a bloody political struggle search for grace and forgiveness in this emotional drama. Velayudhan (I M Vijayan) is a young man living in a place torn apart by civil strife. In the midst of a raging street war, he kills his best friend. He was overcome by guilt and remorse for his actions as Narayani (K P A C Lalitha), his friend's mother, tries to hold herself together while she arranges for her son's funeral. Velayudhan's mother Karthiyayani (Seema Biswas) goes to a temple and prays for her son's forgiveness despite his violence and wrongdoing. There she meets Narayani who is stricken with her own feelings of grief over the death of her child.