Bhakta Kuchela

1961 165’ b&w Malayalam

d/p P. Subramanyam?

pc Neela Prod.

s Nagavalli R.S. Kurup

lyr Thirunayanar Kurichi

c N.S. Mani m Brother Lakshmanan

lp Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair, Kottarakkara Sridharan Nair, S.P. Pillai, T.K. Balachandran, Kumari, Ambika, Shanti, Shashi, Kushalakumari, Jose Prakash, Hari, C.S. Kantha Rao, Adoor Pankajam, Vinodhini, Vilasini, Satheesh

The first big mythological by a director who, having put the radicalism of Randidangazhi (1958) behind him, would be increasingly associated with the devotional genre through the 60s (including Biblical themes e.g. Snapaka Yohannan, 1963). Krishna’s childhood friend and devotee, the Brahmin Kuchela, grows up to father 27 children even as he pines to meet his idol. His worship of Krishna causes enmity with King Shishupala. With his several offspring on the verge of starvation, he goes on a pilgrimage to Dwarka, where he meets his friend and master. To his astonishment Krishna sends him away empty-handed, but Kuchela returns home to find that his modest hut has miraculously been turned into a palace. The film did much to establish a bigger-budgeted version of the B-movie mythologicals routinely churned out by studios in Alleppey and Trivandrum.

Film