Ezhu Rathrikal

aka Seven Nights 1968 140’ b&w Malayalam d Ramu Kariat p Babu Ismail pc Kammani Films s Kaladi Gopi from his play lyr Vyalar Rama Varma c Kamal Bose m Salil Choudhury lp Alumoodam, Chachhappan, Nellikode Bhaskaran, Govindankutty, Shihaab, J.C. Kuttikkad, Kamalamma, Kamaladevi, Latha, Radhamony, K.R. Rajam, Kothamangalam Ali, Kuttan Pillai, Raghava Menon, Aravindan, Kaduvakulam Anthony

Kariat’s film follows Kaladi Gopi’s play in weaving together a number of melodramatic plots, realist acting conventions and the theatrical device of enclosing disparate characters into a socially ambiguous space. A number of vagabonds and social outcasts shelter every night in a dilapidated house, the dim, municipal light setting the atmosphere for their interactions. Characters include the hypocritical Pashanam Varky who exploits religious bigotry; Maria the street vendor; the ex-con Ikka, an old Muslim who murdered his unfaithful wife and is now searching for his daughter; a blind and victimised young woman; Abu, who went to jail to protect his girlfriend’s father but lost his girl in the process, and the hunchback Paramu, who acts as a metaphor for a crippled but still decent moral universe. In the end, the blind girl turns out to be Ikka’s long-lost daughter, tying up some of the diverse narrative strands designed to give a picture of contemporary social problems.

Film