Thulabharam

1968 152’ b&w Malayalam d A. Vincent p Hari Pothain pc Supriya Pics s Thoppil Bhasi lyr Vyalar Rama Varma c Bhaskar Rao m P. Devarajan lp Prem Nazir, Madhu, Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair, Adoor Bhasi, Nellicode Bhaskaran, Paravoor Bharathan, Thoppil Bhasi, Sheela, Sharada, Adoor Bhawani

Vincent’s political melodrama, based on Bhasi’s play staged by the KPAC, tells of two friends, Vijaya (Sharada) and Vatsala (Sheela), who part ways when Vatsala’s father, a lawyer, causes Vijaya’s father, a businessman, to lose a case which leads to the man’s death. Vijaya is forced to marry the trade unionist Ramu (Nazir) who leads a strike but dies when the strike turns violent. The suffering Vijaya kills her three starving children and is arrested before she can commit suicide. She is sent to the gallows by her former friend Vatsala, now a noted lawyer. The film is the best known of the Vincent/Bhasi? collaborations (cf. Ashwamedham, 1967). It was remade with great success by Madhusudhana Rao in Telugu (Manushulu Marali, 1969) and in Hindi (Samaj Ko Badal Dalo, 1970). All three films featured Sharada, and collectively they represent her best-known screen image.

Film