Marupakkam

Marupakkam (English: The Other Side) is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. An adaptation of the Tamil novella Uchi Veyyil by Indira Parthasarathy, the film stars Sivakumar, Radha, and Jayabharathi. Its music is composed by L. Vaidyanathan.

Marupakkam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byK. S. Sethumadhavan
Screenplay byK. S. Sethumadhavan
Based onUchi Veyyil
by Indira Parthasarathy
StarringSivakumar
Radha
Jayabharathi
Music byL. Vaidyanathan
CinematographyD. Vasanth Kumar
Edited byG. Venkitaraman
Production
company
Release date
  • 6 March 1992 (1992-03-06) (theatrical)
Running time
85 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget₹14 lakh

At the 38th National Film Awards, Marupakkam won three National Film Awards, including the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film, making it the first Tamil film to win in that category. The film was featured at the International Film Festival of India in 2003 as part of a retrospective tribute to Sethumadhavan.

Plot

Ambi, who lives in Delhi with his Christian wife Sweetie, arrives at Kumbakonam to meet his father Vembu Iyer who recently suffered a stroke and was paralysed after getting a message that Ambi separated from his wife. Ambi, feeling guilty, comes to see his father. A few weeks earlier, Ambi, who married Sweetie, came with her to meet his orthodox Brahmin parents Vembu and Janaki. Vembu insulted Sweetie and, unable to accept it, she decided to return immediately to Delhi and forced Ambi to leave with her. At Delhi, they continued quarrelling over it and finally separated. When Vembu got the news, he was upset and suffered a stroke. In the present, the doctor recognises that there is another side to Vembu's life. His son's separation from his wife reminded him of his separation from his beloved first wife Avayam. Slowy, Ambi understands that his father is longing to see has erstwhile wife, because though paralysed, Vembu keeps tapping his fingers as steps for a dance. Vembu now recollects his past.

Vembu and Avayam loved each other and got married against the wishes of Vembu's mother. While Vembu sang well, Avayam sang and danced well. Both kept enjoying their singing and dancing, which was not liked by Vembu's mother whose husband abandoned her for a dancer many years back. Avayam's continued interest in singing and dancing angered her, and she accused Avayam of behaving like a prostitute. When Avayam protested, Vembu slapped her and threw her out of his house for opposing his mother, whom he respected dearly. Avayam walked out and filed for divorce. In court, Vembu accused her of moral turpitude to justify the divorce petition, which hurt Avayam deeply and they got separated. Though separated, Vembu felt guilty of wrongly accusing Avayam.

Ambi's friend Murthy proposes that Ambi should bring Avayam so that his father can see her once before he dies. However, Janaki refuses. When Vembu's situation deteriorates. the doctor and others feel that his hours are numbered and is awaiting his death. However, Vembu hangs on to life. Murthy comes to know that Avayam Is now a famous dancer named Chitralekha and goes to meet her. In the meanwhile, knowing Vembu's grave condition, Sweetie returns home in traditional attire and seeks forgiveness from Janaki and Vembu. Janaki is happy that her daughter-in-law is back and Vembu is also happy, but still not satisfied. That is when Murthy brings Avayam. Looking at Avayam, Vembu is excited ard feels relieved that she has forgiven him. Avayam holds Vembu's hand tightly, which was tapping all along awaiting her return.

Cast

Production

Development

As a fan of Indira Parthasarathy's stories, Malayalam filmmaker K. S. Sethumadhavan approached him with a desire to adapt his novel Vendhu Tanindha Kaadugal for the screen; Parthasarathy however suggested the novella Uchi Veyil, and Sethumadhavan, who had read the story before, read it again and agreed to make it into a film.[4] The title Uchi Veyil could not be retained due to a different film with the same name already having released in 1990, so Marupakkam was chosen.[5] The film was produced by the National Film Development Corporation of India and Doordarshan,[6] Sethumadhavan, in addition to directing, also wrote the screenplay. Cinematography was handled by D. Vasanth Kumar, and editing by G. Venkitaraman, while the background music was composed by L. Vaidyanathan.[1]

Casting and filming

When offered the role of Vembu Iyer by Sethumadhavan, Sivakumar, who had read the source material, readily accepted as he thought it would be a challenging role. He consulted dentists in deciding for his make-up.[7] Though the story is primarily set in Kumbakonam, the film was shot in Madras.[5] Made on a budget of ₹14 lakh,[8] filming was completed in 14 days.[9]

Awards

Marupakkam won three awards at the 38th National Film Awards which took place in 1991: Golden Lotus Award for Best Film, Silver Lotus Award for Best Screenplay (Sethumadhavan), and Silver Lotus Award for Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Jayabharathi).[1][10] It was the first Tamil film to win the Best Film award.[11] Sivakumar was a strong contender for the National Film Award for Best Actor, but lost to Amitabh Bachchan for Agneepath.[2][12] The film was featured at the International Film Festival of India in 2003 as part of a retrospective tribute to Sethumadhavan.[13]

Reception

Marupakkam was theatrically released on 6 March 1992.[6] N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote the following week, "Sethumadhavan's narration is designed to be impressive. Based on Indira Parthasarathy's novella, the script of Marupakkam tries to be offbeat by withholding information and by cutting back and forth time."[14] The Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, in a review dated 15 March 1992, applauded Marupakkam as a sharply focused film on the subject without any diversion with good editing, superb acting, re-recording at the right places and nice presentation. The reviewer said only Sethumadhavan could translate a simple but meaningful story by Indira Parthasarathy into an amazing film like this, and felt more such films like this must come in Tamil cinema.[15] Another Tamil magazine, Kumudam, called it a "masterpiece" from Sivakumar, and said his career could be divided into two eras: "pre-Marupakkan and post-Marupakkam".[9]

References
  1. "38th National Film Festival 1991". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  2. Bali, Karan (30 November 2017). "Marupakkam". Upperstall.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  3. Dhananjayan 2014, p. 316.
  4. "Quest for change... and an urge to accept challenge". The Indian Express. 18 May 1991. pp. 19, 22.
  5. "The Kumbakonam flavour is very much there". The Indian Express. 18 May 1991. pp. 19, 22.
  6. "Marupakkam (The Other Side)". The Indian Express. 6 March 1992. p. 4.
  7. "Disappointed but not dejected". The Indian Express. 18 May 1991. p. 22.
  8. "சிவகுமார் நடித்த தேசிய விருது பெற்ற படம் – மறுபக்கம்" [Sivakumar acted in a National Award winning film – The Other Side]. Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 17 February 2019. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  9. Dhananjayan 2014, p. 317.
  10. "The other side". The Indian Express. 18 May 1991. p. 19.
  11. Baskaran 2013, p. 164.
  12. "கடைசி நேரத்தில் சிவகுமாருக்கு கைநழுவிய தேசிய விருது" [Sivakumar missed his National Award at the last minute]. Dinamalar (in Tamil). 31 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. "Tribute paid to Veteram film maker Sethumadhavan". Zee News. 10 October 2003. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. Krishnaswamy, N. (13 March 1992). "Marupakkam". The Indian Express. p. 7.
  15. Vikatan Review Board (15 March 1992). "மறுபக்கம்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil).

Bibliography
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