Swathi Muthyam

Swathi Muthyam (Template:Translation) is a 1986 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath and produced by Edida Nageswara Rao.<ref name="Phalke nomination">Template:Cite news</ref> The film stars Kamal Haasan and Radhika, while Gollapudi Maruti Rao, J. V. Somayajulu, Nirmalamma, Sarath Babu, and Y. Vijaya play supporting roles. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Swathi Muthyam depicts the plight of a young widow who is rescued by an autistic man.

Swathi Muthyam was a box office success and attained cult status.<ref name="Frame by frame" /> The film was screened at the Moscow Film Festival, the Asian and African film festival in Tashkent, the 11th IFFI in the inaugural mainstream section.<ref name="Phalke nomination" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The film received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, three Nandi Awards and the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. The film was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1986, but was not nominated.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref name="Frame by frame">Template:Cite news</ref> It is currently the only Telugu film to be selected as the Indian Oscar submission.

The film was later dubbed into Tamil as Sippikkul Muthu, released on October 2, 1986. Upon its success, Viswanath directed its Hindi version Eeshwar (1989) and in Kannada it was remade as Swathi Muthu (2003).<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Plot

Sivayya (Kamal Haasan) is an innocent orphan with a brain injury resulting in low intellectual function. He lives along with his grandmother (Nirmalamma) in a village. In that village, Lalitha (Radhika), a young widow with a five-year-old son, lives along with her brother Chalapati's (Sarath Babu) family. She and her son often get abused by her sister-in-law (Y. Vijaya), but Lalitha, having nowhere to go, bears it all.

Sivayya often encounters Lalitha and gets appalled by her condition. One day, during Sri Rama Navami festival, Sivayya marries Lalitha, shocking all the villagers. His grandmother (Nirmalamma) approves of his marriage as she also has much sympathy and regard for Lalitha, but his uncle and Orthodox villagers oppose that marriage as they consider remarriage of a widow as a sin. In that brawl, Sivayya's grandmother dies, leaving innocent Sivayya in the hands of Lalitha. Lalitha moves in with her husband with the blessings of her brother.

Some of the villagers help them to build a new life. Gradually, Lalitha makes Sivayya understand the household duties and responsibilities of a man. Sivayya finds work and starts to support his wife and stepson. Later they have a son and live happily for a long time. Years pass, and Lalitha becomes ill and dies in her husband's arms. In the climax, Sivayya walks out of his house surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He carries a tulsi plant, which was his memory of Lalitha's love.

Cast

• Kamal Haasan as Sivayya
• Radhika as Lalitha
• Gollapudi Maruthi Rao as Landlord
• J. V. Somayajulu as Lalita's guru
• Nirmalamma as Sivayya's grandmother
• Master Karthik as Balasubrahmanyam, Lalita's first son, whom later adopted or accepted by Sivayya after their marriage
• Sarath Babu as Chalapati, Lalita's brother
• Y. Vijaya as Lalita's sister-in-law
• Allu Arjun as Sivayya's grandson
• Major Sundarrajan as Rao
• Deepa
• Dubbing Janaki as Rajyam
• Mallikarjuna Rao
• Suthi Veerabhadra Rao as Guruvaya
• Edida Sriram
• Master Ali

Production

Arun Kumar and Venkatesh were the production designers for the film.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="telugu360.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The film was shot for nearly 70 days near the shores of Rajahmundry, Torredu, Tadikonda, Pattiseema, Chennai, and Mysore.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="telugu360.com"/> Allu Arjun did a small role as one of the grandsons of Kamal Haasan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The scene where Haasan dances like someone who cannot dance took so many days to get it "rightly wrong", as Haasan is a seasoned dancer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Initially, the team had approached actress Sridevi for the role of Lalitha, but she declined due to a packed shooting schedule, as she was continuously working in Bollywood.

Soundtrack

{{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=soundtrackSwathi MuthyamIlaiyaraaja1986Feature film soundtrackTeluguIlaiyaraajax|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Track listing

Reception

Baradwaj Rangan said in 2017, "K. Viswanath, this year's recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, made three films with Kamal Haasan. Sagara Sangamam is the best, Subha Sankalpam the weakest – and between these two films, chronologically and quality-wise, lies Swathi Muthyam (White Pearl)."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reviewing the Tamil dubbed version Sippikul Muthu, Jayamanmadhan of Kalki wrote that even if it seems like an aimless story that started somewhere and suddenly stopped, the reality is that we have connected with the story until it happened.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Accolades

Award / Film festival	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Template:Abbr
National Film Awards	September 1987	Best Feature Film in Telugu	Producer: Edida Nageswara Rao Director: K. Viswanath	Template:Won	<ref name="34thaward">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Nandi Awards	1987	Best Feature Film - Gold	Producer: Edida Nageswara Rao	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Best Actor	Kamal Haasan	Template:Won
		Best Director	K. Viswanath	Template:Won
Filmfare Awards South	9 August 1987	Best Director	K. Viswanath	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Remakes

Year	Film	Language	Template:Tooltip
1989	Eeshwar	Hindi	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2003	Swathi Muthu	Kannada	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0090109

 | title/{{#if: {{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0090109|2=^tt}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | tt0090109/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345|from=}}
   | title/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D&s=tt
   }}
 }}{{#ifeq: {{#invoke:If any equal|main|Q618779|Q67325957|Q33999|value=Template:Wikidata}} | yes 
     | {{#switch: Template:Wikidata 
       | Q618779 
       | Q67325957  = awards Awards for
       | Q33999  = fullcredits Full cast and crew of
       }}
   | {{#if: Template:Wikidata 
     | {{#switch: Template:Wikidata
       | Q63032896 
       | Q66763446  = fullcredits Full cast and crew of
       | Q107974527 
       | Q482994  = soundtrack Soundtrack of
       }}
     }}
   }} Template:Trim] at {{#if: | IMDb | IMDb }}Template:EditAtWikidata{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb title with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | 3 | description | id | link_hide | qid | quotes | title }}{{#switch: {{#invoke:String2|matchAny|^tt.........|^tt.......|tt|.........|source=0090109|plain=false}}| 1 | 3 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning| 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning}}{{#if: 0090109 {{#property:P345}} || Template:Preview warningTemplate:Main other }}{{#switch: Template:Wikidata 

| Q21191270 | Q21664088 | Q50062923 | Q50914552 | Q99079902 | Q123186929 | Q55422400 | Q61220733 =Template:Preview warning | Q3464665 =Template:Preview warning }}{{#ifeq: Template:Wikidata | Q21191270 |Template:Preview warning }}{{#if: 0090109 | Template:WikidataCheck }}