Swati Mutyam

Swati Mutyam
Poster
Directed by K. Viswanath
Produced by Edida Nageshwara Rao
Written by Sainath Thotapalli (dialogues)
Akella (dialogues)
Screenplay by K. Viswanath
Story by K. Viswanath
Starring Kamal Haasan
Raadhika
Music by Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography M. V. Raghu
Edited by G. G. Krishna Rao
Production
company
Poornodaya Movie Creations
Distributed by Sri Venkata Krishna Films
Ramana Movies
Release date
  • 27 March 1986 (1986-03-27) (India)
Running time
 2 hrs 40 min
Country India
Language Telugu

Swati Mutyam (English: The White Pearl) is a 1986 Telugu-language drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath, and produced by Edida Nageshwara Rao.[1] The film stars Kamal Haasan and Raadhika in the lead roles, with soundtrack and background score by Ilaiyaraaja.[2] Swati Mutyam depicts the plight of a young widow who is rescued by an autistic man. The cult classic was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1986, but was not nominated.[3][4]

Swati Mutyam was a box office success.[4] The film was screened at the Moscow Film Festival, the Asian and African film festival in Tashkent, the 11th International Film Festival of India in the inaugural mainstream section, and the Asia Pacific Film Festival where it won awards for "Best Film" and "Best Actor" categories.[5][1][6][7] The film received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film, and the Filmfare South Award for Best Direction. The film was later dubbed into Tamil as Sippikkul Muthu. Upon its success, the film was later remade in Hindi as Eeshwar and in Kannada as Swathi Muthu.[8] The 2003 Bollywood film Koi... Mil Gaya was inspired by Swati Mutyam.[9][10]

Plot

Shivaiah (Kamal Haasan), an autistic orphan, lives along with his grandmother (Nirmalamma) in a village. In that village, Lalitha (Raadhika), a young widow with a 5-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.

Shivaiah often encounters Lalitha and gets appalled by her condition. One day, during Sri Rama Navami festival, Shivaiah marries Lalitha, shocking all the villagers. His grandmother 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, Shivaiah's grandmother dies leaving innocent Shivaiah 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 Shivaiah understand the household duties and responsibilities of a man. Shivaiah 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, Shivaiah 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

Production

Arun Kumar and Venkatesh were the production designers for the film.[8][5] The film was shot for nearly 70 days near the shores of Rajamundry, Torredu, Tadikonda, Pattiseema, Chennai and Mysore.[8][5] Allu Arjun did a small role of one of the grandsons of Kamal Haasan.[11]

The scene where Kamal pretends to dance like someone who does not know to dance, took so many days to get it rightly wrong.[12]

Soundtrack

Swati Mutyam
Soundtrack album by Ilaiyaraaja
Released 1986
Language Telugu
Producer Edida Nageshwara Rao

All music composed by Ilayaraja.

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Chinnari Ponnari Kittayya!"AatreyaS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki 
2."Dharmam Sharanam Gacchaami"AatreyaS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. P. Sailaja 
3."Laali Laali"C. NarayanareddyP. Susheela 
4."Manasu Palike"Sirivennela SitaramasastriS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki 
5."Pattuseera Testanani"AatreyaS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. P. Sailaja 
6."Raama, Kanavemiraa!" (harikatha)C. NarayanareddyS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S.P. Sailaja 
7."Suvvi Suvvi!"C. NarayanareddyS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki 

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)."[13]

Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
1986 Kasinathuni Viswanath National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu Won
Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - Swarna (Golden) Nandi Won
Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu Won
Kamal Haasan Nandi Award for Best Actor Won

Remakes

YearFilmLanguageCast
1989EeshwarHindiAnil Kapoor, Vijayshanti
2003Swathi MuthuKannadaSudeep, Meena

References

  1. 1 2 "Phalke nomination". 17 March 2012 – via The Hindu.
  2. ↑ admin (13 March 2016). "30 Years: Swathi Muthyam...Priceless Pearl".
  3. ↑ TNN 29 Mar 2012, 05.20PM IST (2012-03-29). "K Viswanath's film at the Oscars " (Press release). The Times of India. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  4. 1 2 "Frame by frame". 8 August 2009 – via The Hindu.
  5. 1 2 3 "Swati Mutyam: 30 Years & Still a Classic — Telugu360". 15 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Bureau, Bangalore (21 December 2012). "Festival of world cinema begins Bollywood style" – via The Hindu.
  7. ↑ "Kamal Haasan". Bharatwaves.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
  8. 1 2 3 Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (29 July 2012). "Poster boy" – via The Hindu.
  9. ↑ "IndiaGlitz — They copied it from us : Kamal Haasan [Interview] - Telugu Movie News".
  10. ↑ Krishnamoorthy, Suresh (24 May 2015). "Kamal Haasan to act in a Telugu movie after 20 years" – via The Hindu.
  11. ↑ "Fans remember Bunny's 'Swathi Muthyam' stint - Telugu Movie News - IndiaGlitz.com". IndiaGlitz.com. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  12. ↑ Shivakumar, S. (2016-06-23). "Playing the cold-hearted". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  13. ↑ "Southern Lights: Two Shots, Two Songs - Film Companion". Film Companion. 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
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