Neelakuyil is a 1954Malayalam film jointly directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat. It is a neo-realisticmelodrama and was based on a story written by Uroob who co-wrote the screenplay and dialogues along with P. Bhaskaran. Neelakuyil tells the story of the love affair of a Dalit girl and an educated, high caste school teacher. It stars Sathyan, Miss Kumari, Prema, P. Bhaskaran and Master Vipin. Many of the actors debuted through this film. Neelakuyil was a landmark film in Malayalam cinema history that paved a new path for Malayalam cinema by breaking away from the earlier tradition of adapting plots from Hindi films for making Malayalam films, of which the story or the characters could never be identified with the culture of Kerala. Based on a story by famous Malayalam writer Uroob, Neelakuyil had dialogues with local accent, and the script’s hard-hitting dialogues flay social evils such as untouchability, feudalism, and injustice towards women. It features an acclaimed cinematography by A. Vincent and a successful musical score by K. Raghavan. It won the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film, and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam, thus becoming the first nationally recognized Malayalam film. The lead performances and the narrative style was also noted. Most of its shooting was done outdoors and it captured images of the rural, agrarian Kerala, its vast paddy fields, the life of the peasants and the feudal society.
Plot
The plot revolves around rustic life in a small village. Neeli, a Dalit peasant girl, falls in love with Sreedharan Nair, a school teacher. Neeli becomes pregnant. Sreedharan Nair refuses to marry Neeli as he fears being ostracized by a conservative society. Neeli becomes an outcaste and dies in child birth. Sankaran Nair, the village postman, adopts the child ignoring the protests of society. Sreedharan Nair marries Nalini, a member of an aristocratic family. Neeli’s son Mohan is brought up by the postman. The film ends with Sreedharan Nair and Nalini accepting the boy as their own child.
There are nine songs, scored by K. Raghavan and penned by P. Bhaskaran, in a soundtrack regarded as a milestone in Malayalam film music history. Before Neelakuyil, Malayalam film music was copied from Hindi and Tamil film songs. It was K. Raghavan, making his debut in the film, who introduced Malayali folk music into films. The musical genres utilised included Mappilappattu, Koyithupattu, traditional prayers, romantic melodies, all of which emanated from the folk traditions of Kerala. The songs were choreographed by Guru Gopalakrishnan Kodungallur. The popular songs from the film are "Ellarum Chollanu Ellarum Chollanu" Janamma David, "Kayalarikaathu Vala Erinjappol", "Unarunaroo Unnikanna", "Sarasa Sama Daana Bheda", "Kadalasu Vanchi Eri", "Maanennum Vilikkilla", "Kuyiline Thedi" and "Engane Nee Marakkum Kuyile". The song "Kayalarikaathu Vala Erinjappol" was used in Deepan Sivaraman's stage adaptation of O V Vijayan's magnum opus, Khasakkinte Itihasam.
