Golden jubilee of classic movie to be celebrated in Muscat
May 7: Ace Indian actors Madhu and Sheela, the couple that set yester-years’ silver screens on fire with their magnificent appearance and who shared the screen space in the 1966 legendary movie Chemmeen will be the highlight of its 50th anniversary celebrations scheduled to be held in Muscat, a first-of-itskind outside India.
Come May 13, the fan-followers of this classic movie which marked the arrival of archetypal Indian movies both inside and outside of India will be in for a treat for nearly 3 hours where the icons will share their memories of making the movie as the local artistes enact a fusion of the movie with the help of stage, celluloid and song and dance to the cheering crowd at the majestic Oman auditorium of Al Bustan Palace Hotel.
“It is a historic moment to have the cast and crew of this movie which announced the arrival of class movies in India. We travelled across the country in search of the cast and crew of the movie which was made some 50 years ago and we succeeded in finding most of them who are in their later stage of their lives”, O K Mohammed Ali, the key architect of this mega project, told the Observer.
About the aged hero and heroine’s reaction to the event, Jayakumar Vallikkav of JK Films, an associate of the show, said the ace actors were excited but had apprehensions.
“Madhu and Sheela, the hero and heroine of this one of the first colour films that announced the arrival of this genre, were truly excited about this project but were tad apprehended about not having similar events in their own country. They are eagerly waiting to interact with the Oman audience”, Jayakumar said.
Chemmeen (The Prawn) was based on
Oman auditorium of Al Bustan Palace Hotel to host celebrations of 50th anniversary of Malayalam movie
the novel of the same name by country’s top literary award winner Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and was adapted into a screenplay by S L Puram Sadanandan, and directed by Ramu Kariat.
The film tells the story of a pre-marital and later extra-marital relationship between Karuthamma, the daughter of an ambitious Hindu fisherman, and Pareekutty, the son of a Muslim trader. The theme of the film is a popular legend among the fishermen communities along the coastal Kerala State in southern India regarding chastity. If a married fisher woman was faithless when her husband was out in the sea, the Sea Goddess would consume him.
“Artistes in Oman are given due prominence and as many as 30 artistes will be seen on the stage supporting the event with the help of light and sound to recreate a film which was made in 1950’s”, Riju Ram of Muscat Events said.
Sajan, Rafeeque Valiyakath of Shifa al Jazeera which is the key sponsor of the event were also present at the announcement. The show will be directed by Manjulan, a School of Drama product and entry to the show is by invitation.