Chanthupottu

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Chanthupottu

The music CD cover
Directed by Lal Jose
Produced by Lal Creations
Starring Dileep,
Gopika,
Lal,
Bhavana,
Indrajith
Music by Vidyasagar
Distributed by Lal Release
Release date(s) 2005
Language Malayalam

Chanthupottu is a 2005 Malayalam film directed by Lal Jose. It is the story of a boy who was brought up like a girl by his grandmother. It stars Dileep and Gopika.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Radhakrishnan (Dileep) is brought up like a girl by his grandmother (Sukumari) who wanted a granddaughter. She calls him Radha, which becomes his petname. Radha's father Divakaran (Lal) goes to jail for a murder that he accidentally commits. Radha is the ridicule among the people in the village but he is not worried and spends time with the girls singing and he also teaches dancing. His best friend is Malu (Gopika) who is wooed by Kumaran (Indrajith) a local money lender and the son of the man whom Radha’s father had killed.

Divakaran comes back from jail and is shocked to see that his only son is a good for nothing transvestite, but can do nothing about it. Slowly Radha’s liking for Malu turns into love and when Kumaran sees it, he beats up Radha with the help of her father (Rajan P. Dev) a local astrologer and dumps him in deep sea. But he is saved by Freddy (Biju Menon). Freddy takes him to the former's native where he is living with his sister Rosa (Bhavana), where he becomes a part of their family. He also discovers the manly element him and starts to transform from his female mannerisms slowly.

Later when he meets someone from his village, Radha comes to know that his parents have been killed by Kumaran and Malu has given birth to his child. How Radha goes back and takes revenge forms the rest of the story.


[edit] Characterisation of Radha

The character of Radhakrishnan, a transvestite man form a family of fishermen is well documented in the film. It shows the boy's grandmother's strong desire for a girl as her grandchild and the frustration of her when a boy is born. She even refuses to see the boy, however when she sees him she accepts the truth. However, that doesn't stop her from bringing up him as a girl child. She even dresses him like a girl and calls him Radha, a feminine name. His parents didn't intervene, probably fearing the wrath of the grandmother. This induces a kind of femininity in him, even his mannerisms closely resembles women. To add to the situation, his father goes to jail leaving Radha to grow up with his femininity and transvestism. He, instead of going for fishing like other men, teaches dance to girls. He is constantly in company with girls, he plays their games and also gets teased by people of the village. He discovers that his deep affection for his childhood friend Malu, is actually love. This is preceded by an attempt by some hooligans (oolanmar, in Radha's terms) to molest him and his mother's advice that loving and marrying a girl would prove his manhood. Malu also is fond of Radha, and they engage in sexual activities. Even that doesn't change his feminine behaviour. Under special circumstances, he reaches another beach, which is more developed and there hoe is exposed to the outer world. He lives with Freddy and Rosa, who consider him as their lost brother. After several attempts by them, he sheds his transvestism but his femininity still hangs on. The film closes with shots of Radha going for fishing, his ancestral job. It is notable that even in the closing shots, Radha keeps his feminine mannerisms, though to a milder range.

The screenwriter Benny P. Nayarambalam was sensible enough to avoid an immediate switchover to a manly Radha, and to portray his gradual transformation to manhood. The director Lal Jose should also be credited for this. He goes into finest details of the character, bringing out his desire for manhood and the constraints that his past lifestyle imposes on himself. The actor who portrayed Radha, Dileep arguably presents the character in the most inimitable way. This role which won the Special Jury Award at the Kerala State Film Awards is another testimonial for his versatility.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Crew

  • Direction: Lal Jose
  • Producer: Lal
  • Writer: Benny P. Nayarambalam
  • Director of Music: Vidyasagar
  • Lyrics: Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma
  • Editing: Ranjan Abraham
  • Director of Photography: Azhakappan
  • Choreography: Sujatha
  • Stunt Director: Thyagarajan
  • Makeup: Pattanam Shah
  • Costume Designer: Manoj Alappuzha
  • Creative Support: Walter Jose
  • Director of Art: Nemom Pushparaj

[edit] References

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