Manjil Virinja Pookkal

Manjil Virinja Pookkal (transl. Flowers that bloomed in the snow) is a 1980 Indian Malayalam-language romantic thriller film produced by Navodaya Appachan under Navodaya Studio and written and directed by Fazil. It stars Shankar, Poornima Jayaram and Mohanlal. The film features original songs composed by Jerry Amaldev and a score by Guna Singh, cinematography was done by Ashok Kumar.

For the TV series, see Manjil Virinja Poovu.

Manjil Virinja Pookkal
Promotional poster designed by P. N. Menon
Directed byFazil
Produced byNavodaya Appachan
Written byFazil
Starring
Music by
CinematographyAshok Kumar
Edited byT. R. Shekhar
Production
company
Distributed byNavodaya
Release date
  • 25 December 1980 (1980-12-25)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹7 lakh (₹0.7 million)[1]
Box office₹1 crore (₹10 million)[1]

In the film, Prem Kishan (Shankar) arrives at Kodaikanal, where he falls in love with a girl named Prabha (Poornima). But Prabha is already married to Narendran (Mohanlal), a sadistic youngster. Their life gets troublesome when Narendran finds out about their affair. Manjil Virinja Pookkal marks the onscreen debut of Mohanlal, directorial debut of Fazil, and Amaldev's debut as music director.

The film was extensively shot in and around Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. Manjil Virinja Pookkal was released in theatres on 25 December 1980 on Christmas day. Made on a cost of ₹7 lakh (₹0.7 million), the film grossed over ₹1 crore (₹10 million) at the box office. It became one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time. In retrospect, the film is often regarded as the first new generation film in Malayalam cinema. Manjil Virinja Pookkal won six Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value and Best Actress for Poornima.

Plot

The story is about Prem Krishnan (Shankar) coming to the hills of Kodaikkanal on work, meeting and falling in love with Prabha (Poornima Jayaram) whom he knows little about. Later, he realises that she is married when her husband, Narendran (Mohanlal) comes into the picture. Narendran is a sadistic husband. The film ends on a sad note, with Prem Krishnan committing suicide after killing Narendran, saddened by the loss of Prabha, who was killed by Narendran.

Cast

Production

Fazil was one of the members in the creative team of Navodaya Studio's story discussions for their productions. The discussion for Manjil Virinja Pookkal began right after the success of studio's big-budget film Theekkanal starring high-profile actors like Madhu and Prem Nazir. During their discussion, Fazil suggested a low budget film featuring newcomers. The project was greenlit and they hired Fazil himself as the director.[2] Ashok Kumar was selected as the film's cinematographer; his name was suggested by a friend of Fazil.[3] Fazil got the film's title from a chat he had with song lyricist Bichu Thirumala when they were in Alappuzha. Thirumala when returned after a morning walk told Fazil that he saw a flower bloomed in the snow. Fazil found it to be against the laws of nature for flowers to bloom in the snow, because that would prevent spring from coming. He realised that his main characters Prabha and Prem Kishan too suffer the same fate, because spring does not come to their lives, and their love cannot bloom.[4]

Shankar was selected to portray Prem Kishan, the film was his debut in Malayalam cinema; he was already popular among the Tamil speaking audience through the film Oru Thalai Ragam (1980) which ran for 365 days in Tamil Nadu.[5] For the role of Narendran, debutant Mohanlal was selected through an audition. A panel consisting Jijo Punnoose, Fazil, Sibi Malayil, and a director [unknown] was the judges for the screen-test. Sibi Malayil and the other director gave him only five and seven marks out of hundred displeased with his appearance, but Fazil and Punnoose awarded him 90 and 95 marks for his performance. He was ultimately chosen as the antagonist.[2] Mohanlal donated his first salary of ₹2000 to an orphanage near the filming location.[6] The film's second-unit director was Sibi Malayil. Poornima Jayaram made her debut with the film.[7]

The studio hired the United States-based Jerry Amaldev as the music composer, who debuted with it.[8] Amaldev was suggested to Fazil by Punnoose, Fazil recall that, "Jijo of Navodaya had made me listen to a song tuned by a new composer and I immediately liked its orchestration,...I had no idea who Jerry was, but was impressed when Jijo told me that he had assisted legendary composer Naushad in Mumbai. I decided to try him for my debut film, and that was how he became the music director of Manjil Virinja Pookkal".[9] On the thought that "a movie that introduces a new face should be shot using a new camera", Appachan travelled to Germany for buying the "best camera available" at that time. The film was shot using the Arriflex 35 IIC camera.[10] The filming took place mainly in and around Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. The first dialogue of Mohanlal, which begins as "Good Evening Mrs. Prabha Narendran" was shot close to the Astoria Hotel, near Kodaikanal bus-stand.[11]

Soundtrack
Manjil Virinja Pookkal
Soundtrack album by
Jerry Amaldev
Released1 December 1980 (1980-12-01)
Recorded1980
Length44:38
LanguageMalayalam
LabelSaregama
ProducerNavodaya Appachan
Jerry Amaldev chronology
Manjil Virinja Pookkal
(1980)		 Dhanya
(1981)

The evergreen hit songs of this movie was composed by Jerry Amaldev and penned by Bichu Thirumala.[12][13]

All lyrics are written by Bichu Thirumala.

No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Manjani Kombil (Original)"S. Janaki4:10
2."Mizhiyoram (Original)"S. Janaki4:23
3."Mizhiyoram (Original)"K. J. Yesudas4:18
4."Manjadi Kunnil (Original)"K. J. Yesudas, Vani Jairam4:01
5."Manjadi Kunnil Revival (Original)"K. J. Yesudas, Vani Jairam3:52
6."Mizhiyoram Revival (Original)"K. J. Yesudas4:18
7."Manjani Kombil Revival (Original)"S. Janaki3:56
8."Manjani Kombil (Original)"K. J. Yesudas, Vani Jairam3:15
9."Manjadi Kunnil (Original)"K. J. Yesudas4:10
10."Mizhiyoram Revival (Original)"S. Janaki4:08
11."Manjani Kombil (Original)"S. Janaki4:06
Total length:44:38

Box office

The film was released on 25 December in the Christmas Day of 1980.[2] The movie was a slow starter but turned out to be a blockbuster. The movie ran for more than 200 days in theatres.[6] The film, made in a cost of ₹7 lakh (₹0.7 million) grossed over ₹1 crore (₹10 million) at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.[1]

In an interview in 2010, Shankar told that he watched the film on its release day in a theatre in Thrissur, but "it didn't look like the film was going to be a hit then", but he was surprised by the response it got later. He realised the film was doing well from the comments of people when he was mobbed at the Bangalore Airport.[5]

Accolades
Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Kerala State Film Awards Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value Fazil, Navodaya Appachan Won [14]
Best Actress Poornima Jayaram Won
Best Music Director Jerry Amaldev Won
Best Play Back Singer K. J. Yesudas Won
Best Play Back Singer S. Janaki Won
Best Background Music Gunasingh Won

Legacy

Manjil Virinja Pookkal became a landmark film in Malayalam cinema. It is widely regarded as the first new generation film in Malayalam cinema in retrospect.[15][16] Shankar's symbolism before kissing, that is, moving his index finger from left chin to his upper lip and then downwards, was a rage among the youth. In the 2013 film Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla, throughout the film, Fahadh Faasil's character Prem interacts with the character Narendran in a virtual world.[17] The American thriller Sleeping with the Enemy released in 1991 which was based on the novel Sleeping with the Enemy published in 1987 had the same story-line as Manjil Virinja Pookkal. Sleeping with the Enemy was later remade into Hindi four times—Agni Sakshi (1996), Daraar (1996), Yaraana (1995), and Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002). Apparently, Bollywood film Hamari Adhuri Kahani released in 2015 also discuss the same story-line.[18]

gollark: Or crippled IO which prepends an exit command to all output.
gollark: Yep, just add no IO.
gollark: Probably.
gollark: Is there no end to the madness?
gollark: Iota... calculus?

References
  1. Pillai, Sreedhar (28 February 1985). "Producer Appachen creates Indian motion picture history with My Dear Kuttichathen". India Today. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. Manmadhan, Prema (23 December 2005). "His experiments with cinema". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  3. K. S., Aravind (23 October 2014). "Ashok, a Cinematographer Who Made a Mark". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  4. Cris (25 August 2016). "The many tales behind titles". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  5. Kumar, P. K. Ajith (26 June 2010). "The circle of life". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  6. M. K., Nidheesh (29 November 2013). "Time to Bid adieu". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  7. Philip, Susan Joe (9 November 2017). "From Manjil Virinja Pookal to Mohini: Poornima Bhagyaraj on her movies and more". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  8. Shivprasadh, S. (10 May 2012). "He cast a 3-D spell". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  9. Kumar, P. K. Ajith (15 April 2014). "Seasons could not wither his snow-fresh songs". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  10. Express News Service (24 April 2012). "The Camera that Captured a Star". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  11. Mathrubhumi. "മഞ്ഞിൽ വിരിയുന്ന ഓർമ്മകൾ..." Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  12. "Manjil Virinja Pookkal by S. Janaki on iTunes". iTunes. 1 December 1980. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  13. "Manjil Virinja Pookkal". Amazon.com. 1 December 1980. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  14. "Kerala State Film Awards 1969–2001". Information and Public Relations Department of Kerala. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  15. "Ahead of His Times: Fazil". The New Indian Express. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  16. Gauri, Deepa (19 December 2013). "Homeopathy practitioner turns to Malayalam cinema". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  17. George, Vijay (7 February 2013). "Big Fish". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  18. Sudhakaran, Sreeju (5 May 2015). "How Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi's 'Hamari Adhuri Kahani' is similar to many other Bollywood films". Daily News and Analysis. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
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