| 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 |
|
Running time | 2 hrs 40 min |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Swati Mutyam (English: The White Pearl) is a 1986 Telugu-language drama film written, directed by K. Viswanath, and produced by Edida Nageshwara Rao. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Raadhika in the lead roles, with soundtrack and background score by Ilaiyaraaja. 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.
Swati Mutyam was a box office success. 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 were it won awards for "Best Film" and "Best Actor" categories. 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. The 2003 bollywood film Koi... Mil Gaya were inspired from Swati Mutyam.[9][10]
Contents
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 was 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
- Kamal Haasan as Sivayya
- Raadhika as Lalitha
- Gollapudi Maruthi Rao as Landlord
- J. V. Somayajulu as Lalita's guru
- Nirmalamma as Sivayya's grandmother
- Sarath Babu as Chalapati, Lalita's brother
- Major Sundarrajan
- Y. Vijaya as Lalita's sister-in-law
- Allu Arjun
- Deepa
- Dubbing Janaki
- Edida Sriram
- Mallikarjuna Rao
- Suthi Veerabhadra Rao
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. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chinnari Ponnari Kittayya!" | Aatreya | S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki | |
| 2. | "Dharmam Sharanam Gacchaami" | Aatreya | S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. P. Sailaja | |
| 3. | "Laali Laali" | C. Narayanareddy | P. Susheela | |
| 4. | "Manasu Palike" | Sirivennela Sitaramasastri | S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki | |
| 5. | "Pattuseera Testanani" | Aatreya | S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. P. Sailaja | |
| 6. | "Raama, Kanavemiraa!" (harikatha) | C. Narayanareddy | S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S.P. Sailaja | |
| 7. | "Suvvi Suvvi!" | C. Narayanareddy | S.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
| Year | Film | Language | Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Eeshwar | Hindi | Anil Kapoor, Vijayshanti |
| 2003 | Swathi Muthu | Kannada | Sudeep, Meena |
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