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Achuvinte Amma
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Wikipedia article
'Achuvinte Amma' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Ranjan Pramod. It stars Urvashi, Meera Jasmine and Narain. The music is composed by Ilaiyaraaja, and the lyrics by Gireesh Puthenchery. It was also a comeback movie for Urvashi in Malayalam after a gap of six years. The film has won several awards, including the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress (Urvashi), Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam, and Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Malayalam for Meera Jasmine.
Plot
Vanaja (Uravashi) is a single mother who lives with her daughter Ashwathy (Achu) (Meera Jasmine) and works as an insurance agent at LIC. Achu and her mother have a close relationship and never keep secrets from each other. One day, they meet Emmanuel John, known as Ijo (Narain) who is an advocate, at a railway station in Trivandrum, where Achu has a job interview at a private firm. After this first meeting, Achu and Ijo run into each other periodically, developing a friendship, and eventually, a budding romance. Achu gets a job with a construction company and she and her mother's standard of living improves. She expresses her wish to marry Ijo to Vanaja. Vanaja wishes to meet Ijo's parents to learn more about him. Ijo takes them to a cemetery revealing that he is an orphan and his family had committed mass suicide due to a financial crisis, leaving him as the sole survivor. Vanaja suddenly changes her mind and opposes the marriage, saying she wants her daughter to get married into a big family where there would be many people who would care and help them when they were in need.
Vanaja's opposition shocks and infuriates Achu and she confronts Vanaja with questions about her father, leading to an argument. Vanaja refuses to reveal anything and Achu storms out. She ultimately decides to stay with Ijo, though he advised her to return home. Achu is adamant and remains with her friend. Meanwhile, Ijo tries to mend the relationship between Achu and her mother, but Achu doesn't listen to him.
Meanwhile, due to unforeseen circumstances, Achu has to leave her friend's place. Realizing that she has no place to stay, Achu loses hope and is involved in a road accident. Vanaja rushes to see her in hospital but Achu still refuses to talk to her mother. Vanaja opens up to Ijo and tells him about her past. An old woman raised Vanaja, and after her death, Vanaja did odd jobs and worked as a labourer along with other adolescent girls. One day, all the girls Vanaja was working with were going to be transported for Flesh Trade. Vanaja, upon finding this out decided to run away instead and in the process came across a young girl with whom she escaped. Vanaja adopts the girl and names her Achu.
Vanaja tells Ijo that he should marry Achu as soon as possible, while Ijo promises to take good care of her. Ijo reveals the whole story to Achu. A few days later, Achu returns to Vanaja suffering from the utmost guilt and regret. Finally, they happily reconcile.
Cast
* Urvashi as K.P. Vanaja, a LIC agent
* Meera Jasmine as Aswathy / Achu
* Narain as Advocate Immanuel John / Ijo (voice dubbed by Sarath Das)
* Innocent as Paulose
* K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Kunjala Chedathi
* Sukumari as Moothamma
* Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Abdullah
* P. Sreekumar as CI Aravindakshan
* Vettukili Prakash as Kunjoy
* Anoop Chandran as Ijo's friend
* Pala Aravindan as Hospital Staff
* Valsala Menon as Kathreena
* Reshmi Boban as Usha
* Mahima as Ramla
* Anitha Nair as Smiley (Achu's neighbor & a serial actress)
* Manikandan Pattambi
* Vinod Kovoor as an employee in Paulose shop
* Lakshana
* Nivedita
* Vijayan Peringode
* Ranjan Pramod as Co-traveller in bus (cameo)
* Suraj Venjaramoodu as Bus conductor
* Althara as young Vanaja
Critical reception
The movie opened to an overwhelming number of positive reviews and critics praised Jasmine, Urvashi and Narain's performances. 'Apunkachioce.com' described Achuvinte Amma as an "eminently watchable film". 'Mouthshut.com' also gave a similar comment quoting "[t]his film has witnessed a great comeback by the Malayalam film industry, and I hope the trend continues, and more and more such good films are produced which will put all others to shame". 'Oneindia.com' gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and a 'Hit' mark.
Box office
The film was highly successful and ran over 200 days in theaters.
Awards
'National Film Awards'
*2006: Best Supporting Actress - 'Urvashi'
'Filmfare Awards South'
* Filmfare Award for Best Film - P. V. Gangadharan
* Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Malayalam - Meera Jasmine
* Filmfare Award for Best Music Director - Malayalam - Ilaiyaraaja
'Asianet Film Awards'
* Asianet Film Awards for Best Film - P. V. Gangadharan
* Asianet Film Awards for Best Actress - Meera Jasmine
* Asianet Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer - K.S.Chitra
'Kerala State Film Awards'
* Kerala State Film Award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value- P. V. Gangadharan, Sathyan Anthikkad
* Kerala State Film Award for Best Dubbing Artist - Sarath Das
Soundtrack
The film features songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja and written by Gireesh Puthenchery.
References
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