MT Vasudevan Nair’s screenplay of Iruttinte Athmavu (1967), though written based on his short story which was published even earlier, sounds as incisive and at some levels, visonary, in the way he has made his characters speak on the issue of the Unsound Mind in our social structure.The Unsound Mind, by default is considered unproductive for the family, and hence, its very existence from the perspective of material wealth is a waste on the existing resources. It is when humanity rides over selfishness and extends the same respect and care that it would for a ‘normal being’ that the Struggling Mind’s incapabilities somehow recede to the background and it starts feeling whole again, as a human being. MT Vasudevan Nair, very cleverly and clearly brings this division, right in the family itself, the haves and the have-nots, and the difference in perspectives as seen through the eyes of arrogance powered by material wealth and that of empathy borne out of a deep understanding of human suffering.
Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie.
Gopalan Nair : പൊട്ടന് ആണേലും തോന്ന്യാസം കാട്ടാന് ബുദ്ധി ഉണ്ടല്ലോ.
Velayudhan : മനുഷന്മാര്ക്കു പിരാന്ത് പിടിച്ചാ തല്ലി കൊല്ലുമോ അമ്മുക്കുട്ടി ?
Velayudhan to his Grandpa :തുപ്രങ്ങോട്ടെ നെയ്യപ്പം വേണോ മുത്തശന് ?
Grandpa’s reply : മുത്തശന് ഇനി വേണ്ടതു ഒരു മാവ്.പിന്നെ തെക്ക് വടക്ക് കിടക്കാന് ഇത്തിരി സ്ഥലോം !
Gopalan Nair : പ്രാന്താണെങ്കില് മുറിയില് അടച്ചിടണം.
It is interesting to note how all these never seem out of place in Kerala,in our sensibilities and attitude, four decades later !
OLD MALAYALAM CINEMA 
Prem Nazir who never bothered about the type casting in his long career because it helped thousands of people to have 3 time food courtesy the good collections they generated. At the same time films like Eruttinte Armaan, Padayottam etc proved his mettle.
i saw this movie when i was in high school. all i remember is that it was deeply disturbing and one single line from the movie: “Manushyarkku pranthu pidichaal thallikkollumo Ammukkutty?”
Hi Remi,
I guess “Disturbing” is the operative word when one talks about Iruttinte Athmavu. It must be the reason why it has endured its relevance through decades, and hopefully, forever.Thanks, cinematters
Nice 1…this is a wonderful blog.i think u shud try marketing it a little..its hard to find any mallus in wordpress….u have a gud fb following..bring them to wordpress…
Hi Alan,
This is, till now, powered by passion,and would love to keep it that way.There a lot of Malayalis on WordPress, all you got to do is look, depending on your chosen interests 🙂 If, with Marketing, you mean spreading the word around, am sure anyone who feels that his/her time spend is worthwhile here would recommend to another in their immediate circle who has the same interest in Malayalm cinema. Any by virtue of being on WP and consciously using the best practices, Google also ranks it reasonably well in terms of organic search. I think am happy with what I have :)And Facebook is always a tool, that too in a closed garden, and never a platform for publishing. Thanks for writing in, regards, cm.
Maybe..i am just into blogging..n my marketing technique is to appreciate good things on wordpress…n seriously being a malayalee makes me want to connect to dem..wot i am really cnfused abt is intrsts..my intrsts include debate on political issues,photography ,movies,songs,poetry(reading),cricket
..
Hi H7B,
You could browse through Fresh at WordPress http://wordpress.com/#!/fresh/ which is a highly rewarding exercise, when it comes to finding topics of your interest.As far as connecting with them, if you keep writing, they will keep coming. 🙂 All you got to do is, as varied as your interests might be, as your personal blog, have a very clear idea on what to write, and do it as engagingly as you can. Its as simple as that.Thanks, cinematters