Ponthan Mada

1994 Indian film

Mammootty
Naseeruddin Shah
Sreejaya
Laboni Sarkar
Janardhanan
Maniyanpilla Raju

CinematographyVenuEdited byVenugopalMusic byJohnsonDistributed byMac Release

Release date

10 March 1994 (1994-03-10)

Running time

119 minCountryIndiaLanguageMalayalam

Ponthan Mada is a 1994 Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by T. V. Chandran. The film stars Mammootty and Naseeruddin Shah. It is based on two short stories, Ponthan Mada and Sheema Thampuran by C. V. Sreeraman. The film won four awards at the National Film Awards including the Best Actor award for Mammotty. It also won the Kerala State Film Award for the best second film. This is the only Malayalam-language film of Naseeruddin Shah.^[1] The film was a commercial success.^[2]

Plot

Set in the 1940s British India, the film is about the extraordinary, uncanny and touching relationship between the so-called low-caste Ponthan Mada and his colonial landlord Sheema Thampuran, who was expelled to British India from England during his youth for supporting the Irish Republican Army. Crossing the class boundaries, the two communicate through Thampuran's window with Mada hanging from an areca palm tree.

Cast

Mammootty as Mada
Sreejaya Nair as Reshmi
Naseeruddin Shah as Sheema Thampuran
Laboni Sarkar
Janardhanan
Maniyanpilla Raju
Zeenath
Mavelikkara Ponnamma
Premachandran

Soundtrack

ONV Kurup penned the lyrics.

"Madam Kondu Adimaranke" - K. S. Chitra

Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release:

1993 National Film Awards (India)

1994 Kerala State Film Awards (India)

Won - Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film - Second Best Film

Other awards

Muttathu Varkey Award (2016) - T. V. Chandran (for screenplay)^[3]

References

^ "Throwback Tuesday: When Mammootty became the lead character in TV Chandran's 'Ponthan Mada'". The Times of India. 23 November 2021.
^ "Malayalam cinema faces a threat". The Statesman. 24 September 1994. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
^ "Muttathu Varkey Award for T.V. Chandran". The Hindu. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.