Desatanakkili Karayarilla

Desatanakkili Karayarilla
theatrical poster
Directed by	Padmarajan
Written by	Padmarajan
Starring	Mohanlal Karthika Shaari Urvashi
Music by	Raveendran
Cinematography	Venu
Edited by	B. Lenin
Distributed by	Dinny Films
Release dates	17 March 1986 (1986-03-17)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Desatanakkili Karayarilla (English: The Migratory Bird Never Cries) is a 1986 Malayalam film written and directed by Padmarajan. It stars Mohanlal, Karthika, Shaari and Urvashi in pivotal roles. The film tells the story of two school girls who eloped while on a school trip. It was critically well acclaimed, being one of the first Indian films that talked about womance.

Plot

File:Desatanakkili Karayarilla.jpg

Shaari and Karthika as School Girls from the film

The film is about the deep love and affection between two girls, Sally and the meek and tradition-bound Nirmala. At school they were punished by their teacher Devika, so the two girls run away during a school trip as a revenge on their teacher Devika who organised the trip.

Their journey is soon interrupted by a man, Harisankar, who mysteriously befriends the girls, while Nirmala starts to develop romantic feelings for Harisankar. Sally strongly objects to this relationship and warns her friend against the suspicious nature of the man. Nirmala, who was almost convinced to leave everything behind to be with the man she loves, gets a shock when she finds out that the man was actually in love with the teacher whom she despised and ran away from.

Unable to find a way out of the misery that befalls them, Sally and Nirmala cling on to each other and commit suicide.

Critical Analysis

Being first of its kind the movie is a humble attempt of the maker to bring out shades of lesbian love, a complicated relationship between two school girls. The film is in a way their exploration of a world of freedom and independence through the love they feel for each other, the hindrances they come across and the final choice to surrender to love that they make. Way ahead of its times in a conservative society like Kerala's, director Padmarajan brilliantly portrays a gay relationship in a non-label, non-in-your-face kind of story telling that those who can figure out the nuances of gay love figures it out intensely while the regular 'family crowd' sees only an innocent bond of friendship between two girls which needs to be accepted. The director's success is that it was a box office hit when it released back in the mid-eighties, viewers accepting the wonderfully nuanced film for whatever they thought it stood for.

Cast

• Mohanlal as Harisankar
• Karthika as Nirmala
• Shari as Sally
• Urvashi as Devika
• Jalaja
• Jagathi N.K. Achari
• Subramaniam
• Latheef
• Vembayam Thampi
• Poojappura Radhakrishnan
• Dev
• Noor Jehan
• Mudavanmugal Krishnankutty
• Kunjumol
• Rajam K. Nair
• Omanayamma
• K. R. Savithri
• Shanthi
• Thara

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Raveendran and lyrics was written by ONV Kurup.

No.	Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length (m:ss)
1	Poo veno poo	KS Chithra	ONV Kurup
2	Vaanampaadi etho	K. J. Yesudas	ONV Kurup

Trivia

• The Film was distributed by Dinny Films.

• Though the film is not structured as a thriller, the mystery element in most of the story was highly acclaimed. It garnered very positive reviews from viewers as well as critics. Especially the introduction scene of Harishankar, where the character brings in a clear feeling of distrust for Sally and a very clear romantic feeling for Nirmala is notable for the air of mystery around Harishankar. Through the narrative, Padmarajan brings in a connection between Devika and Harishankar which eventually lead to the suicide of the girls. The feeling Sally has for Nirmala is also described beautifully. The willful and disobedient Sally was ready to bend her decisions and views only for Nirmala. Though Nirmala decided to go back against her wishes, Sally never left Nirmala's side and was ready to be with her for ever.

External links

• Desatanakkili Karayarilla at IMDb