Two Great Songs from Neelakuyil (Malayalam, 1954)

I haven’t seen this movie, but I’ve been reading about it and looking at clips for a while, and I’d love to find it sometime.  The movie was directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyattu, based on a novel by Uroob, starring Miss Kumari, Satyan, P Bhaskaran, P.J. Cherian, Prema…  Music by K. Raghavan, lyrics by P. Bhaskaran…

(“Kaayalarikathu Valayerinjappol,” sung by Kozhikode Abdul Khader.  This one was a hit.)

(“Unarunaroo Unnikannaa,” sung by Shantha P. Nair, based on the Bilahari raga.)

Nice description of the movie at The Hindu:

The film set the trend of realistic melodrama and brought the first National Award (Presidents silver medal) to Malayalam cinema.  The film was a musical hit and saw playback singers like Kozhikode Abdul Kader, Shantha P. Nair and Janamma David give their best to Malayalam film music.  The story of ‘Neelakuyil’ by Uroob, which focussed on reformist literature, was extended to a performance idiom using new-generation stars like Sathyan, Miss Kumari and Prema.  A. Vincent’s crisp camera brought out the beauty of black and white frames like never before.  It remains one of the best of black and white films made in the language. The manner in which Vincent blended light and shade at a time when photography had not developed much is a wonder.

The pastoral tragedy tells the story of the love affair of a Dalit girl and an educated, ‘high caste’ school teacher.  The script’s hard-hitting dialogues flay social evils such as untouchability, feudalism, and injustice towards women.  The music was mainly based on folk tunes and all the songs had the smell of the soil.