Neelakuyil
Neelakuyil (; ) is a 1954 Malayalam film jointly directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat. It is a neo-realistic melodrama and was based on a story written by Uroob who co-wrote the screenplay and dialogues along with P. Bhaskaran. "Neelakuyil" tells the story of the love affair of a Dalit girl and an educated, high caste school teacher. It stars Sathyan, Miss Kumari, Prema, P. Bhaskaran and Master Vipin. Many of the actors debuted through this film. "Neelakuyil" was a landmark film in Malayalam cinema history that paved a new path for Malayalam cinema by breaking away from  the earlier tradition of adapting plots from Hindi films for making Malayalam films, of which the story or the characters could never be identified with the culture of Kerala. Based on a story by famous Malayalam writer Uroob, "Neelakuyil" had dialogues with local accent, and the script’s hard-hitting dialogues flay social evils such as untouchability, feudalism, and injustice towards women. It features an acclaimed cinematography by A. Vincent and a successful musical score by K. Raghavan. It won the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film, and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in  Malayalam, thus becoming the first nationally recognized Malayalam film. The lead performances and the narrative style was also noted. Most of its shooting was done outdoors and it captured images of the rural, agrarian Kerala, its vast paddy fields, the life of the peasants and the feudal society. Plot. The plot revolves around rustic life in a small village. Neeli (Miss Kumari), a Dalit peasant girl, falls in love with Sreedharan Nair (Sathyan), a school teacher. Neeli becomes pregnant. Sreedharan Nair refuses to marry Neeli as he fears being ostracized by a conservative society. Neeli becomes an outcaste and dies  in child birth. Sankaran Nair (P.Bhaskaran), the village postman, adopts the child ignoring the protests of society. Sreedharan Nair marries Nalini (Prema), a member of an aristocratic family. Neeli’s son Mohan (Master Vipin) is brought up by the postman. The film ends with Sreedharan Nair and Nalini accepting the boy as their own child. Songs. There are nine songs, scored by K. Raghavan and penned by P. Bhaskaran, in a soundtrack regarded as a milestone in Malayalam film music history. Before "Neelakuyil", Malayalam film music was copied from Hindi and Tamil film songs. It was K. Raghavan, making his  debut in the film, who introduced Malayali folk music into films. The musical genres utilised included Mappilappattu (Islamic music), Koyithupattu (a form of harvest singing), traditional prayers, romantic melodies, all of which emanated from the folk traditions of Kerala. The songs were choreographed by Guru Gopalakrishnan Kodungallur. The popular songs from the film are "Ellarum Chollanu Ellarum Chollanu" Janamma David, "Kayalarikaathu Vala Erinjappol" (K. Raghavan), "Unarunaroo Unnikanna" (Shantha P. Nair), "Kadalasu Vanchi Eri" (Kozhikode Pushpa) (Based on the Tyagaraja composition in Kapi Narayani) "Sarasa Sama Daana Bheda"), "Maanennum Vilikkilla" (Mehboob), "Kuyiline Thedi" (Janamma David) and "Engane Nee Marakkum Kuyile" (Kozhikode  Abdul Kader). The song "Kayalarikaathu Vala Erinjappol" was used in Deepan Sivaraman's stage adaptation of O V Vijayan's magnum opus, "Khasakkinte Itihasam".