Manthravaadhi (1956)
The Sorcerer
Release date : 18 August 1956
Manthravaadhi, true to its name was the first film in the fantasy genre in Malayalam cinema. Needless to say, it was an instant box-office success ! The audience loved it, probably because they had been used to films in other languages in this genre and wanted one of their own, speaking their language and to their sensibilities. Miss Kumari’s Mallika with her onscreen playful joie de vivre , brought sunshine on celluloid and mirth with Prem Nazir’s Priyakumaran in this kitschy royal rom-com.
Movie Handbill
Movie Still of Manthravaadhi (1956)
More about the Movie
| Miss Kumari | Prem Nazir |
| Mavelikkara L Ponnamma | SP Pillai |
| Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair | Kumari Thankam |
| GK Pillai | Bahadoor |
| Adoor Pankajam | Jose Prakash |
| TS Muthaiah | Muttathara Soman |
| Aranmula Ponnamma | PK Kamalakshi |
| Sreekantan Nair | Thiruvananthapuram Lalitha |
| Padmini Priyadarshini | Chengannur Janaki |
| Harikeshan Thampi |
| Director | P Subramaniam |
| Producer | P Subramaniam |
| Banner | Neela Productions |
| Story | Nagavally RS Kurup |
| Dialogue | Nagavally RS Kurup |
| Lyrics | Thirunayinaarkurichi Madhavan Nair |
| Music | Br Lakshman |
| Playback Singers | P Leela, Kamukara, AP Komala, CS Radhadevi, Guruvayoor Ponnamma, Jikki (PG Krishnaveni), TS Kumaresh |
| Cinematography | NS Mani |
| Editing | KD George |
| Distribution | Kumaraswamy & Co |
Copyrights & Courtesy : The Hindu (B Vijayakumar’s MetroPlus Kochi Column)
The evil magician Mahendran (Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair), a follower of the ‘Kapalakundala’ cult takes an oath to sacrifice 101 chaste and beautiful girls to please the Goddess Kaali. He abducts girls from the nearby kingdoms. He chooses princess Mallika (Miss Kumari), daughter of King Veera Varma (Jose Prakash) as the final prey.
The king promises to entrust her to the magician once she attains marriageable age in return for saving the royal family from the dacoits. The prince of a neighbouring kingdom, Priya Kumaran (Prem Nazir) is Mallika’s childhood friend. Priyakumaran loses his father and the kingdom, and the queen, Sushila Devi (Aranmula Ponnamma) flees to the jungles where she lives along with her son and Vinayan (Muthiah), son of the loyal servant of the royal family.
Priyakumaran and Mallika meet in the forest and fall in love. Veera Varma decides to get them married, but the magician stalls it. Priyakumaran and Vinayan pass through several hardships and at last save Mallika. Priyakumaran weds Mallika.
Songs from the Movie
My next film (after Aniyathi) took all the sheen away from the glowing success of Aniyathi, that was Manthravaadhi. I felt I was a misfit for that role of a princess.
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