Olavum Theeravum (1970)

Independently produced by future director Backer, this is often considered the first film to have introduced an art-house New Indian Cinema aesthetic to Kerala. Noted mainly for Nair’s classic script and unusual dialogue style evoking local accents, as well as for its extensive use of outdoor locations. The Muslim trader Bapputti (Madhu) loves Nabisa (Usha Nandini), and tries to earn money that would enable them to live in comfort after marriage. However, when the rich stranger Kunjali (Prakash) arrives, Nabisa’s money grabbing mother (Philomina) forces her to marry him. The film ends with Nabisa’s dramatic suicide when Bapputti, rejected by her family, leaves only to find her swollen corpse washed ashore. The ‘tragic’ realism in this art-house movie and commercial hit was later to prove definitive to a whole generation of Malayalam directors including Backer himself, K.G. George(cf. Kolangal, 1980), scenarist Vasudevan Nair’s own directions or the work of e.g. Padmarajan.