The story of a timeless classic in the history of Malayalam cinema begins with a car journey. The name of the film is ‘Bhargaveenilayam’. A rare film poem adapted by Aloysius Vincent from Vaikom Muhammad Basheer’s story Neelavelicham. After half a century, when Ashiq Abu paints a new visual language for the same story called ‘Blue Light’, how can one not remember that fable?
Today, 93-year-old Ramachandra Srinivasa Prabhu remembers Sandhya, where the idea of a film translation of blue light was born. RS Prabhu — the production executive of ‘Bharggaveenilaya” is one of the rare among us today among the crew members of that film.
1964 Lavanam. V Abdullah and Shobhana Parameswaran Nair of Chitrasagar Films are coming to Chennai by car from Nadu. Basheer waves to the car on the way. Delivered to Kozhikode; That is the need. Abdullah and Parameswaran Nair asked what is wrong with it. But the car did not go to Kozhikode but straight to Chennai. Abdullah and Parameswaran Nair’s ulterior motive is to write a script for a movie with the superstar of the story world.
Ignoring Basheer’s grumblings, the car pulls up in front of the Chandratara office on Venkatanarayana Street, T Nagar. There’s RS Prabhu — Chandratara’s regular production executive. Prabhu also lives in the same building. As the owner Parikutty Sahib is permanently in Kochi, the entire charge of film production rests on Prabhu’s shoulders.
‘It was a time when Chandratara was bringing works of literary value to the silver screen. We had already wanted to make a movie of Basheer’s story. I first set my sights on the famous Balyakalasakhi, but it didn’t happen.” — Prabhu’s memory.
During the meeting at the Chandratara office, Abdullah, a literature lover, suggested that it would be good if the story of ‘Neelavelicham’ was made into a movie. “Parameswaran gave that instruction to Nair and me. Bashir’s objections were of no avail. Basheer said that I have some conditions, if they are accepted then I can think about writing the script.
The first condition was that A Vincent should be the director. No one is against it. Vincent was immediately called and told about the matter. Totally agree with him. The next option is to give Madhu the role of the hero writer. There is a slight problem. Premnaseer was the minimum guaranteed actor of that time. If Naseer is there, the box office success of the film will improve. Then Basheer said let Nazir play the role of the lover in the flashback. He is very handsome.
Prabhu said that Basheer wrote the screenplay and dialogues of ‘Bhargaveenilaya’ while staying at Chandratara’s office. “Writing from Monday to Saturday; Sunday off. That was Basheer’s condition. He completed the script in four weeks. After the first shooting schedule at the studio set in Chennai, he returned home.”Durpurura was shot at Thalai Katapuram in Thalassery and some houses in the vicinity.
Finding the heroine Bhargavikutty is another interesting memory. Prabhu said that it was due to music director Baburaj. ‘Baburaj has a close friend in Chennai at that time. Babu Krishnamurthy, an Andhra, was a junior commandant in the NCC. The two will meet occasionally. It was in such a friendly gathering that Babu told his friend about his wife’s passion for acting. Babu and Nirmala are married in love. They have a baby. Babu believed that Baburaj’s recommendation would help Nirmala, who had already appeared in small roles in one or two Telugu films, get a chance in Malayalam cinema. ”– Lord.
Here’s the story in director Vincent’s words: “When I went to meet the actress to invite her for a camera test, the house was locked. We are waiting outside. That’s when I saw the sight. A young woman gets off the bus and crosses the road with her little child. What attracted me first were those fiery eyes that hid some mysteries. They were the eyes of my Bhargavikutty, half true and half illusion. I only had to look through the camera once — my mind said this is Bharggavikkutty..” Vijayanirmala passed the make-up test and became the heroine of “Bharggavinilaya”. The rest is history..
RS Prabhu remembers that Vijayanirmalak was paid Rs 1,000 for acting in the film. Not a bad amount for a newbie heroine. Vijayanirmala grew into a well-known actress and director in later history. In 2019, Nirmala Orme got a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the director who produced the most films (44). Reema Kallingal is the new Bhargavikutty in Neelavelichtha directed by Ashiq Abu.
A native of Ernakulam, Prabhu entered cinema in 1950 as the production manager of the film “Raktabandham”. He was in charge of the production of Neelakuil (1954), which changed the title of Malayalam cinema. After producing and directing Rajamalli (1965), Prabhu established himself fully in the production industry and his hit films include Abhijathyam, Theerthayatra, Aranyakandam, Praghamam and Atavav Patinth. Prabhu retired from the production scene with the film Arduham (1982) and now resides in Chennai.
Apart from Prabhu, only a few people from that old “Bhargaveenilaya” are with us today — Madhu, Yesudas, S Janaki, P Sushila, recordist Kannan…. “Heard that Neelavelichtam is being made into a film again. Don’t know anything more.”– Prabhu said.
Content Highlights: Rima Kallingal, Vijayanirmala, neelavelicham, Bhargavi Nilayam, A. Vincent, aashiq abu
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