Chanthupottu

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Chanthupottu
Chanthupottu2.jpg
The music CD cover
Directed by Lal Jose
Written by Benny P Nayarambalam
Produced by Lal
Starring Dileep
Indrajith Sukumaran
Lal
Biju Menon
Gopika
Bhavana
Cinematography Alagappan N
Edited by Ranjan Abraham
Music by Vidyasagar
Distributed by Lal Release & PJ Entertainments
Release date
  • 26 August 2005 (2005-08-26)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Chanthupottu is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lal Jose, written by Benny P. Nayarambalam, and produced by Lal. [1] The film was based on a play of the same name, which in turn, was based on the life of an actual man with feminine mannerisms. The story is about a man named Radhakrishnan (Dileep) who was brought up like a girl by his grandmother. The film was a commercial success at the box office.

Contents

Plot

Radhakrishnan is raised as a girl by his grandmother who wanted a granddaughter. She calls him Radha, which becomes his nickname. Radha's father Divakaran, a fisherman, goes to jail for a murder that he accidentally commits. Radha is ridiculed among the people in the village as he is considered effeminate. However, he is not bothered and spends time with the girls, singing and teaching dance. His best friend is Malu who is wooed by Kumaran, a local money lender and the son of the man whom Radha's father had killed in a fight when Kumaran harasses Radha for behaving like a girl.

Divakaran returns from jail and dislikes his son's mannerisms, but is helpless. Slowly, Radha's liking for Malu turns into love. When Kumaran learns of this, he beats up Radha with the help of her father Thorayil Aashan, a local astrologer, and dumps him in the deep sea by saying he is a curse to the shore. Radha is saved by Freddy, a restaurant owner, on a distant shore. Freddy takes him to his home where he lives with his sister, Rosie, and his grandmother who is a mental patient due to the shock of the sudden death of Freddy's other sibling, Jonfy. He soon becomes a part of their family as the grandmother begins to identify him as the late Jonfy. With a change in environment, Radha also tries to change his behaviour, adopting more traditionally male mannerisms. One day, Radha fights with Cleetus, an old enemy of Freddy, when Cleetus tries to molest Rosie. During the fight, Cleetus suffers a head injury, so Radha returns to his home to escape from the police.

On reaching his native shore, he discovers that his family, along with his house, was burned down by Kumaran. He also learns that Malu is pregnant with his child. His arrival follows a fight with Kumaran. Towards the end of the fight, Radha defeats Kumaran and when he is about to kill him, Malu arrives. He spares Kumaran by telling that he needs to live with Malu and his child. Radha reunites with Malu. Kumaran tries to kill Radha and Malu but the villagers save them and hit Kumaran. They threaten to kill him if he returns to the shore again. In the meantime, Malu prematurely gives birth to Radha's child. When Radha sees the child, he vows to raise it as a boy, ripping off the ribbon tied to its hair as the baby is a male. The movie ends with Radha going to the sea as a fisherman, an occupation which he refused to do in his early life.

Cast

Music

Chanthupottu
Soundtrack album by
Vidyasagar
Released2005
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Vidyasagar chronology
Chanthupottu
(2005)		 Rasikan
(2004)
  1. "Azhakadalinte" – S. Janaki
  2. "Azhakadalinte" (Male) - P Jayachandran
  3. "Omanapuzha" – Vineeth Sreenivasan
  4. "Chanthu Kudanjoru" – Shahabaz Aman, Sujatha Mohan
  5. "Kana Ponnum" – Franko, Ranjith, Chorus

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

LGBT controversies

The film was criticized by the LGBT community of Kerala for its distorted portrayal of gender and sexuality. In 2019, queer activists reported that the word "chanthupottu" was used to harass transgender persons and pointed at the deeply problematic idea that beatings and a heterosexual relationship could "correct" behaviour that goes against traditional gender norms. [7] [8] Prabhakaran and Poovathingal (2013) argue that "the movie brought forth traditional machismo of the male hero and defined an unsophisticated masculinity", despite its attempts to portray an effeminate man in a positive light. [9] Director Lal Jose responded to the claims by saying that "In the movie, Radha or Radhakrishnan is a man, he is not a transgender person. There is no doubt about his gender. He falls in love with a woman, has a child from the woman. The only thing was that he had an effeminate aspect to his behaviour. There is no gender issue in that film.” [10]

Box office

The film was commercial success. [11] [12] [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "New-look Dileep". The Hindu. 2 June 2005. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Dileep's citadel". Sify . 30 December 2005. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Reflection of society". The Hindu . 6 January 2006. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Surya is the 'surprise' hero". Rediff.com . 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  5. ↑ Meghna George (1 December 2009). "Mammootty's Chattambinadu". Rediff.com . Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  6. ↑ John, Nevin (6 February 2013). "Picture isn't perfect in Mollywood". Business Standard . Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Queer activists slam Lal Jose for defending problematic 2005 film Chanthupottu". The News Minute. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  8. ↑ "In a touching post, Kerala gay man recounts how a blockbuster film wronged him". The News Minute. 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Prabhakaran, Roshni and Poovathingal, Nithya Thomas (2013). "Masculinizing Radha: The Politics of Representation in Chandupottu". Language in India. 13 (8): 318–325.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ "Queer activists slam Lal Jose for defending problematic 2005 film 'Chanthupottu'". The News Minute. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "2005-ലെ ഹിറ്റുകൾ". Vellinakshatram . Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "2005- An analysis". Sify . 22 December 2005. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Surya the 'surprise' hero of June R". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
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