Dasharatham
| Dasharatham | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Sibi Malayil |
| Produced by | Saga Films |
| Written by | A. K. Lohithadas |
| Starring |
Mohanlal Rekha |
| Music by | Johnson |
| Cinematography | Venu |
| Edited by | L. Bhoominathan |
Production company |
Saga Films |
| Distributed by | Saga Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 154 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Dasharatham (Malayalam:ദശരഥം) is a 1989 Malayalam drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Rekha, Murali, Nedumudi Venu, Sukumaran, Karamana Janardanan Nair, Sukumari, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, K. P. A. C. Lalitha and Jayabharathi. The music was composed by Johnson. The film deals with the subject of artificial insemination.
A. K. Lohithadas won the Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Scriptwriter. This is widely regarded as one of the best films from the Lohithadas-Sibi Malayil team.
Story
Rajiv Menon (Mohanlal) is born into riches and is an alcoholic with absolutely no aim in life. With no parents to guide him and with the family business being run by a trusted manager Pillai (Karamana Janardanan Nair), Rajiv is free to waste his life and money on drinks and debauchery. A close friend Scariah (Nedumudi Venu) with his wife and children come over to stay at Rajiv’s palatial house for a week. Soon Rajiv gets attached to one of Scariah's children and decides that he wants to have a child of his own, but neither does he want to get married nor does he want to adopt a baby. One of his good friends, guide and philosopher Dr. Hameed (Sukumaran), advises Rajiv to rent a womb. They come across a former football player Chandradas (Murali) who is in dire need of money for an operation, his wife Annie (Rekha) agrees to give birth to Rajiv’s child through artificial insemination. Both Chandradas and Annie aren’t happy about the decision – it’s clearly a desperate solution to their financial needs.
At first Annie just wants to get over with the 9-month pregnancy period, hand over the baby and move on with life. The usually rash and immature Rajiv is now a changed man, reading up books on pregnancy, childbirth and making sure that Annie stays in an atmosphere that is cheerful, beautiful and is taken care of by nurses, provided with the best diet and so on to ensure the birth of a healthy and happy baby. He is completely taken up by the thought of having a child, the thought of finally having someone he can call his own. But by the time of the child’s birth Annie gets emotionally attached to the life that is taking shape in her womb and refuses to part with the baby.
Finally Rajiv hands over the child to Annie. In the climax, Rajiv asks the maid Maggie, whether every mother has an attachment to her child like Annie has. Rajiv asks Maggie can you love me like Annie likes her son, ending off with it as a highly emotional ending.
Trivia
- The climax scene where Mohanlal asks Sukumari, "Will you be my mother?" and silently cries and walks away, is considered to be one of the most heart-wrenching, unforgettable climaxes in Malayalam Cinema. Later on Sukumari stated in an interview that, the climax was shot in real emotion and both Mohanlal and Sukumari cried.
- Mohanlal delivers one of his career-best performances in the movie and his character in the movie is well remembered, even today, by Malayalam Film audiences.
- Dasharatham was dubbed in Marathi language as "Maaza Mulaga"
Cast
- Mohanlal as Rajiv Menon
- Nedumudi Venu as Scariah
- Sukumaran as Dr. Hameed
- Karamana Janardanan Nair as Manager Pillai
- Murali as Chandradas
- Rekha as Annie
- Sukumari as Maggie
- Kaviyoor Ponnamma as Chandradas's mother
- Jayabharathi as Dr. Zeenath
- K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Mariyamma
- M. S. Thripunithura as Adv. Govindan
- Kollam Thulasi as Advocate
- Jagannathan as Sankaran Nair
- Vineeth Kumar as Jose
- Ajay Mathias as Baby
Soundtrack
The music was done by Johnson master and lyrics by Poovachal Khader.
| Song Title | Singer(s) | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinchilam Thenmozhi | M. G. Sreekumar | |
| Mandaara Cheppundo | M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra | Raga: Shuddha Dhanyasi |