Premalekhanam (Love Letter)

Due to the hectic work over the weekend and the last few days, I was very very tired, last night. Honestly I didn’t know, when I got asleep last night. Morning, I woke up only by 10:00 am. By 11:00 switched on the TV and started having my Chappati and Mottacurry for the breakfast. Was simply browsing the channel, and it came to Kairali TV.

It was playing and old movie (Of early 80’s or mid – late 70’s movie). Somehow, I got a bit interested in movie. After sometime, I came to know it was a story by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer’s, PremaLekhanam.

It was the love story between Kesavan Nair, a bank employee working in a remote bank in a village in Kerala and Saramma, the house owner’s daughter, where Kesaven Nair had rented. The role played by Kesavan Nair was by M.G Soman (Late), a very efficient actor, and Swapna did the Role of Sarama. Both of them have done their part splendidly.

Sarama was staying with his father, who was most of the time drunken and with her stepmother, who harasses her in all ways. But Saramma was a very mature girl. She spends most of her time, cleaning the utensils and embroidering.

Kesavan Nair fells in love with her and writes a love letter (premalekhanam) to her. The lines of the Premalekhanam were too good, and this love letter is spoken throughout the story, apparently the title too. He always asks the reply for his premalekhanam to her, and she will say “nale aaktte”(let it be tomorrow).

Though she likes Kesavan Nair very much, she won’t reveal it to him. Whenever Kesavan Nair tells her about his love to her, she makes fun of her. Another interesting part in the movie is, she agrees to love him, on a condition that, he has to pay her for doing so, every month. So every month Kesavan nair has to pay an amount to her for her love. It continues for long. Finally. Kesavan Nair gets a job in a far of place. She persuades Sarama to come along with her. She replies the, it was not in the “Love agreement”. But finally he finds her in the railway station, ready to go with him to start a new life, after writing a letter to her father.

A beautiful movie, especially a beautiful story by the Great Basheer. The location and atmosphere, the movie was made was a typical kottayam, vazoor , surroundeed with rubber plantations and beautiful mist covered mountains. The story is fictionalized in the 1940’s

Basheer worte this story 1943, when he was jailed in Poojapura Central Jail, by the then Dewan, CP for writing something against his governance. Its a very funny love story, but indeed an excellent narration.