Beautiful socially relevant Malayalam movie “Adhyayam Onnu Muthal” (From Chapter One) (1985) directed by Sathyan Anthikad and starring Mohanlal, Madhavi, Bahadoor, Soman among others.

The story is relevant today as it was then made. Seetha (Madhavi) has an aunt Kaviyoor Poonamma who had married out of religion then many years ago and was ostracised by their orthodox family. She had married a Christian.

She comes to live in the same village as that of Madhavi. The aunt has a son Vishnu (Mohanlal in a very matured, serious, method role that commands respect). Seetha is very curious towards that side of the family and goes to meet her aunt and cousin, which is frowned upon by her father and brother.

Both of them conjure to get her married off to a banker who respects her freedom and silence but he dies in an accident. Once bereaved, Seetha is again married off to a widower who has two small children. Soman, the widower also dies of a heart attack.

Twice widowed she refuses to come back to her own parents house and decides to live with a servant in her small house. She is denied the freedom of living with the small kids of the widowed Soman.

The father is now peeved and broken down, Vishnu relents and Bahadoor gives an exemplary final dialogue that makes a valid point — respect a woman’s choice. Not to get her married off to places where she does not want to go. Woman are always the ones who suffer the most and victim of circumstances.

Very beautiful and powerful script with strong dialogues, super camera work, deft direction of a difficult subject by Sathyan Anthikad, magnificent acting by Mohanlal, Madhavi, Bahadoor and all other cast of characters. IMDB 7/10