THE EVERLASTING “BASHEER AND NARAYANI” ROMANCE

The Basheer and Narayani classic romance is very popular among the Malayali audience. The idea of romance across a prison wall was of course fresh to Malayalees at that time.

Thanks to Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, the most beloved writer in Malayalam.

The 1990 film “Mathilukal” (The Walls) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan is an adaptation of the novel of the same name (1965) written by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer. The classic Mammotty starrer movie is the recipient of several accolades, including four national awards.

The protagonist is none other than Basheer. He is imprisoned for two and a half years for the crime of writing against the British government. A charming and popular Basheer easily befriends the jail mates and even some jail officials. He was leading a happy life until all of his friends were released one after another. The loneliness made him crave for freedom. This is the point at which he meets Narayani, to be precise Narayani’s sound. They become close after each passing day. They exchanged their heart across “the wall” which is one important element in the movie. The movie ends with Basheer being released from the prison unexpectedly.

Neither Basheer nor Narayani thought that the wall between them will be a permanent one. At that point Basheer may have doubted whether he needed the freedom he actually craved for.

Just see how people’s preferences changes over the time!

We never see Narayani in the movie. Only thing that we know about her is the voice. Maybe that gave us the freedom to imagine her as we like. That was a brilliant move from the creators. The actress which gave voice to Narayani was Malayali’s own K.P.A.C Lalitha , who recently bid farewell to us.

Recently, a shortfilm titled “Ente Narayanikku” directed by Varsha Vasudev was released, which is an adaptation of Mathilukal”, starring Aditi Ravi (as Narayani) and voice acted by Unni Mukundhan (as Basheer). It can’t be called as a true adaptation, since only the idea of the wall is inspired from the movie. Story is also different, but whether it is past or present or future, the very unfortunate Basheer’s and Narayani’s fate remains unchanged.

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