ARANAZHIKA NERAM

ARA NAZHIKA  NERAM    1970

(  Only   half an hour)

STORY    PARAPPURATH

DIRECTION    K. S . SETHUMADHAVAN 

 Ara Nazhika Neram (Half an Hour Only) is a Malayalam novel written by Parappurath in 1967. One of the most famous novels by the prolific author, it won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Sahitya Pravartaka Award. Set in the Central Travancore region in the 1960s, the story revolved round an Orthodox Christian family headed by Kunjenachan, a ninety-year-old patriarch who lives his life by The Book. The novel had a highly successful film adaptation with the same title in 1970.

E.Mathai, better known by his nom de plume Parappurath (1924–1981), was a novelist and short story writer from Kerala, India. He was born on November 14, 1924 in Mavelikkara in Alappuzha district. After his high school education, he joined the Indian Army in 1944 and served there for 21 years. Many of his subjects and characters were drawn from this background.

He has functioned as the president of Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society (SPCS), the world’s largest writers’ publishing cooperative. He has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, M. P. Paul Prize and Sahithya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham Award. He has 20 novels, 13 collections of stories and one play to his credit. Many of his novels have been made into films. He died on December 30, 1981.

STORY

KUNCHENACHAN

KUNCHENACHAN   is. a 90 year  Orthodox Christian who lives his life by THE BOOK. He has 4 children. Mathukutty, Gheevergeese and Kunju Cherukkan and PHILLIPOSE.

Mathukutty’s son Rajan , by his first wife is in the army and the family is run by the money he sends. His second wife Deenamma is a very kind hearted caring woman who takes care of all the needs of  Kunchanachan  and the old man is very fond of her. Mathukutty and Deenamma are  sharing quite warm relationship but Mathukutty never has time for her feelings and very rarely they spent time together and she feels lonely at times.

Geevergeese is a small time businessman. He is never happy with his life. Always has complains to make and feels he is neglected by everyone. He has a daughter named Kuttiamma who is very simple and caring and the grandfather likes her so much . She is a teacher in a village school. Geevarghese is reluctant to get her married because he feels he will lose her salary. She is in love with her colleague Thomas. Thomas is Catholic which is not acceptable by Geevarghese. She always meets her grandfather and pours her feelings and the old man always consoles her.

Kunjucherukkan is not well off like others and he lives in utter poverty. He survives by the money sent by his son who lives in Bombay. PHILLIPOSE is the wealthiest of all but never cares for his family. Phillipose ‘ wife Annamma is from a rich family has all comforts but her husband is a womaniser. She suffers silently and she fees like committing suicide at times . She too shares her feelings with the old man.

During his annual leave Rajan makes it a point to viisit his family. He meets Santhamma and has fallen in love with her. But the family is not happy about this as they have some issue with her widowed mother who is not having good reputation in  the neighborhood.But Rajan ignores the gossip and his grandfather has given him green signal.

Kunchenachan has a bosom friend Sivaraman Kurup who is a Hindu. They discuss about their own religious faith often but it was always a heathy discussion. Sometimes Achan from the church too join them . According to Achan only Jesus is the Saviour. But they always agree to disagree and Kurup brings some opium to the old man who need it for his sleep . His friend knows , with all his family problems he will never have a good night sleep.Mathukutty repeatedly warned the old man not to let Kurup inside. But  he tells him that can happen only after his death.

All these things make   Kunchanachan  a very frustrated, helpless, angry  and lonely human being . Except his granddaughter no one talks to him. Even she is not able to understand his mood swings at times .

MOVIE

In the opening scene we see the old man walking alone in a god forsaken place and he hears the voice of Abraham. The voice tells him” now your life is in my hands. You have only half an hour to live ”  He gets panicky. Actually this a dream he gets often. This disturbs him a lot. He feels that his family is highly dysfunctional and wants to set things right before he dies which gives him a very insecure feeling! Dheenamma knows about it but she feels helpless.

During one visit Rajan decided to marry Shanthamma. The old man told him to go ahead inspite off all opposition and they got married. No one welcomed her in the house except Kunchanachan and Dheenamma. Rajan had to leave immediately as there is no vacation for him. Sometimes Shanthamma had to suffer silently.

Kuttiamma came oneday and told the old man that she wants to runaway from the house as no one understands her feelings. She with the blessings of the old man married Thomas secretary and came home for his blessings.

   The family had to go through lots of misfortune all of a sudden. Rajan dies in an accident at the military camp.  Philippose’s son Johnykutty  marries a labourer in the estate, Philippose’s wife Annamma lost her mental balance because of her husband’s behavior. Kunju Cherukkan’s son Danny  is arrested on charges of smuggling and Kunjonachan, who believes that the death is ‘only half an hour away’ suffers a heart attack and is bedridden. The doctor advises him not to stop his habit of consuming opium all of a sudden. The opium is brought by Sivarama Kurup (Adoor Bhasi), a regular to Kunjonachan’s house.

One day Kunjonachan finds his daughter-in-law Deenamma and Kurup in a compromising position. Kunjonachan is shocked, he falls down and became dumbstruck.  Kurup and Dheenamma got scared. They thought this news will spread everywhere. In order  to silence  the old man they mixed poison in  opium which he takes regularly and   the kind-hearted old man dies. In an act of repentance Deenamma also consumes the poisoned opium and dies . It was tragic to see the two good souls in the house dying at the end. Though we feel sorry for the cruel death of Kunchanachan he lived by the book till the end of his life.

MUSIC

The music of this movie needs special mention. There is a beautiful article by B. Vijayakumar in Hindu Metroplus about the song ” Samayamam rathathil”.

The excellent music, composed by G. Devarajan and the five songs penned by Vayalar Rama Varma was a highpoint of the film. All the songs became instant hits. A prayer song, ‘Samayamam rathathil njaan …’ (P. Leela-Madhuri) gained much importance. It is now widely used as a dirge. This song has an interesting story behind it. The song was written by a German missionary, Rev.Fr Volbrecht Nagel in 1904 while he was a parish priest in Malabar region. Vayalar modified the song by changing a few words, but keeping the feel and idea of the original intact. The original song written by Fr. Nagel is said to have been inspired by an old spiritual written by Wallace Willis in the 1860s, ‘Swing low sweet chariot…’ And another interesting fact is that the tune of the Malayalam song from the film resembled the American Western folk ballad ‘Oh My Darling Clementine…’ Fr. Nagel’s prayer must have been in circulation much before its was included in ‘Aranazhikaneram.’ But it gained popularity as a dirge only after it was included in the film.

Kottarakara’s acting surpasses everyone.infact many people consider it par above even his own in Chemmeen. Ofcourse Ragini, Sheela and Adoor Basi have made this movie one of the memorable movies in Malayalam cinema.

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