Chanthupottu
The music CD cover
Directed byLal Jose
Written byBenny P Nayarambalam
Produced byLal
StarringDileep
Indrajith Sukumaran
Lal
Biju Menon
Gopika
Bhavana
CinematographyAlagappan N
Edited byRanjan Abraham
Music byVidyasagar
Distributed byLal Release & PJ Entertainments
Release date
  • 26 August 2005 (2005-08-26)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Chanthupottu is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lal Jose, written by Benny P. Nayarambalam, and produced by Lal.[1] The film was based on a play of the same name, which in turn, was based on the life of an actual man with feminine mannerisms. The story is about a man named Radhakrishnan (Dileep) who was brought up like a girl by his grandmother. This film was a commercial success at the box office.

Plot

Radhakrishnan is brought up like a girl by his grandmother who wanted a granddaughter. She calls him Radha, which becomes his nickname. Radha's father Divakaran goes to jail for a murder that he accidentally commits. Radha is ridiculed among the people in the village as he is considered effeminate, but he is not bothered and spends time with the girls singing and teaches dancing. His best friend is Malu who is wooed by Kumaran, a local money lender and the son of the man whom Radha's father had killed in a fight after Kumaran harasses Radha for behaving like girl.

Divakaran comes back from jail and dislikes his son's mannerisms, but can do nothing about them. Slowly Radha's liking for Malu turns into love and when Kumaran sees it, he beats up Radha with the help of her father, a local astrologer and dumps him in deep sea by saying he is a curse to the shore. But he is saved by Freddy, a restaurant owner, on a distant shore. Freddy takes him to the former's home where he is living with his sister Rosie and his grandmother, who is a mental patient due to the shock of the sudden death of Freddy's other sibling, Jonfy. He soon becomes a part of their family, as the grandmother begins to identify him as the late Jonfy. With a change in environment, he also changes his behaviour, adopting more traditionally male mannerisms.

Once, he gets involved in a fight with Cleetus, an old enemy of Freddy, after Cleetus tries to molest Rosie. During the fight, Cleetus gets severely injured on the head. Radha is forced to return to his home to escape from the police.

On reaching his native shore, he discovers that his family, along with his house was burned down by Kumaran. He also learns that Malu is pregnant with Radha's child. His arrival follows a fight with Kumaran. Towards the end of the fight, Radha defeats Kumaran and is about to kill him but, reminded of how his father had to suffer in jail due to murder charges, he spares Kumaran. In the meantime, Malu prematurely gives birth to Radha's child. When Radha sees the child, he vows to raise it as a boy, ripping off the ribbon tied to its hair.

Cast

Controversies

The film was criticized by the LGBT community of Kerala for its distorted portrayal of gender and sexuality. In 2019, queer activists reported that the word "chanthupottu" was used to harass transgender persons, and pointed at the deeply problematic idea that beatings and a heterosexual relationship could "correct" behaviour that goes against traditional gender norms.[2][3] Prabhakaran and Poovathingal (2013) argue that "the movie brought forth traditional machismo of the male hero and defined an unsophisticated masculinity", despite its attempts to portray an effeminate man in a positive light.[4] Director Lal Jose responded to the claims by saying that "In the movie, Radha or Radhakrishnan is a man, he is not a transgender person. There is no doubt about his gender. He falls in love with a woman, has a child from the woman. The only thing was that he had an effeminate aspect to his behaviour. There is no gender issue in that film.”[5]

Music

Chanthupottu
Soundtrack album by
Vidyasagar
Released2005
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Vidyasagar chronology
Chanthupottu
(2005)		 Rasikan
(2004)
  1. "Azhakadalinte" – S. Janaki
  2. "Azhakadalinte" (Male) - P Jayachandran
  3. "Omanapuzha" – Vineeth Sreenivasan
  4. "Chanthu Kudanjoru" – Shahabaz Aman, Sujatha Mohan
  5. "Kana Ponnum" – Franko, Ranjith, Chorus

[6][7][8][9][10]

References

  1. ↑ "New-look Dileep". The Hindu. 2 June 2005. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Queer activists slam Lal Jose for defending problematic 2005 film Chanthupottu". The News Minute. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "In a touching post, Kerala gay man recounts how a blockbuster film wronged him". The News Minute. 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. ↑ Prabhakaran, Roshni and Poovathingal, Nithya Thomas (2013). "Masculinizing Radha: The Politics of Representation in Chandupottu". Language in India. 13 (8): 318–325.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ "Queer activists slam Lal Jose for defending problematic 2005 film 'Chanthupottu'". The News Minute. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  6. ↑ "Dileep's citadel". Sify. 30 December 2005. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Reflection of society". The Hindu. 6 January 2006. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Surya is the 'surprise' hero". Rediff.com. 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Meghna George (1 December 2009). "Mammootty's Chattambinadu". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  10. ↑ John, Nevin (6 February 2013). "Picture isn't perfect in Mollywood". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
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