Chandralekha (1997 film)
Chandralekha is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Fazil. It stars Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Sukanya, Pooja Batra, Nedumudi Venu, and Innocent. The film's title is a portmanteau of the two female lead characters' names—Chandra and Lekha. Berny Ignatius composed the songs, while the film score was composed by S. P. Venkatesh. The film was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at the time of its release and inspired the Bollywood film Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega.
Plot
Appukuttan Nair is a struggling unemployed youth who arrives in Mumbai to meet his sister and brother-in-law. His father has been falsely implicated in a bank fraud and wants to sell his ancestral property to pay towards the litigation. For that he needs his sister's approval, but is abused and turned away by his brother-in-law.Disappointed, Appu seeks out his old pal Nooruddin, who is working in a fruit juice vending shop in Goa. Noor himself is a hapless uneducated youth working for his uncle Beeran, who is a treacherous money lender, with a hope to marry his daughter Maimoona. They plan to open a paint shop but need ₹1.25 lakh to rent a shop as prerequisite to get a bank loan. With no other way in sight, they swindle Beeran out of ₹1.25 lakh. Appukuttan then tries to get the loan sanctioned but he is rebuffed by a new Bank Manager Varghese who had taken charge by then.
In a turn of events, Appukuttan happens to rescue a woman named Chandrika Varma after a car accident, hospitalising her. Chandra is the daughter of a wealthy businessman, Udhaya Varma. Appukuttan is mistaken by the hospital staff to be her husband, Alfred Fernandes. Soon her relatives including her father arrive and they too mistake him for Chandra's husband, because Chandra had eloped with Alfie, and no one among them had ever seen or talked to Alfie. Also it happened to be that Chandra was a major client of Appukuttan's Bank Manager Varghese, who too mistook Appukkuttan for Chandra's husband, and was now eager to oblige him with the loan. Appukuttan decides to masquerade as Alfie till he gets loan approval from the Bank Manager. Chandra lay bedridden paralysed unable to react, but with her cognition intact was able to witness all the commotions around her.
Some of the relatives of Chandra were never convinced about Appukuttan from the outset. Beeran is also hot on Appukuttan's trail to retrieve his money. To make matters worse for Appukuttan Chandra's close friend Lekha, a medical graduate comes to visit her father Iravi. She had talked to Alfie on the phone previously and is immediately suspicious about Appukkuttan. The relatives join with Lekha to find out the truth. Lekha and others play cat and mouse with Appukuttan trying to uncover his veracity, with Appukuttan staying ahead of the game for a while. Finally Lekha fortuitously comes to know the real story of Appukuttan and she is moved by his plight and enamored by his openhearted nature.
In the meantime, Chandra revives from her paralysis and she too forgives Appukuttan for everything; she also developed a liking for him. One of the jealous relatives of Chandra manages to expose Appukkuttan before everyone. Then Chandra admits all the truth to everyone. Hers was not in fact a car accident but was a suicide attempt after her fiancé, the real Alfie, had betrayed her, and their marriage had never commenced. Chandra recovers fully under the loving care of Appu and Lekha. Chandra falls in love with Appukuttan and hopes to marry him. However, she discovers that Lekha was already in love with Appukuttan, and had in fact given way for her as a favour to Chandra's father, to whom Lekha was like a second daughter. Chandra gracefully withdraws from her planned marriage with Appukuttan, and Appukuttan and Lekha are united together with everyone's hearty blessings.
Cast
- Mohanlal as Appukuttan Nair / Alfred Fernandez
- Sukanya as Chandrika Varma / Chandra
- Pooja Batra as Lekha
- Nedumudi Venu as Udhaya Varma, Chandra's father
- Innocent as Iravi Kutti Pillai, Varma's driver, assistant, and an integral part of his family
- Sreenivasan as Nooruddin, Appukuttan's friend
- M. G. Soman as Doctor Menon
- Sukumari as Appachi, Udhaya Varma's elder sister
- Cochin Haneefa as DSP Sathyapalan, Appachi's elder son and Udhaya Varma's nephew
- T. P. Madhavan as Doctor
- Reena as Shobha, Sathyapalan's wife
- Augustine as Ravindran Nair, Appu's brother-in-law and Varma's manager
- Sadiq as Advocate Venu, Appachi's son-in law
- Mamukkoya as Beeran, Nooruddin's uncle
- Kuthiravattam Pappu as Sankara Kurup, Udhaya Varma's accountant
- Maniyanpilla Raju as Bank manager Varghese
- Chandni Shaju as Maimuna, Beeran's daughter and Noor's love interest
- Mini Arun as Indu, Appachi's younger daughter and Venu's wife
- Antony Perumbavoor as Staff at office
- Anil Kapoor as another 'Alfie' Patient escaped from mental asylum
- Mink Brar as Lead dancer in the song "Maanathe Chandiranothoru"
Production
Soundtrack
The blockbuster songs of this film were written by lyricist Gireesh Puthenchery. The songs are composed by the music director duo Berny Ignatius. The background score of the film was composed by S. P. Venkatesh.| Track | Song | Singers |
| 1 | "Appukutta Thoppikkara" | M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra |
| 2 | "Ammoommakkili" | K. S. Chithra |
| 3 | "Maanathe Chandiranothoru" | M. G. Sreekumar, Malgudi Subha, Chorus |
| 4 | "Innale Mayangunna" | Sujatha |
| 5 | "Thamarapoovil" | M. G. Sreekumar |
| 6 | "Sa Pa Ma Pa" | Chorus |