Swathi Muthyam

Swathi Muthyam is a 1986 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath and produced by Edida Nageswara Rao. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Radhika, while Gollapudi Maruti Rao, J. V. Somayajulu, Nirmalamma, Sarath Babu, and Y. Vijaya play supporting roles. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Swathi Muthyam depicts the plight of a young widow who is rescued by a man with a cognitive disability.
Swathi Muthyam was a box office success and attained cult status. The film was screened at the Moscow Film Festival, the Asian and African film festival in Tashkent, the 11th IFFI in the inaugural mainstream section. The film received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, three Nandi Awards and the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. The film was selected by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1986, but was not nominated. It is currently the only Telugu film to be selected as the Indian Oscar submission for Best International Feature Film.
The film was later dubbed into Tamil as Sippikkul Muthu, released on October 2, 1986. Upon its success, Viswanath directed its Hindi version Eeshwar and in Kannada it was remade as Swathi Muthu.

Plot

Sivayya is an innocent orphan with a brain injury resulting in low intellectual function. He lives along with his grandmother in a village. In that village, Lalitha, a young widow with a five-year-old son, lives along with her brother Chalapati's family. She and her son often get abused by her sister-in-law, but Lalitha, having nowhere to go, bears it all.
Sivayya often encounters Lalitha and gets appalled by her condition. One day, during Sri Rama Navami festival, Sivayya marries Lalitha, shocking all the villagers. His grandmother approves of his marriage as she also has much sympathy and regard for Lalitha, but his uncle and Orthodox villagers oppose that marriage as they consider remarriage of a widow as a sin. In that brawl, Sivayya's grandmother dies, leaving innocent Sivayya in the hands of Lalitha. Lalitha moves in with her husband with the blessings of her brother.
Some of the villagers help them to build a new life. Gradually, Lalitha makes Sivayya understand the household duties and responsibilities of a man. Sivayya finds work and starts to support his wife and stepson. Later they have a son and live happily for a long time. Years pass, and Lalitha becomes ill and dies in her husband's arms. In the climax, Sivayya walks out of his house surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He carries a tulsi plant, which was his memory of Lalitha's love.

Cast

Kamal Haasan as Sivayya
Radhika as Lalitha
Gollapudi Maruthi Rao as Landlord
J. V. Somayajulu as Lalita's guru
Nirmalamma as Sivayya's grandmother
Master Karthik as Balasubrahmanyam, Lalita's first son, whom later adopted or accepted by Sivayya after their marriage
Sarath Babu as Chalapati, Lalita's brother
Y. Vijaya as Lalita's sister-in-law
Allu Arjun as Sivayya's grandson
Major Sundarrajan as Rao
Deepa
Dubbing Janaki as Rajyam
Mallikarjuna Rao
Suthi Veerabhadra Rao as Guruvaya
Edida Sriram
Master Ali
Production

Arun Kumar and Venkatesh were the production designers for the film. The film was shot for nearly 70 days near the shores of Rajahmundry, Torredu, Tadikonda, Pattiseema, Chennai, and Mysore. Allu Arjun did a small role as one of the grandsons of Kamal Haasan.
The scene where Haasan dances like someone who cannot dance took so many days to get it "rightly wrong", as Haasan is a seasoned dancer.
Initially, the team had approached actress Sridevi for the role of Lalitha, but she declined due to a packed shooting schedule, as she was continuously working in Bollywood.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Reception

said in 2017, "K. Viswanath, this year's recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, made three films with Kamal Haasan. Sagara Sangamam is the best, Subha Sankalpam the weakest – and between these two films, chronologically and quality-wise, lies Swathi Muthyam." Reviewing the Tamil dubbed version Sippikul Muthu, Jayamanmadhan of Kalki wrote that even if it seems like an aimless story that started somewhere and suddenly stopped, the reality is that we have connected with the story until it happened. Reviewing Tamil dubbed version, Balumani of Anna praised acting, dialogues, music, screenplay and direction.

Accolades

Award / Film festival	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient and nominee	Result
National Film Awards	September 1987	Best Feature Film in Telugu	Producer: Edida Nageswara Rao Director: K. Viswanath	Won
Nandi Awards	1987	Best Feature Film - Gold	Producer: Edida Nageswara Rao	Won
Nandi Awards	1987	Best Actor	Kamal Haasan	Won
Nandi Awards	1987	Best Director	K. Viswanath	Won
Filmfare Awards South	9 August 1987	Best Director	K. Viswanath	Won