Swati Muthyam and purity of the Soul
Swati Mutyam- The white pearl that comes out from the oyster, totally untainted and pure of any impurities.
The Swati Mutyam that director K.Viswanath refers to here is Sivayya( Kamal Hassan), a kid trapped in a man’s body. Viswanath and Kamal had earlier collaborated in Sagara Sangamam( Salaingai Oli), a story of a gifted classical artiste, let down by destiny, and facing failure at every stage of life. Balakrishna or Balu in Swati Mutyam, was a talented dancer, but poverty prevented him for pursuing his dream. At every stage of life, he had to lose everything he dreamed for, his ambition for dance, the woman he loves, his mother, to the cruel stroke of destiny. And he ends up cynical, bitter an alcoholic wreck, frustrated with society. Balu was a cynical rebel, who could not accept what he saw around him.
Sivayya on the other hand is a man innocent of the world around him. He has the soul of an innocent child, trapped in his adult body. The story kicks off when Sivayya’s grown up son, visits him, and his daughter, asks her father, for help in writing a story. That is when her father asks her to write the story of her grandfather, claiming he is a “Swati Mutyam”. And then the story goes into a flash back mode, where a young widow Lalitha( Radhika), is asked by her father in law to leave the house, holding her responsible for the death of his son. The anger of course is more due to the fact that his son had married her, without his consent.
Her brother Chalapathi( Sarath Babu), totally helpless brings her home, where she has to bear with the shrewish nature of her sister in law. Sivayya is the simpleton , running around, leading his own life, totally oblivious to the world around him. Orphaned at a small age, he lives with his uncle, who had cheated him of all his property, and in a way was also responsible for his improper mental growth. His only solace in life is his grandmother, who dotes on him. Lalitha also is attracted to Sivayya’s innocent nature, and his totally guileless attitude. Spurred by his grandmother’s words that Lalita will find hapiness only if some one weds her, he actually marries her during the Sree Rama Navami ceremony in the village to the shock of every one. Following his grandmother’s death and the village people’s opposition, Sivayya has no option but to leave for the city along with Lalita and her 5 year old son.
Like most of K.Viswanath’s movies, Swati Mutyam, unfolds at a leisurely laid back pace, as it takes its own time for the characters to develop. But it is in Sivayya’s character that one sees Viswanath’s mastery at work. Sivayya is not insane, he is a man whose mind has stopped growing. He does not really understand the concept of wrong and right. He marries Lalitha, not because of any deep rooted social conscience, but simply because his grandmother says that is the right way. Sivayya is the kind of person who always views the world around him in a positive light. Watch the scene, where he pesters a person for a job, till the person is totally fed up. Absolutely Chaplinesque in nature. But that scene reveals what Sivayya is , a person with no individual thought of his own, he just does what others around him say. We see it in another scene, where the landlord tries to molest Lalitha, and she is saved in the nick of time by a dhobi couple, who emphathize with her. In a fit of anger, the dhobi says, “Narikeyali naa koduku ni”( Kill the bastard). Sivayya takes it literally, and he goes to thrash the landlord, black and blue, and its only the intervention of Lalita that prevents him from killing the landlord.
It is this honesty, this purity of approach to Sivayya’s character that makes Swati mutyam a classic. And nowhere is it more apparent, than in a crucial scene, where Sivayya needs to consumate his marriage with Lalitha. Now the standard route would have been to show the hero and heroine in a dream song, and then assume that yeah its done. Or else get the heroine to do a vulgar song, where she apparently tries to seduce the simpleton hero. It is here that Viswanath’s genius comes into play. Lalitha understands that Sivayya does only what he is told to do, and so she simulates the erotic response in him, by touching him, kissing gently on forehead, cheeks, and he responds in kind to her. I mean consider this a scene, that needs a lot of sensitivity, is treated so beautifully here. It is erotic, beautiful, at the same time not vulgar in any sense. You are turned on by the sheer sensibility Viswanath displays in the “Manasu Palike” song.
Another excellent feature of Viswanath’s movies has been the way he uses subtlety and silence to convey a message or a meaning. Not for him the thunderous dialogues or over the top hysterical melodrama. Take the scene, where Kamal is being beaten up badly by his uncle, after he asks him for a share in the property, when he marries Radhika. She looks at the scene, and comes in between. She then hands over the stick to Kamal, now here is the beauty of silence comes into picture. She does not say anything, just looks at Kamal, and with a nod of her head, motions him to go. No dialogues but the expression on Radhika’s face conveys disgust, anger so wonderfully that we understand what she means. And after this Kamal goes and beats up his uncle. Or in the pre climax scene, when Radhika’s father in law, asks him to go out of her life forever, he just sits in a corner, playing his fiddle furiously, not talking anything.
Swati Mutyam works because it is essentially a honest movie. We don’t see Kamal suddenly becommig a normal guy, who can run around trees. Nor does Kamal suddenly write something become a rich guy. He remains the same old Sivayya, throughout the movie, and that is the endearing nature of the character, it maintains its consistency throughout. It is a kind of Chaplinesque tragi comic character, with whom you can emphathize. Sivayya is the Swati Mutyam, he is a man whose soul is not yet corrupted by the world. Like the pearl, he has spent his life cocooned and protected, first it was his grandmother, and then it was Lalitha. But while Lalitha is as protective as him, she teaches him the ways of the world and nurtures him. If his grandmother was the oyster that protected him, Lalitha was the artiste who cultivated the pearl and gave it its lustre.
Ilayaraja who gave a wonderful score for Sagarasangamam, again collaborates with Viswanath for a memorable score. While the songs in Sagarasangamam had a classic touch, those in Swati Mutyam, are more light and folksy in nature.
“Laali Laali” is a sweet lulabby by Suseela.
“Suvvi, Suvvi” is one of the best songs of the album. The way IR integrates the sounds of the boatman’s cry, the tinkling of cow bells, the vessel being filled with water, with the song is just awesome. For me one more reason i loved this song is the way the lyrics establish the characteristics of Lalita and Sivayya. If we take the second stanza, it goes
M: Pattina graham veedi, ni batukuna punnami pande dhariki, vasthundhamma oka roju, choosthunadu pai vaadu.
Basically Sivayya here is assuring that one day ” the eclipse in her life would be over, and hapiness would flood like a full moon, the God above is watching”
To which Lalita replies
F: Vasthundha aa naadu choosthada a pai vaadu
Lalita who has however been through a lot, is not as optimistic, as she wonders whether that day would really come.
The best of the lot is however the song “Rama Kanavemi Ra”, one of IR’s best songs. I would rate this song as a masterpiece for sure, because IR combines 4 different folk traditions of Andhra Pradesh in one song. It starts off with a harikatha, then followed by a kolatam, then into a chekka bhajana and the last being a standard prayer song. And the backdrop of the Sree Rama Navami festival, gives it that wonderful native touch. The way IR manages to switch seamlessly between one genre to another is brilliant.
Kamal gives one of his finest performances as Sivayya, his way of walking, his expressions, his habit of raising his hand, everything gelling perfectly. Radhika complements him wonderfully, expressing through her eyes, not going overboard. Viswanath’s movies always had strong female characters, and its the same here too.
While Swati Mutyam has been remade in Hindi as Eeswar, i would still request viewers to watch the Telugu original. Anil Kapoor’s performance in the Hindi version is just no patch, on Kamal’s in the original. It is a movie that is slow paced, personal, soulful and sensitive.
Tags: Ilayaraja, K.Viswanath, Kamal Hassan, Swati Muthyam, Telugu Movies
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
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Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
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Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
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Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
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Ratnakar..Thanks for bringing this gem out. Kamal was at his best and the dance…for Suvvi Suvvi..i dont think anyone who has seen this movie can forget that dance..it was aped..mimicked soo much in Eshwar and Anari to some extent…
For me the scene which i can never forget is when Kamal takes the kid out for begging…
Also the song..chinnari kunnari kittaya ninnu yevaru kottaru aiyya…
Do, you think Sean Penn’s character in I Am Sam has a lot of shades of Shivvaya?
The most poignant of the scenes was the last, the aged Kamal moving out to a new place with his sons and others, with a trailer (?) following them with Radhika’s Tulasi chettu
Thanks for writing this piece ., it brings a lot of memories back . What a movie , brilliant.
Coudnt read the post completely, there seems be some content issue, but a brilliant film by KV. Yes, that was wonderful…a mark of the Thespian…’Vasthundha aa naadu choosthada a pai vaadu’…
And Ratnakar do you remember the umbrella dropping scene, ‘gunde leni manishalle …ninu konda konallo vadeleshada..’ then the umbrella drops out of Kamal’s hand….
Right now I would say…’vasthunda a roju…teesthara elanti manchi cinemalu’…
@ Sridhar..sorry there does seem some content issue..we are looking into it..and the tech people have been notified about it, rest assured, we are looking into it. On the same note, it is very inspirational that you are still overlooking all the tech issues and giving your opinion, it means a lot to PFC..thanks a ton
nice trip down the memory lane Ratna!!
@OM – no – not I am sam – It is Forrest gump.
The tour de force performance was that of Radhika. She proved that language is no barrier for a motivated artiste, be it diction of her telugu or expressions – a character she etched so powerfully – anyone would have thought she was a telugu heroine!!
@ VPJ, Radhika has been one of the best actresses in Telugu cinema. Her Telugu diction is flawless, and unless you know that she happens to be M.R.Radha’s daughter, its hard to imagine her as not being a native Andhraite. She gave some of her best performances with K.Viswanath. Apart from Swatimutyam, her another collaboration with KV was for Swatikiranam, where she played Mamooty’s helpless wife. Apart from that she has given some great performances in movies like Radha Kalyanam( Telugu version of Andha 7 Naal), Moodu Mullu( Telugu version of Moondru Mudichu), Nyayam Kavali, Idi Pellantara to name a few. Sadly later on she got stuck in Mama-Bhabhi roles.
@ OM, i am with VPJ on this. Sivayya to me was somewhat akin to Forrest Gump. In fact i distinctly remember when Forrest Gump was released in Vizag, Eenadu ran an article on it, where it stated that Tom Hank’s role was like Kamal’s in Swatimuthyam.
“Chinnari Ponnari Kittayya” is another lovely song, yes also the scene where both of them go for begging, and subsequently Radhika reminding Kamal of his responsibilities.
Yaar neither Anil in Eeshwar nor Venky in Chanti/Anari, could come anywhere even close to Kamal in Swatimutyam. I mean it was such a natural performance, and at no stage did it look forced. Miss the Kamal of those days, where he did not try to project himself in every frame.
@ Santosh, even Radhika’s death scene is quite poignant, especially Kamal’s performance.
@ Sridhar
Regarding that “gunde leni manishalle ninnu konda konalo vadilesada” part it is preceded by “anda danda vundalani kodanda ramuni nammukunte”. See here its a kind of irony, referring to Rama leaving Sita in the forests after some one casts a doubt on her character.
See the translation here is like
“You had trusted Rama to be by your side,
Yet you were deserted by a heartless person in the wild”.
Also if u observe IR’s composition, he starts the music interlude this way, first mixing the sound of Kamal striking the vessel, and then the boatman’s cry. Trust me whenever i listen to this song, i am transported back to the green villages and the Godavari river. Truly magical.
@OM – You’ve made me feel a integral part of PFC family, means a lot to me. Thank you.
@Ratnakar – Yes, ‘gunde leni’ comes after ‘anda danda’, but the timing and drop of the umbrella seems significant and thats KV’s mark.
Since you mentioned Sagarasangamam as well, I feel SS was more organic, and naturally flowing (for that matter even Swarnakamalam) than Swathimuthyam. Don’t get me wrong here, I have watched Swathimuthyam countless times (the theatre owners in Anantapur will be grateful to me) and is up up there for me. But if you look closer, Swathimuthyam had Kamal a little more conscious, a little more prepared. But in SS it looked they (Kamal, Jayaprada) were just living the roles. Perhaps it could be because of the drama quotient in Swathimuthyam I feel like that.
Very very interestingly even Kamal acknowledges this in one of his recent articles somewhere that it was almost a battle between the director and the actor in Swathimuthyam for a healthy one-upmanship.
Also, it is entirely to the director’s credit that he makes Venkatesh Daggubati look, behave like an absolute darling in Swarnakamalam.
@ Santosh
Well i guess thats maybe Balu in Sagarasangamam was a more realistic than Sivayya in Swatimutyam, who at times was too good to be true.
Also Swatimutyam was more feel good in nature, compared to SS’s more tragic overtones, if u take the character graphs, nothing seems to go right for Balu in SS, even though he is talented, while for Sivayya in SM everything seems to go right. I guess regarding Kamal being conscious in SM, could be the fact that he was not playing role of a normal person, so there was that extra emphasis.
Venky gave one of his best performances in Swarnakamalam, sadly the other movie in Venky-KV combo Chinnabbayi was an absolute let down.
Interestingly both Swatimutyam and Sagarasangamam did pretty well commercially too. I remember when these movies were released, the songs were a rage, and almost every where i went, the discussion was on these movies. Of course for me Sagarasangamam has a more special attachment, as it was shot entirely in Vizag, my home town. The fatso kid who played the photographer in Sagarasangamam studied in my school, he was two classes below me.
Ah! you talk about Chinnabbayi. By then I guess all top stars were spoilt.
*digression alert*
Interestingly all top stars were at their charming best (from every movie standpoint you can talk of) Nagarjuna Akkineni, Venky, Chiranjeevi in the 80s, where of course every gallery fare would be alternated with a pleasing fare. Nag and Venky, the new US returns of then, were natural, their body language, the look seemed natural. Surprisingly for a movie like Swarnakamalam which had no scope for gimmicks, Venky behaves so normally, no theatrics for an 80s movies. His costumes, their fits in SKamalam were such a delight. (the US influence ;) ;) I am not even talking about Nag of Gitanjali here.
Wonder why it couldn’t be repeated in the 90s abd later wherein you could take more risks compared to the 80s now that you were established, and had nothing to lose?!!!!
Ratnakar,
if not done earlier here, Sagarasangamam deserves a special post. Very very detailed.
Thanks for writing about this lovely film. I was a kid when I saw it, but the moments have stayed with me…
Why doesn’t Kamal make these simple, nice movies these days?
@ Ratnakar- Swati Muthyam is definitely a great movie from the Kamal Haasan-K.Vishwanath-Ilayaraja combo.This one also had a tamil version called Chippikul Muthu.Yes the pace is slow, it looks like a personal diary but it hooks you so much that you just are glued to Kamal’s character throughout the movie.Yeah Radhika was quite proficient in Telugu cinema too.In fact when her media firm- Radaan Mediaworks’s popular gameshow on Sun T.V- Thanga Vettai ( hosted by Ramya Krishnan) came out in its Telugu version on Gemini T.V-Bangaram Neekosam- it was Radhika herself who hosted it.
@ Ratnakar,
That fatso you mentioned, heeard last that he is planning to direct a movie with kamal nowadays.