Rugmini is definitely one of the lesser known gems of Malayalam cinema, which was one step ahead of time, based on Kamala Surayya's novel. A very small film tells the story of a teenage girl, Rugmini abused by her step father. She was later admitted to a brothel, run by Sathya Bhai, who is a motherly figure to the inmates. It was revealed that Rugmini's mother was a former inmate at the brothel house. The film holds the record of youngest recipient of Kerala State Awards for Best Actress. Actress Anju was 13 years old.
2 Reviews
DOLL FOR A PROSTITUTE: KUMARAN'S BEST EFFORT?
jayans21 June 2003
I really don't know why I am writing this because the Malayalam film industry appears to have fallen into an Age of Darkness. An Age in which really good films have no relevance; the film industry that operates within a limited geographical and linguistic terrain has produced film makers of unbelievable talent, knowledge, and mastery of the medium. It is all lost, anyway. The junk that is being churned out of Kerala currently will make any real cineaste ... hold your breath.. commit suicide!
K.P Kumaran happens to be the First Among Equals in the list of real film makers; the real creator, Kubla Khan of cellulloid!
Having seen K.P evolve (from playwright, co-script writer and Assistant Director to Adoor Gopalakrishnan when the latter made the watershed Malayalam film 'Swayamvaram',)into a film maker of incredible talent and mind-blowing understanding of the film medium, I can stand up and say in any crowd that 'Rukmini' is one of the best five films ever made in Malayalam.
Rukmini deals with the theme (something we, Keralites like to hide) of child molestation, trauma and dispossession. The film is mostly shot in a brothel in which Rukmini, the child prostitute (already molested by her stepfather) learns the trade. There are interesting characters. The 'Madam', the police inspector who is a frequent visitor to her brothel, but becomes a father when he sees the innocence of Rukmini, still asking for a doll! As in every Kumaran film, the end in this film is soaked in surrealism where we find the Madam and the rest of her 'charges' wait at a roadside after being evicted from the brothel.
in another country, another cinematic tradition 'Rukmini' would have been framed in gold and preserved in the warmth of the love of the people. Unfortunately, it is not so in Kerala (and India). We drool over a nonexistent 'Bollywood' which in actuality is a 'Follywood'.
Whatever they say, if anyone ever looking at K.P's work in future comes across my jottings on his films must contact me, please!
K.P Kumaran happens to be the First Among Equals in the list of real film makers; the real creator, Kubla Khan of cellulloid!
Having seen K.P evolve (from playwright, co-script writer and Assistant Director to Adoor Gopalakrishnan when the latter made the watershed Malayalam film 'Swayamvaram',)into a film maker of incredible talent and mind-blowing understanding of the film medium, I can stand up and say in any crowd that 'Rukmini' is one of the best five films ever made in Malayalam.
Rukmini deals with the theme (something we, Keralites like to hide) of child molestation, trauma and dispossession. The film is mostly shot in a brothel in which Rukmini, the child prostitute (already molested by her stepfather) learns the trade. There are interesting characters. The 'Madam', the police inspector who is a frequent visitor to her brothel, but becomes a father when he sees the innocence of Rukmini, still asking for a doll! As in every Kumaran film, the end in this film is soaked in surrealism where we find the Madam and the rest of her 'charges' wait at a roadside after being evicted from the brothel.
in another country, another cinematic tradition 'Rukmini' would have been framed in gold and preserved in the warmth of the love of the people. Unfortunately, it is not so in Kerala (and India). We drool over a nonexistent 'Bollywood' which in actuality is a 'Follywood'.
Whatever they say, if anyone ever looking at K.P's work in future comes across my jottings on his films must contact me, please!
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