Agraharathil Kazhutai
| Agraharathil Kazhutai | |
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Poster in Malayalam
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| Directed by | John Abraham |
| Produced by |
Charly John John Abraham |
| Written by | Venkat Swaminathan |
| Starring |
M. B. Sreenivasan Swathi Savitri Raman Veeraraghavan |
| Music by | M. B. Sreenivasan |
| Cinematography |
K. Ramachandra Babu Ananda Kuttan |
| Edited by | Ravi |
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Production
company |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Agraharathil Kazhutai (English: Donkey in the Brahmin ghetto) is a 1977 Tamil language film. Directed by avant-garde film-maker John Abraham, the film had its screenplay by film critic Venkat Swaminathan. This was John's second film (his first in Tamil). Made as satire on the brahminical bigotry and superstition, a donkey becomes the central character in the film. At the 25th National Film Awards, the film won the Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. In 2013, IBN Live included the film in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.
Narayana Swamy, a professor and resident of a Brahmin village, adopts a new-born donkey after an enraged crowd kills its mother. The donkey becomes the sole companion to a deaf-mute maid who works in Narayana Swamy's house. There is chaos among the villagers upon the arrival of the donkey and kids start playing pranks on the donkey. Thinking that having a donkey in the village will ruin them, the villagers attack and kill the donkey. Soon after its death, miracles start happening in the village. Slowly people believe all that is because of the donkey and start worshipping its dead body. They arrange for a ritual funeral for the donkey before burning it. In the end, the fire spreads around the village and kills all the people. The professor and his maid are the lone survivors.
A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, John Abraham assisted Mani Kaul in Uski Roti (1969) before getting a break as an independent director in the 1971 Malayalam film Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile. Agraharathil Kazhutai was his second feature film and first one in Tamil.
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