Akashadoothu

Akashadoothu
CD Cover
Directed by	Sibi Malayil
Produced by	Thomas Korah,Prem Prakash, Sajan Varghese
Written by	Dennis Joseph
Starring	Madhavi Murali
Music by	Ouseppachan
Cinematography	Anandakuttan
Edited by	Bhoominathan
Production company	Anupama
Release date	1993 (1993)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Box office	6 crores

Akashadoothu is a 1993 Malayalam-language drama film, directed by Sibi Malayil with Madhavi and Murali in lead roles. One of the most influential melodramas of the nineties, the film tells the tale of a widow suffering from leukemia. It won the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare. Madhavi won Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress and Filmfare Award for Best Actress awards for this film. This film was remade in Telugu and Kannada as Matrudevobhava and Karulina Koogu respectively. It was also remade in Marathi as "Chimani Pakhare" by Matchindra Chate of Chate Coaching Classes in Maharashtra.

The story revolves around Johnny (Murali) and Annie (Madhavi), a married couple who had both grown up together in an orphanage, fallen in love and had got married. The couple have four children; the eldest being a teenage girl named Meenu, twin boys Rony and Tony, and the youngest Monu, a toddler. Rony and Tony are about 8 years old and are very close to each other. Rony is physically handicapped. Johnny is a jeep driver by profession and Annie a violin teacher. Though the family struggles to live and make ends meet, they lead a happy life together, except for the moments when Johnny, a recurrent alcoholic spends most of his daily earnings at the local toddy shop. During an altercation between Johnny and the local milk delivery man Keshavan (N F Varghese), the latter is humiliated in front of his family. Keshavan therefore decides to take revenge on Johnny.