Newspaper Boy (film)
| Newspaper Boy | |
|---|---|
A promotional poster of the film
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| Directed by | P. Ramdas |
| Produced by | A group of students |
| Written by |
Story: P. Ramadas Screenplay: P. Ramadas Dialogues: Nagavally R. S. Kurup P. Ramadas (uncredited) |
| Starring | Master Moni Master Narendran Neyyattinkara Komalam Nagavally R.S. Kurup Master Narendran Kumari Madhuri Master Venkiteswaran Kuriyathi |
| Music by |
Songs: Vijayan A. Ramachandran Background score: Mahatma Sangeethamela |
| Cinematography | Madhavan Nair |
| Edited by | K. D. George |
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Production
company |
Adarsh Kalamandir
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| Distributed by | R. S. Pictures (Cochin & Malabar) Variety Pictures (Travancore) |
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Release date
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Running time
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130 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Budget | ₹175,000 (US$2,700) |
Newspaper Boy is a Malayalam–language Indian film released in 1955. It is the first neo realistic movie in the language. The film, a drama of stark realism, narrates the life of the common man on the street. The film is noteworthy in that the entire production programme from script-writing to direction was controlled and executed by students. The group of students were from Adarsh Kalamandir and was written and directed by P. Ramdas. The screenplay was based on a short story written by Ramadas himself.
Though the film had a shoestring budget of ₹175,000 (US$2,700), featured mostly amateur actors, and was made by an inexperienced crew, Newspaper Boy was a critical success. Influenced by Italian neorealism, the film is also remembered for being the world's first commercial film made by students.
Set in Kerala of the 1950s, Newspaper Boy focuses on the lives of Appu (Master Moni), the young protagonist of the film, and the members of his impoverished family. Appu's father Sankaran Nair (Nagavally R. S. Kurup) earns a meagre living as a worker in a printing press. He is easily exploited in his work – he cannot even muster the courage to ask his employer for overdue wages. Nair's wife, Kalyani Amma (Neyyattinkara Komalam), takes care of their three children, Leela (Kumari Madhuri), Appu and Balan (Master Narendran). Kalyani Amma helps her husband by taking up the job of a housemaid in rich Madhava Menon's (G. R. Nair) house. She is treated like a slave by Menon's wife Lakshmi Amma (Adoor Pankajam). Extreme poverty forces Leela to stop her education. However Nair manages to provide education to Appu, his only hope.
Adding oil to the fire, one day, Nair injures his hand during his work in the press. He could not go to work for two-three weeks. The employer fires Nair from the job during this period. He offers Nair the payment for those days, but Nair refuses it, although his family is in dire need of money. Nair tries to find another job but in vain. He cannot even pay the house-rent. House owner Kesavan Pillai (Veeran) asks Nair either to pay the rent or to leave the house. Soon Nair dies of extreme poverty and illness. After his demise, the family sinks even deeper into poverty. The whole family is now on Appu's shoulders. Appu finds no way to save his family from this situation. Kittummavan (Kuriyathi), a kind-hearted neighbour, is his only help. Kittummavan asks his son Raghavan (P. Ganga) to take Appu to Madras and find him a job.
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