Chivaraku Migiledi

Chivaraku Migiledi is a 1960 Telugu romance film, written and directed by Gutha Ramineedu.^[1] The film was a remake of the Bengali film Deep Jwele Jaai.^[2] However the Bengali version Deep Jwele Jaai was successful only in cities in Bengal and a failure in rural areas. Impressed by the storyline, producer Vuppunuthula Purushotham Reddy and director G. Ramineedu remade the Bengali film into Chivaraku Migiledi (1960) which was a blockbuster. Hence Asit Sen remade the Hindi version Khamoshi on the same lines as the Telugu film Chivaraku Migiledi (1960).Waheeda Rehman said in an interview that she could not meet the standards set by Savitri in Chivaraku Migiledi (1960) for the character she played in Khamoshi.^[3]

Plot

This is a story of a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, played by Savithri. The character is a part of a team exploring new therapy for patients who have suffered emotional trauma. The approach taken by the team is to offer these individuals an emotional resort, which is where Savitri's character plays her part. Her role is to act as a friend and a lover for the patient, but at the same time, refrain from any emotional involvement on her own part as her role is purely that of a nurse who is helping the patient recover. She has to repeatedly break the emotional attachments that she experiences because as a nurse, she is a part of therapy.

The movie looks at the neglected emotional trauma of this nurse who is used merely as a tool in the whole process of therapy. The movie ends by showing that the Savitri is being admitted to the same ward where she used to be a nurse. The last words in the movie are uttered by Savithri, who whispers out "I wasn't acting, I couldn't" indicating that she indeed fell in love with her patient.

Awards

Filmfare Awards South

• Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu.^[4]

National honor

• Savithri received the Rashtrapati Award for her performance in the film.

References