Malamukalile Daivam (1983)

Malamukalile Daivam (The God Atop the Hill) is a 1983 Malayalam film directed by P. N. Menon. The film is set in a tribal village in Kerala where religious superstition and ignorance maintain stasis. A relatively intelligent boy escapes its oppressive confines and later returns, determined to bring enlightenment to the village. Gabril, Suresh, Sudharani, Kunjandi, Balasingh, Lakshmi Subramanian, Unni Mary, Sathindran and Ranjith Kumar form the cast. Several critics consider the film as the most outstanding piece in Menon's filmography. The film won the National Film Awards for Best Regional Film and Best Child Artist (Suresh).

Synopsis

In a village at the foot of the banasuran mountains of Wayanad, in Kerala, lives Kayama, a little orphan boy who has been adopted by a villager, Nambi and his daughter, Marie. The tribals who see the sun rise and set every day over these mountains believe that the mountains are the abode of their god. The villagers never go beyond the mountains. Enclosed in their shell of superstition and ignorance, they are quite sure that the mountains are the confines of their world, and no one who tries to cross them will ever come back.

Actors