Southern Spice: Chattakaari’s new avatar

For those who grew up listening to the Bollywood song Julie, I Love You, a new avatar of Chattakaari, might be welcome.

The 1974 Malayalam film — directed by K.S. Sethumadhavan — made Lakshmi a star and won Adoor Bashi and Pamman the Kerala state award as well as the Filmfare award for Best Feature Film. Lakshmi received two Filmfare Best Actress awards one for Chattakaari and the second for the Hindi version titled Julie.

Stepping into his father’s shoes is Santosh Sethumadhavan, who retells the love story, penned by Pamman, of an Anglo-Indian girl and a Hindu boy.

Santosh — who won a national award in 2008 for his short film, Appuvin Nayagan, — has given the story a fresh appeal. “It has been tweaked to keep with the times. I have diluted the story and played more with emotions. This has been treated like a commercial film with two songs, one for the introduction and another during the climax scene. My actors have put in their best [performance]. I am hoping it will make a difference to their careers.”

Featuring Shamna Kasim and Hemanth Menon, Chattakaari is produced by G. Suresh Kumar under the Revathy Kalamandir banner, known for remaking Malayalam classics such as Ratinirvedam and Neelathamara.

Sukumari who played Julie’s mother in the original (and won the Kerala state award) plays Julie’s aunt in the new version.