Cheluvi (Beautiful Girl). Review on Cheluvi

There is hardly any other movie has has been imprinted in my mind since childhood,Thats Cheluvi in Hindi and Flowering Tree in English.

Director - Girish Karnad

Cast :

Cheluvi - Sonali Kulkarni

Village Headman- Girish Karnad

Kumar - Prashant Rao

Shyama- Gargi Yakkundi

Year realeased 1992, This particular movie premiered on DD Channel and it was during the Childrens Film Festival.Its amazing that DD still has its own pocketful of surprises when I comes to movies like these.Since im not reviewing on the Channel let me continue with the movie.

Its about a girl who has mystical powers to turn into a fragile tree but at the same time yeild some exotic and rare flowers,She would be lovingly tended by her sister,This was a secret and no body knew the origin of the flowers,however any one who smelled the flowers would love to buy them again and again,this happened to Kumar who was obsessed with these flowers he decides to buy the whole basket from the sisters.Kumar falls in love with Cheluvi.Kumar coaxes cheluvi to let out her little secret.Cheluvi is reluctant but yet gives away the secret to Kumar,who takes her to the private pool(A Tipical South Indian Setting) and tends to her as she becomes a tree,her flowers drop into the pool but the flowing water carries out the flowers along with them and the children of the house also wittness her becoming a tree.The children later force her into the forest,and break her branches when she becomes a tree.And run away abandoning Cheluvi,Cheluvi is unable to regain her human form due to the missing branches.A poor wood cutter notices her plight in the forest and carries her home.Kumar misses his wife and is depressed,Cheluvi requests the wood cutter to place her infront of her husband house,People witness the freak of nature,And finally kumar realises that it is his wife lying in the courtyard.Cheluvi says that she will be able to regain her human form if he is able to find her missing branches.

Over joyed kumar decides to take her into the forest,but to his dispair many trees are felled and he is unable to get her branches.There is sadness on their faces and the movie ends.

This movie has a lot of hidden messages - A strong message against deforestation, About a essence of a woman, her nature of giving , Cheluvi would earn a living with her sister by selling these flowers yet she lived for her sister.When she married she gave her self to her husband letting out her deepest secret and to the level of sharing this with the little children who promised to take care of her but on the contrary abused her.Its about the different roles a woman plays,But ultimately portraying her giving nature.

This movie also has a spiritual touch of some sort,It also creates a fragrance in your mind about the flower even though you havent smelled it, The village atmosphere and the forest setting that some people would like to go back to.

I feel that you should see this movie once.