Padatha Painkili
1957 film by P. Subramaniam
Padatha Painkili (transl. The Mute Nightingale) is a 1957 Indian Malayalam-language drama film based on the novel of the same name by Muttathu Varkey and directed by P. Subramaniam from a screenplay by Varkey. The film revolves around marriage and dowry problems. It depicts the machinations of a wicked, though wealthy man, against a poverty-stricken, God-fearing schoolteacher, with the final defeat of evil in the end. It stars Prem Nazir, Miss Kumari and Shanthi.
The film released in theatres on 22 March and went on to become a major critical and commercial success.The film marks the debut of Shanthi. Bahadoor's role as Chakkaravakkal was his first break. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.
Cast
Prem Nazir as Thankachan
Miss Kumari as Chinnamma
K. V. Shanthi as Lucy
Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair as Vendor Kutty
Bahadoor as Chakkaravakkal
T. S. Muthaiah as Luke (Luka Sir)
Aranmula Ponnamma as Kunjadamma
Vaanakkutti as Peeli
S. P. Pillai as Mylan
Adoor Pankajam as Thevi
Pankajavalli
T. N. Gopinathan Nair
S. Menon
Latheef
Kuttiyamma
Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Brother Lakshmanan with lyrics penned by Thirunayinaarkurichi Madhavan Nair.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Padatha Painkili” as 1957 film by P. Subramaniam. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1957 film by P. Subramaniam. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7123268. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1957.
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This entry incorporates text from “Padatha Painkili” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.