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Sufiyum Sujatayum

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Sufiyum Sujatayum (transl. Sufi and Sujata) is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film. It is written and directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas, and produced by Vijay Babu under his production company Friday Film House. The film stars Jayasurya, Aditi Rao Hydari and Dev Mohan in the lead roles. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on 3 July 2020. Dev Mohan made his debut through this film.

Sufiyum Sujatayum
Official release poster
Directed byNaranipuzha Shanavas
Written byNaranipuzha Shanavas
Produced byVijay Babu
StarringJayasurya
Aditi Rao Hydari
Dev Mohan
Siddique
CinematographyAnu Moothedath
Edited byDeepu Joseph
Music byM. Jayachandran
Production
company
Distributed byAmazon Prime Video
Release date
  • 3 July 2020 (2020-07-03)
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Plot

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Sujatha is a mute single daughter of Mallikarjunan and Kamala, a Hindu family. She is also a talented Kathak dancer. One day Sujatha meets Sufi on a bus. Sufi is a whirling dervish and a Muslim scholar who returns after an expedition to meet his Ustad. There he loses his misbaha (prayer beads), which Sujatha returns to him. Later, Sufi gifts his misbaha to Sujatha, which was a gift from his mother. Soon after, they fall in love and decide to elope. However, she decides to stay back when her father threatens suicide.Ten years later, she is married to NRI Rajeev, in Dubai with their daughter and thinks that love is lost.

Sufi returns to the village after ten years. Ustad is no more. Sufi visits his grave at the mosque cemetery. Imam finds him there and invites him inside. Sufi gives out the call to prayer and gathers people. Unfortunately, he dies during that prayer. Sujatha is devastated by the news of Sufi's death. Rajeev, who madly loves Sujatha, decides to bring her back to the village to attend Sufi's burial which may help her say goodbye. They reach the funeral only after Sufi's body is in the process of burial. Rajeev pays a visit at the grave, since females aren't allowed inside.

Later that evening, Rajeev realizes that he has lost his passport. After searching for it everywhere, he concludes that it could've fallen from his pocket into Sufi's grave. Rajeev and Mallikarjunan decide to unearth the grave, together with their tenant Kumaran. But the trio ends up bickering with one another when they can't find the passport. Meanwhile, Sujatha arrives there with the passport, which she had hidden so she could return the misbaha, once the grave is unearthed. The couple catches flight to return to Dubai and she lay her head on Rajeev's shoulder.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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Sufiyum Sujatayum is directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas, known for his debut directorial Karie (2015).[1] Producer Vijay Babu watched a preview screening of Karie and liked Shanavas' direction. After the premiere, Shanavas narrated the film's story to Babu and insisted him to act in the lead role. But as Babu insisted to elevate the story further, the scope of the project became bigger with the inclusion of Aditi Rao Hydari and composer M. Jayachandran. Hence, he instead chose Jayasurya for the lead role, after he previously produced Aadu (2015), Aadu 2 (2017) and Thrissur Pooram (2019).[2]

Casting

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Vijay Babu narrated the film's script to Jayasurya in mid-2019, which made the latter emotional; he described it as "a moment that he did not see on screen" expressing the emotional quotient of the film and did not read the script due to his confidence on it.[3] The film marked Aditi Rao Hydari's return to Malayalam cinema after 14 years since Prajapathi (2006). On accepting the script, Hydari felt that she was drawn to the "fairytale-like quality" of the story adding that "The emotions of the characters are so flawed and yet so sweet and innocent that it almost felt unreal [...] It was an unreal world with real emotions".[4] She described her character Sujata as "an embodiment of [that] true love, innocence and purity".[5]

Dev Mohan made his acting debut with the film. He auditioned for his role as Sufi in late-2017, and eventually selected for the role. For his character, he practised the moves of whirling—a Sufi meditation practiced by dervishing orders in circles—by watching videos in YouTube; Mohan described it as a difficult process as he used to feel dizzy and took him nine months for practising it. He also learnt Arabic for the character.[6]

Filming

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The film was officially announced on 20 September 2019, with principal photography commencing the same day.[7][8] Anu Moothedath handled the cinematography. The film was shot in three different locations across Gundlupet, Karnataka and Kerala; according to Moothedath, Aboob's house was set in Karnataka and Sujata's in Kerala. The river scenes were shot in Attappadi. As the crew could not find the appropriate places, the three locations were combined to appear as one location in the film.[9] The film was shot for 40 days.[9]

Costume design

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Moothedath opted for vibrant colours for the flashback portions, and relatively muted colours in the present to reflect Sujata's mindset. He eventually refrained using blue coloured costumes, except for the saree which Sujata wears in the climax, as "I wanted the past settings to give off a magical vibe—a contrast to the stark reality of the present" and felt that the costumes, set design and light would be perfectly blend in order to achieve the right feeling.[9] Sameera Sanesh was the costume designer. She was ensured to contrast the colours of costume between Aditi and Dev, as well the sets in the film.[9]

Music

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Main article: Sufiyum Sujatayum (soundtrack)

The soundtrack and film score were composed by M Jayachandran. The soundtrack runs for over nineteen minutes and has seven tracks; sung by Sudeep Palanad, Nithya Mammen, and Amrutha Suresh. Manoj Yadav and B. K. Harinarayanan were the lyricists.

Release

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Sufiyum Sujatayum was originally scheduled for a theatrical release but was eventually delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11] In May 2020, Amazon Prime Video announced the slate of seven Indian films set for direct-to-digital release, with Sufiyum Sujatayum being one of them;[12] it was the first Malayalam film to be released on digital platforms.[13][a] In June 2020, the film's scheduled premiere on 3 July 2020 was announced.[15][16]

Reception

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Giving a rating of three stars, Sanjith Sridharan of The Times of India wrote that Shanavas "managed to shed light on the struggles, societal presumptions and how ‘religion is just a person’s opinion’, through subtle dialogues".[17] Nitya Punnackal of Manorama Online wrote that Shanavas "tosses up a curious mix of a mystical storytelling etched in the genre of lingering romance".[18]

In a negative review, Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave 1.5 out of 5 summarising "Deceptive marketing might have been partly forgiven if Sufiyum Sujatayum had something worthwhile to offer."[19] S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "The love and sufism in Sufiyum Sujatayum disappointingly remains skin-deep, which is a tragedy considering the promise it held."[20] Karthik Kumar of Hindustan Times wrote "Sufiyum Sujatayum just feels like a lot of potential where the surface has barely been scratched."[21] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote "for a film which is trying to say something so significant, something which bears repeating in these polarised times, it needed to have been much better."[22] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote "Sufiyum Sujatayum strives to be a simple love story—one that does not require explanations or footnotes—but the treatment makes it simplistic instead. A pity, because the idea had the potential to be so much more."[23] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South described it as a classy romance that is too restrained and keeps viewers at arm's length.[24] He further wrote "the film ends up another reminder that a love story isn't quite a love story unless our hearts beat for the lovers as much as theirs beat for one another".[24]

Awards and nominations

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Award Category Winner Notes Result Ref.
51st Kerala State Film Awards Best Music Director (song) M. Jayachandran For all Songs Won [25]
Best Music Director (scores) M. Jayachandran Won
Best Female Playback Singer Nithya Maammen For the song Vathikkalu Vellaripravu Won
Best Choreographer Lalitha Soby
Babu Xavier		 Won
Best Sound Mixing Ajith Abraham George Won
45th Kerala Film Critics Awards Best Music Director M. Jayachandran For all songs Won [26]
Popular Movie of the Year Sufiyum Sujatayum Won
10th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Debutant Actor (Malayalam) Dev Mohan Won [27]
Best Female Playback Singer (Malayalam) Nithya Maammen For the song Vaathikkalu Vellaripravu Won
Best Male Playback Singer (Malayalam) Sudeep Paland For the song Alhamdulliah Nominated
Best Lyricist (Malayalam) B. K. Harinarayanan For the song Vaathikkalu Vellaripravu Nominated
Best Cinematographer (Malayalam) Anu Moothedathu Nominated
J C Daniel Film Award Best Music Director (scores) M. Jayachandran For all songs Won [28]

Notes

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  1. ^ Although publications cited the same, the Malayalam-language film Fourth River (2020) was the first film to be released on digital platforms.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Sufiyum Sujatayum to being streaming on Amazon Prime Video from July 3". The Indian Express. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Sufiyum Sujatayum producer Vijay Babu: Finding the right actor to play Sujata was the toughest task". The Indian Express. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Jayasurya On Saying Yes To Sufiyum Sujathayum: "It Was A Moment That We Have Not Seen On The Screen Before"". Koimoi. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  4. ^ "I was drawn to 'Sufiyum Sujatayum' for its fable-like quality: Aditi Rao Hydari". The New Indian Express. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Aditi Rao Hydari: Once things get back to normal, I am sure theatres will regain their place". India Today. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  6. ^ M, Athira (30 June 2020). "Dev Mohan makes his acting début in 'Sufiyum Sujatayum' opposite Aditi Rao Hydari". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Jayasurya to act with Aditi Rao Hydari in Sufiyum Sujatayum". The Times of India. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Jayasurya joins Aditi Rao in 'Sufiyum Sujatayum'". The New Indian Express. 21 September 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d Shrijith, Sajin (10 July 2020). "Sufiyum Sujatayum was shot in three different locations: Cinematographer Anu Moothedath". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Aditi Rao Hydari and Jayasurya's 'Sufiyum Sujatayum' becomes first Malayalam release to get OTT release". The Hindu. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  11. ^ ""Sufiyum Sujatayum" first Malayalam film to be released on OTT platform". Outlook. 3 July 2020. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  12. ^ B, Shibu (16 May 2020). "'Soofiyum Sujathayum' set for digital release". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Sufiyum Sujathayum becomes first Malayalam film to get direct OTT release". Cinema Express. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  14. ^ Surendran, Sooraj (20 May 2020). "ജയസൂര്യ ചിത്രത്തിന് പിന്നാലെ 'Fourth River (നാലാം നദി )' ഡിജിറ്റൽ റിലീസിന് ഒരുങ്ങുന്നു". Kalakaumudi. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  15. ^ Staff, T. N. M. (22 June 2020). "Release date for 'Sufiyum Sujatayum' announced". The News Minute. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Jayasurya, Aditi Rao Hydari's Malayalam film Sufiyum Sujatayum to premiere on 3 July on Amazon Prime Video". Firstpost. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Sufiyum Sujatayum Review : A soulful love story". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Sufiyum Sujathayum review: A mystical tale laced with lingering romance". Onmanorama. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Sufiyum Sujatayum movie review: Jayasurya is more effective in his supporting role than the leads of this listless film". Firstpost. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  20. ^ Praveen, S. R. (3 July 2020). "'Sufiyum Sujatayum' movie review: Love and sufism disappointingly remains skin-deep". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Sufiyum Sujatayum review: Beautiful but less impactful story of love". Hindustan Times. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Sufiyum Sujatayum review: Aditi Rao Hydari starrer doesn't live up to its premise". The Indian Express. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  23. ^ Rajendran, Sowmya (2 July 2020). "'Sufiyum Sujatayum' review: Jayasurya-Aditi's film is a fairytale without depth". The News Minute. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  24. ^ a b "Sufiyum Sujatayum On Amazon Prime Video, with Aditi Rao Hydari and Dev Mohan: A Classy Romance That's Too Restrained, And Keeps Us At An Arm's Length". FilmCompanion. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  25. ^ "51st Kerala State Film Awards: The full winners list". Indian Express. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Film Critics Awards 2020: The Great Indian Kitchen wins the best film". Malayala Manorama. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  27. ^ "SIIMA awards: Check out Malayalam winners of 2019 and 2020". OnManorama. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  28. ^ "JC Daniel Foundation Film Award 2020: 'Ennivar', 'Disha' share best film honours". The New Indian Express. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
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