| Chemparathy | |
| Director: | P. N. Menon |
| Producer: | S. Krishnan Nair |
| Starring: | Madhu Raghavan Roja Ramani Sudheer |
| Music: | Devarajan |
| Cinematography: | Ashok Kumar |
| Editing: | Ravi Kiran |
| Studio: | New India Films |
| Distributor: | Thirumeni Pictures |
| Runtime: | 140 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Malayalam |
Chemparathy is a 1972 Malayalam-language film directed by P. N. Menon and written by Malayattoor Ramakrishnan.[1] It was produced by S. K. Nair (S. Krishnan Nair), a famous literary personality and the founder of Malayalanadu weekly. It stars Madhu along with newcomers Roja Ramani, Raghavan and Sudheer in major roles. The film was an adaptation of Malayattoor's short story Lodge.[2] Noted filmmaker Bharathan made his cinematic debut as an art director in the film.
The film was a notable critical and commercial success upon release. The film won two awards at the Filmfare Awards South for Best Film - Malayalam and Best Actress - Malayalam. The film also won one Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film.[3] The film was remade in Tamil as Paruva Kaalam in 1974 with Roja Ramani repeating her role and Kamal Haasan playing the male lead and also in Telugu as Kanne Vayasu.[4]
Santha is a cheerful girl who is working in a lodge as a sweeper. She is favourite to everyone in the lodge. Dinesh is in love with this girl. But one day Santha is found dead in the nearby well. Police start investigation and at first arrest Balachandran as suspect. But later Dinesh confess to police that Rajappan, a rich guy living in this same lodge is the reason for Santha’s death. Rajappan raped Santha and when she become pregnant he killed her. After Santha’s death her memories haunt Dinesh and he kills Rajappan and surrender to police .