standalone Details

Mathilukal (The Walls)

Malayalam Film with English Subtitles

(Col / 119 mins / 1989)

Based on an autobiographical novelette by the well-known Kerala writer Basheer, this is a love story, set in a prison cell the 40s, between the imprisoned Basheer (Mammootty) and a woman from the neighboring prison compound. They are separated by a high wall so that they never see each other and have to devise ingenious ways of communicating. Produced for TV, the story is played out in confined spaces with a sense of claustrophobia and suppressed violence which enhances the emotional impact of the moving love story.

Direction, Production& Screenplay:   Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Production Co.: Doordarshan

Story:  Vaikom Mohammed Basheer

Cast: Mammootty, Thilakan, Murali, Ravi Vallathol, Srinath & others