The
prestigious
Calcutta
International
Film
Festival,
to
be
held
from
November
10
to
17
in
association
with
the
Government
of
West
Bengal,
will
feature
three
Malayalam
films
in
its
competition
section.
Surprisingly,
East
Coast
Vijayan's
debut
film
Novel,
which
was
not
too
popular
among
the
critics
or
masses,
will
compete
in
the
section,
which
will
also
have
the
State
award
winners:
M.G.
Sasi's
Adayalangal
and
Lenin
Rajendran's
Rathri
Mazha.
Adayalangal,
directed
by
M.G.
Sasi
and
produced
by
Aravind
Venugopal,
has
won
the
State
awards
for
the
best
feature
film
and
best
director
of
2007.
The
film
is
based
on
the
life
and
works
of
noted
Malayalam
writer
P.C.
Gopalan
(1926-1974),
popularly
known
as
Nandanar,
whose
novels
and
stories
depicted
life
in
the
army
camps
and
battlefields
during
the
1940s
and
50s.
Rathri
Mazha
has
won
several
State
awards
in
2006,
including
Best
Director
(Lenin
Rajendran),
Best
Music
Director
(Ramesh
Narayanan),
Best
Male
Singer
(Sreenivas),
Best
Female
Singer
(Sujatha
Mohan)
and
Best
dance
choreographers
(Madhu
Samudra-Sajiv
Samudra).
It
was
chosen
as
one
of
the
Indian
entries
for
the
Asian,
African
and
Latin
American
Competition
segment
of
the
38th
IFFI.
When
it
comes
to
Jayaram-starrer
Novel
released
early
this
year,
the
film,
intended
as
a
romantic
flick,
sadly
turned
to
be
a
pathetic
show;
what
could
be
told
crisply
as
a
short
film,
was
thoughtlessly
extended
to
create
hours
of
drag.
The
only
highlight
of
the
film
was
actress
Sada,
who
won
plaudits
for
her
first
Malayalam
role.