Acclaimed
actor-director
Sreenivasan's
super
hit
Malayalam
film
Chinthavishtayaya
Shyamala
(1998)
starring
Sreenivasan
and
Tamil
actress
Sangeetha
in
the
lead,
is
being
remade
in
Hindi
as
SRK,
directed
by
Ajay
Verma
under
the
banner
of
Warner
Bros.
Actor
Vinay
Pathak,
who
has
catapulted
to
big
time
fame
with
the
phenomenal
success
of
Bheja
Fry,
is
in
the
title
role;
Manoj
Joshi,
Rituparna
Sengupta
and
Dilip
Prabhawalkar
also
appear
in
important
roles.
Chinthavishtayaya
Shyamala
is
a
humorous
portrayal
of
a
rather
grim
tale
of
an
irresponsible
husband
and
his
neglected
family.
It
revolves
around
Vijayan
(Sreenivasan),
a
village
school
master,
a
graduate
in
Economics,
who
believes
that
his
degree
in
Economics
is
sufficient
for
him
to
succeed
in
the
various
business
ventures
he
undertakes.
He
quits
his
job
to
pursue
other
career
avenues,
but
fails
at
all.
Meanwhile,
his
wife
Shyamala
(Sangeetha)
struggles
to
keep
their
household
running
as
Vijayan
spends
more
than
he
earns.
As
a
last
resort
to
reform
Vijayan,
Vidya's
father
(Innocent)
and
father-in-law
(Thilakan),
both
ex-servicemen,
suggest
that
Vijayan
make
a
pilgrimage
to
the
temple
at
Sabarimala.
Despite
his
initial
protests,
Vijayan
makes
his
pilgrimage,
undertaking
the
customary
forty
one-day
fasting
and
abstinence.
But
the
plans
turn
out
to
be
a
complete
waste,
as
Vijayan
returns
with
an
obsession
to
become
a
sanyasi,
the
other
extreme!
Vijayan
embraces
vegetarianism
and
adopts
a
life
of
prayer,
frugality
and
abstinence,
eventually
forsaking
his
debt-ridden
family
for
a
life
at
an
ashram.
Ashram
for
him
is
a
place
where
he
can
escape
from
daily
responsibilities
and
work.
Anyway,
Vinayan's
ashram
life
does
not
go
well
with
the
other
inmates.
He
returns
home
to
discover
his
family
now
reasonably
well-off
from
a
small
business
his
wife
started
soon
after
he
left.
Chinthavishtayaya
Shyamala
was
Sreenivasan's
second
directorial
effort;
winning
critical
and
commercial
success,
it
further
established
his
position
in
Malayalam
Cinema
as
a
gifted
comedian
and
screenwriter.
The
film
won
the
award
for
Best
Film
with
Popular
Appeal
and
Aesthetic
Value
for
1998.