'Collecter Malathy' tells the tale of an untouchable girl (Sheela in the title role) loved by a upper class man . The man faces several complaints from relatives and neighbors because of loving an untouchable. They even try to marrying the man with some other girl but fate would have it that the man continued as virgin eventhogh he is married. Malathy became a collector. The home of the hero became in poverty. He became an N.G.O and in a while,he saw malathy as a collector. She trying to advice him to forget her and lead a prosperous life with his new wife.
In spite of its flaws, I very much enjoyed watching 'Collecter Malathy'. I liked that M Krishnan Nair managed to bring the issue of the untouchables through his story without making the message in your face (such that it might overshadow the story). In 'Collecter Malathy' he cleverly represents how society treats untouchables without making the viewer feel as though he were having a history lesson or watching a documentary and he manages to show the film as Malathy's story.
I do think he could have developed some scenes further as they looked choppy towards the end. The romance angle between Ravivarmma and Malathy fit very nicely into the screenplay and it avoids clichés such as the cousin falling in love with Ravivarmma or a bloodbath ending. Though I must say the ending is quite predictable.
The songs are beautiful, some melodious and some foot-tapping.
Sheela beautifully plays her part by balancing her emotions. She doesn't cry buckets full and nor does she remain in a passive day- dreaming state. She and Prem Nazir share a lovely chemistry. Prem Nazir himself makes his presence felt in a woman-oriented film and Ambika is adorable as Indhumathi. Sukumari is alright but in some scenes she does border on caricaturing the character. ditto for Aaranmula Ponnamma. On the whole i found the film entertaining and I'm glad that someone like M. Krishnan Nair had told the story of an untouchable girl and brought up the issue of untouchability within the story in a sensible way. Note this film is primarily about Malathy, not about untouchables.
