Thurakatha Vathil (1970)

One of K.T. Mohammed’s best-known scripts, this sentimental movie was part of a growing trend in 70s Malayalam cinema, showing the infantile hero sacrificing his happiness to fulfil his obligations towards his sister, which involves asking his best friend to live the life he had planned for himself. The simple-minded Bappu (Nazir) leaves for the city to earn money that would allow him to fulfil his two ambitions: to get his sister happily married, and to himself marry Sulekha (Ragini). In the city he meets and befriends Vasu (Madhu). When Bappu is injured and about to die, he asks Vasu to complete the course he had embarked upon. Vasu goes to Bappu’s village, arranges the sister’s marriage, and, in a poignant moment at the end of the film, seeks out Bappu’s girlfriend, who immediately realises what happened and its implications for her future.