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Chemmeen review

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1965 · Malayalam · 2h 20m · Romance, Drama · CBFC U
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Filmi Score
Exceptional
6 reviews
82
5 exceptional1 good
What the critics say

Critics widely praise Chemmeen as a landmark, celebrating its music, cinematography and performances, with only minor quibbles about melodrama, mannered acting from the male leads and an underwritten male character.

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From the content record · CBFC U · Family Room →
10+
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Summary

Chemmeen (1965, Malayalam) has a Filmi Score of 82 from 6 critic reviews, is rated 10+ by Filmi (CBFC: U), and streams on Eros Now in the US.

Karutthamma, the daughter of a Hindu fisherman, falls in love with a Muslim fish trader. However, social prejudices seem to ruin their love life and invite the wrath of their communities.

Where to watch
EROS NOWWatch now
Box office collection
No sourced figure yet.
Cast & crew
Directed by Ramu Kariat · written by S L Puram Sadanandan & Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai · music Salil Chowdhury
SheelaLeadMadhuCastSathyanCastKottarakkara Sreedharan NairCastAdoor BhavaniCast
Ramu KariatDirector
S L Puram SadanandanWriter
Thakazhi Sivasankara PillaiWriter
Salil ChowdhuryMusic
Marcus BartleyCinematography
U RajagopalCinematography
Hrishikesh MukherjeeEditing
K D GeorgeEditing
Cast
SheelaLead
Madhu
Sathyan
Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair
Adoor Bhavani
Latha Raju
Adoor Pankajam
S. P. Pillai
Philomina
Paravoor Bharathan
Nilambur Ayisha
Full crew
Production designS Konnath
LyricsVayalar Ramavarma
More like this

Summary

Karutthamma, the daughter of a Hindu fisherman, falls in love with a Muslim fish trader. However, social prejudices seem to ruin their love life and invite the wrath of their communities.

Chemmeen (1965, Malayalam) has a Filmi Score of 82 from 6 critic reviews, is rated 10+ by Filmi (CBFC: U), and streams on Eros Now in the US.

Where to watch

EROS NOWWatch now

What the critics said

6 reviews · the critic’s own number where they gave one
Five of 6 · the critic’s own number where they gave one
The Hindu
13 Aug 2015
The critic celebrates Chemmeen as one of Malayalam cinema's rare 'popular classics,' praising its performances, cinematography, editing and Salil… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi Retrospective
90
Dustedoff
9 Apr 2013
A blog review praising Chemmeen as beautifully scripted, acted and directed with stunning cinematography, explicitly calling it worth watching;… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi Retrospective
90
Firstpost
22 Sep 2020
A personal-essay critical defense arguing Chemmeen is progressive rather than regressive, calling it mesmerising and a landmark; the one… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi Retrospective
86
Upperstall.com
Karan Bali · 23 Aug 2015
A comprehensive review calling Chemmeen a firm delivery on high expectations, praising career-best performances, score and cinematography, with… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi Retrospective
85
The Hindu
Piyush Roy · 3 Feb 2022
A retrospective appreciation calling Chemmeen a lasting artistic achievement, praising its music, cinematography and central performances, with… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi Retrospective
80
Film Companion
gayathri.rk2000 · 1 Feb 2023
A 'Readers Write' piece defending Chemmeen's ending as a deliberate critique of superstition rather than an endorsement of it; largely thematic… Read it there →
Derived by Filmi Retrospective
62
How this number was made. We read every review and derive a 0–100 reading from each — including where the critic printed a number, which stays first on its row, because it’s theirs. The Filmi Score is the mean of 6 readings; 0 of those rows also carry the critic’s own rating, shown beside ours. Rubric v2.1, computed 26 Oct 2026. Any critic can ask us to remove a derived reading.
PublishedStated in videoDerived by FilmiNo scoreRetrospective
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Chemmeen: quick answers

Box office, where to watch and what critics said — from the same data as the page.

Where can I watch Chemmeen?

Chemmeen is streaming on OTT: Eros Now (India, the US and the UK). Availability comes from JustWatch and is checked every Friday.

What did critics say about Chemmeen?

Chemmeen has a Filmi Score of 82 (Exceptional), the mean of 6 readings of critic reviews, one per review. Readings run from 62 (Film Companion) to 90 (The Hindu). Every review and how it was scored is listed below.

What readers say

The Audience Score appears once three readers’ reviews have been read under the rubric — built from what people write, never from the rating numbers.
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