Sarapancharam is a 1979 Malayalam film written and directed by Hariharan

Hariharan (director)

Hariharan is a Malayali film director. His movies mainly revolved around the cultural and relational aspects of a typical Kerala society. His notable works include Pazhassi Raja, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, Sargam, Parinayam, Amrutham Gamaya and Nakhakshathangal, which won him national...

 starring Jayan

Jayan

Krishnan Nair , better known by his stage name Jayan , was an Indian film actor, former sailor, stunt performer and 1970s style icon. He worked in Malayalam cinema, a sector of the Indian movie industry...

, Sheela

Sheela

Sheela ), is a Malayalam film actress from India. She, along with Prem Nazir, holds the world record for acting in the largest number of films together as heroine and hero. In 2005 she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Malayalam film Akale. She has also...

, Sathar, P.K. Abraham and Oduvil Unnikrishnan

Oduvil Unnikrishnan

Oduvil Unnikrishnan was an award winning Malayalam movie actor known for his versatile acting skills, known for his portrayal of classical ancient aristocratic personalities in Malayalam cinema with his unique provincial linguistic style, expressions and dialect. He was noted as a serious as well...

 in major roles. It was released in the golden era of Jayan, a popular superstar of Malayalam cinema. He played the main villain role in the film. It was also one of the first notable films of Oduvil Unnikrishnan. The storyline of the film is loosely based on D. H. Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence

David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...

's 1928 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover

Lady Chatterley's Lover

Lady Chatterley's Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1928. The first edition was printed privately in Florence, Italy with assistance from Pino Orioli; it could not be published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960...

though there are significant differences in plot and characterization.

Plot

The story concerns a young married woman, Soudamini (Sheela), whose upper-class husband (P.K. Abraham) has been paralyzed and rendered impotent. Her sexual frustration leads her into an affair with the servant, Rajasekharan (Jayan). She eventually gets married to him but later discovers that he has had relationship with many ladies and he aimed only at her wealth. She and her only daughter Baby (born from her first husband) are helpless as they are not able to put him out of their lives. Later, a young man named Prabhakaran, who is the son of an ex-servant of Soudamini, enters their life and helps them to get rid of Rajasekharan. In the climax, Rajasekharan is shot dead by Soudamini.

Cast

• Jayan
  Jayan
  Krishnan Nair , better known by his stage name Jayan , was an Indian film actor, former sailor, stunt performer and 1970s style icon. He worked in Malayalam cinema, a sector of the Indian movie industry...
  
   as Rajasekharan
• Sheela
  Sheela
  Sheela ), is a Malayalam film actress from India. She, along with Prem Nazir, holds the world record for acting in the largest number of films together as heroine and hero. In 2005 she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Malayalam film Akale. She has also...
  
   as Soudamini
• Sathar as Prabhakaran
• Nellikkodu Bhaskaran as Sidhayyan
• Oduvil Unnikrishnan
  Oduvil Unnikrishnan
  Oduvil Unnikrishnan was an award winning Malayalam movie actor known for his versatile acting skills, known for his portrayal of classical ancient aristocratic personalities in Malayalam cinema with his unique provincial linguistic style, expressions and dialect. He was noted as a serious as well...
  
   as Subbaiyer
• Shankar
  Shankar (actor)
  Shankar Panikkar, popularly known as Shankar is an Indian film actor and director. He was one of the prominent lead actors of Malayalam cinema during the 1980s.- As an Actor :...
  
   as College Student
• Baby Sumathi as Young Baby
• P.K. Abraham as Soudamini's first husband