Aranyakam

{{Infobox film

| name = Aranyakam

| image = Aranyakam.jpg

| alt = Theatrical Release poster of the film, Aranyakam, portraying Devan and Saleema.

| caption = Theatrical Release poster

| director = Hariharan

| producer = B. Shashi Kumar

| writer = M. T. Vasudevan Nair

| screenplay =

| story =

| based_on =

| narrator =

| starring = Saleema
Devan
Vineeth
Nedumudi Venu
Jagannatha Varma
Parvathy Jayaram
Bahadoor
Sukumari

| music = Raghunath Seth

| cinematography = Venu

| editing = M. S. Mani

| studio = Mudra Films

| distributor = Mudra Release

| released = {{Film date|1988|12|8|df=y}}

| runtime =

| country = India

| language = Malayalam

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Aranyakam (Malayalam:ആരണ്യകം, English:Forest) is a 1988 Malayalam film, directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and starring Saleema, Devan, and Vineeth.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230003/ imdb.com] The film was produced by B. Sasikumar.[https://archive.today/20130218091043/http://popcorn.oneindia.in/movie-cast/8177/aranyakam.html popcorn.oneindia.in] The music was composed by Raghunath Seth, with lyrics by O. N. V. Kurup and vocals by K. J. Yesudas and K. S. Chitra. It is about a teenage girl named Ammini who likes to visit forests and has a hobby of writing imaginary letters to famous people. Actress Saleema memorably portrays Ammini. She remains one of the few quirky female characters in Malayalam cinema to date.

Plot

The film handles the issue of exploitation of Adivasis by feudal lords, and that of Naxalism which attempts to resist and counter this, and of how the feudal lords use the "system" to suppress the resistance. The film speaks through the eyes of protagonist Ammini, a 16-year-old girl whose life takes a turn when Devan, who is a stranger and Mohan, who has a love interest in her, inspires her and believes in her brilliance unlike everyone else, enters her life and Ammini starts loving Mohan back. Devan turns out to be a Naxalite conspiring to kill her uncle, a feudal lord, who has been exploiting the tribal community in the area for his own personal interests. But Devan accidentally kills Mohan instead of killing her uncle. The police kills Devan as a result.