Nombarathi Poovu is a Malayalam drama film written and directed by P. Padmarajan. It stars Madhavi, Baby Sonia, Mammootty, Shari and Unnimary. Its story is about the deep relation between Gigi (Sonia) and Padmini (Madhavi). Its songs were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan while the background score was done by Johnson.Padmarajan had initially decided to cast Shabana Azmi in the lead role of Padmini. For this, Padmarajan and producer Gandhimati Balan made a visit to Shabana's home in Juhu, Bombay. They spent time with Shabana's father and poet Kaifi Azmi. They realised Shabana had made inquiries about Padmarajan and Gandhimati and was eager to work with them. The three sat down to script reading. After the reading, Shabana agreed to do the role, but on one condition, that the Malayalam dialogues be reduced and prominence given to her expressions. Padmarajan immediately closed his script notebook and apologised to Shabana that it would not be possible.