Swayamvaram (English: One's Own Choice) is a 1972 Indian Malayalam-language drama film co-written and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, starring Madhu and Sharada in the lead roles.

Notable smaller roles were played by Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair, Adoor Bhavani, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, and Bharath Gopi.

The title is an allusion to the ancient Indian practice of a girl of marriageable age choosing a husband from among a list of suitors.

Vishwam, an educated, unemployed youth, is an aspiring writer and had some of his short stories published in the newspapers earlier.

Sita is offered a job as a sales girl but cannot accept it because she is unable to pay the required security deposit of ₹ 1,000.

He then accepts a job as a clerk in a timber shop with a meager salary, replacing one of the dismissed employees.

Vishwam and Sita try to set up a happy home with their newborn baby, but soon their dreams fade as they struggle on precariously.

The title refers to the ancient Indian practice of a girl of marriageable age choosing a husband from among a list of suitors.

Ishwar on a binge drinking spree in Calcutta, visits a brothel; where Sita recognizes him and kills herself.

Gopalakrishan wanted fresh faces for both the lead roles and he had written letters to various heads of colleges and universities for the auditions.

Sharada was initially reluctant to commit herself to an art film, but agreed when Gopalakrishnan narrated the complete story to her at Prasad Studios, in Chennai.

By the time Gopalakrishnan finished his studies and returned from FTII, Madhu was already a star in Malayalam cinema.

[24] Noted Malayalam writer and journalist Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair played a newspaper editor in the film.

[26][29] Incidentally, Varma won his only National Film Award for Best Cinematography, with a career spanned over thirty years, for Swayamvaram.

"[32] A reviewer from Soviet Culture wrote, "The film Swayamvaram directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan shows in all its starkness, the plight of the educated unemployed in India.

It also subscribed to an evocative poetic realism drawing on metaphor and symbol, which was unprecedented in the history of southern cinema.

Swayamvaram, like Elippathayam (1981) and Vidheyan (1994), focuses on the politics of dislocation and survival (both physical and moral) in which the search for home, self and identity becomes a key issue.

Noted writer M. Govindan wrote a cover story in his magazine Sameeksha, and organized a seminar on the film in Chennai, then known as Madras.

[12] Various intellectuals and writers took part in it, including noted film experts like P. Bhaskaran and director Balu Mahendra.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s “Swayamvaram” has a touching performance by an actress called Sharada as the radiant girl who elopes, only to see her fight against convention end in poverty and despair.

"[33] George Melly from The Observer wrote, "Swayamvaram directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan is the story about a young couple who decide to live together and run into disaster.

"[33] Verina Glaessner from TimeOut wrote, "The film concentrates on describing the life together of the man and the woman who are unmarried and without the usual supportive network of family relationships.

"[33] A reviewer from The Indian Express wrote, "Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Swayamvaram is a brilliant study of a run-away couple’s trials and tribulations in making both ends meet.

The black and white photography is excellent, so is the music.”[33] Filmfare wrote, "In Swayamvaram, Adoor Gopalakrishnan manages that rare feat investing the visuals with such eloquence that language of the spoken word hardly remains a barrier."

A critic from the Hindustan Times termed it a "Chekovian film" and wrote, " Life’s minor details are carefully studied, discretely and meaningfully portrayed.

"[33] A critic of The Economic Times wrote, "The Kerala that Adoor Gopalakrishnan (who has both written the story and directed the film) shows is quite ruthlessly shorn of all the picturesque cliches that one is accustomed to associate with it.

And these visuals are rarely interfered with, by verbosity.The extreme economy of words dramatises the picturisation of commonplace events.

Amaresh Datta, in his book The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, criticised the film for "following the neo-realistic style" and showcasing "same old love story without any freshness added".

[44] The film provided a new experience to Indian cinema-goers, as it used ample amounts of natural sounds with a minimalistic background score.