''Annai'' () is a 1962 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Krishnan–Panju R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi. Early life R. Krishnan was born on 18 ...

. The film stars

P. Bhanumathi P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

and

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telug ...

, with S. V. Ranga Rao, J. P. Chandrababu and P. Raja playing supporting roles. The plot revolves around the theme that the love of a foster mother can be even stronger than that of a biological mother. The film is a remake of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

film ''

Maya Mriga ''Maya Mriga'' is a 1960 Indian Bengali-language film directed by Chitta Bose. This film released under the banner of MKG Private Production Limited. The film stars Uttam Kumar, Sandhya Roy and Biswajit Chatterjee. It is based on the play of the ...

'' (1960), itself based on a play by

Nihar Ranjan Gupta Nihar Ranjan Gupta ( bn, নীহাররঞ্জন গুপ্ত, pen name: ''Banbhatta'' (বানভট্ট); 6 June 1911 – 20 February 1986) was an Indian dermatologist and a popular Bengali novelist. He is the creator of the fic ...

. The

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

and background score were composed by R. Sudarshanam while the lyrics were written by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

and Kothamangalam Subbu. ''Annai'' was released on 15 December 1962 to positive reviews, with praise for the plot, the music and the performances from the lead actors. The film was also a commercial success, and had a theatrical run of 100 days. The film was remade in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

in 1966 as '' Laadla''.

Plot

Cast

as Savithri *

as Seetha * T. S. Muthaiah as Gurusamy * S. V. Ranga Rao * P. Raja as Selvam * Kumari Sachu as Sarasu * J. P. Chandrababu as Dayanidhi *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 fil ...

in a cameo appearance

Production

Nihar Ranjan Gupta's

play ''Maya Mruga'' was adapted into a film of the same name in 1960. Impressed with the story, A. V. Meiyappan decided to adapt it in Tamil as a film with the title ''Annai''.

were selected as the film's directors with

K. S. Gopalakrishnan K. S. Gopalakrishnan was an Indian screenwriter, director, producer, and lyricist, who worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. Since the early 1960s, he directed 70 films. He spent most of his career directing and producing movies with soc ...

writing the dialogues. Panju edited the film under the alias "Panjabi". The song "Azhagiya Mithilai" was shot at Marina Beach Road, Chennai.

Soundtrack

The

and background score were composed by R. Sudarsanam while the lyrics were written by

and Kothamangalam Subbu. The songs particularly "Azhagiya Mithilai" and "Buddhiyulla Manithan" were well received and became famous. Randor Guy wrote "Music .contributed to the impact of the film and some of the songs such as 'Azhagiya midhilai' became popular. .Another hit song, 'Butthiulla manidharellam vetrikanbadhillai' by Chandrababu was a great success and is still popular". *"Buddhiyulla" — Chandrababu *"Azhagiya Mithilai" — P. B. Srinivas, Susheela *"Poovagi" — Bhanumathi *"O Pakk Pakkum" *"Oru Oorile" *"Annai Enbaval"

Release and reception

''Annai'' was released on 15 December 1962. The film was a commercial success and ran for 100 days. The Tamil magazine ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'' dated 6 January 1963 appreciated the film and mentioned the film stating that one does not get the feeling of watching a film instead a real life and empathise with characters. Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' said it was refreshing to watch a different kind of film after many repetitive, identical ones.

Accolades

''Annai'' won the Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature film at the 10th National Film Awards. Bhanumathi won the Film Fans Association Award for Best Actress.

Remakes

AVM remade the film in Hindi as '' Laadla'' (1966). They had also planned a Telugu remake; distributors wanted Bhanumathi to reprise her role, but as she had retired from acting by then and was unable to commit, the project was dropped.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilmTamil 1960s Tamil-language films Films scored by R. Sudarsanam 1962 drama films 1962 films AVM Productions films Films based on works by Nihar Ranjan Gupta Films directed by Krishnan–Panju Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films Tamil remakes of Bengali films