''Avan Pithana?'' () is a 1966 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

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film directed by

P. Neelakantan Palaniyaandi Neelakantan (2 October 1916 – 3 September 1992) was a Tamil film director, who was active for nearly four decades. Life He was born at Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. He graduated to movies from stage play. His play '' Naam Iruvar'' ...

, produced by P. Angamuthu and written by M. Karunanidhi. It is a remake of the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

film ''

Dagudu Moothalu ''Dagudu Moothalu'' () is a 1964 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language comedy film produced by D. B. Narayana and directed by Adurthi Subba Rao, who also wrote the screenplay. Based on a story by Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, it stars N. T. Rama ...

'' (1964). The film stars

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

C. R. Vijayakumari C. R. Vijayakumari is an Indian actress in the Tamil film industry from 1953 to 2003. Film career Vijayakumari is known for her ability to convincingly transform herself into the characters she portrays. She is noted for her Tamil diction an ...

S. V. Sahasranamam Singanallur Venkataramana Iyer Sahasranamam (29 November 1913 – 19 February 1988), also known as S. V. S., was an Indian actor and director. Primarily a theatre actor, he also worked in over 200 films, mainly in Tamil cinema. Early lif ...

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fiel ...

and

T. P. Muthulakshmi T. P. Muthulakshmi (Native name: தமிழ்: டி. பி. முத்துலட்சுமி) was an Indian actress who was active from the 1950 to 1969. She was a prominent lead comedy actress during the early 1950s in Tamil langu ...

. It was released on 29 April 1966.

Plot

Nallaiah, a wealthy industrialist, disowns his son after learning of the latter's desire to marry an impoverished woman. The son and wife die separately, leaving their son Kumar destitute. A couple running a tea shop adopt Kumar and raise him as their own. One day, a young woman named Gomathi runs into the shop after being chased by a man. Kumar gives her shelter, and some time later, takes her to Nallaiah to be his nurse. Kumar is not aware that he is Nallaiah's grandson. Nallaiah is ill and shows regret over his decision to disown his son. Gomathi wins Nallaiah's trust and is given the keys to his safe. When Nallaiah dies, this leads to a war for the property he has left behind. A group of miscreants forge Nallaiah's will by adding their own names to it. However, Kumar arrives and wins his claim to the inheritance after proving that he is Nallaiah's grandson.

Cast

as Kumar *

as Gomathi *

as Nallaiah *

and

as miscreants *

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 film ...

as Chinnaya *

Sachu Saraswathi Sundaresan Iyer, professionally known as Kumari Sachu (born 7 January 1948) is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 films in five different languages and a few television serials. She is a character actress/comedienne who ...

as Sasi *

Udaya Chandrika Udaya Chandrika was an Indian actress of Kannada cinema from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. She also appeared in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu-language films. Career Udaya Chandrika began her career with ''Katari Veera'', released in 1966. She ...

* A. Karunanidhi *

Pakoda Kadhar Pakoda Kadhar was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil films (Kollywood) in comedic and supportive roles. He acted in over 200 films in the Tamil language during the decades 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. He is notable for his comedian roles along with ...

Production

''Avan Pithana?'' was directed by

and produced by R. Periyanayagam, S. P. Karupaiah and P. Angamuthu under Umayal Productions. It was remade from the

film ''

'' (1964), with M. Karunanidhi writing the remake, while T. M. Sundara Babu handled the cinematography. The final length of the film was .

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by R. Parthasarathi.

Release and reception

''Avan Pithana?'' was released on 29 April 1966. ''

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 ...

'' praised it for the performances of Rajendran, Vijayakumari and Balaiah, but felt Nagesh could have been better utilised.

References

External links

* {{P. Neelakantan 1960s Tamil-language films 1966 comedy-drama films 1966 films Films directed by P. Neelakantan Films with screenplays by M. Karunanidhi Indian comedy-drama films Tamil remakes of Telugu films