''Bharatha Vilas'' () is a 1973 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 film co-written and directed by

A. C. Tirulokchandar A. C. Thirulokachandar (11 June 1930 – 15 June 2016), also known as A. C. Tirulokchandar, was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked mainly in Tamil films from the 1960s to 1988. He also directed a few films in Hindi and Telugu. ...

. It stars

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

and K. R. Vijaya. The film features an ensemble cast, with prominent actors from other languages playing guest roles in a song. It was released on 24 March 1973.

Plot

Gopal and Gowri are salespeople in competing organisations. They are professional rivals and end up sharing rooms in the same house belonging to an Englishman. Naidu and his

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

wife are caretakers of the house where they both stay. In due course, Gopal and Gowri get married and quit their jobs on the same day. Naidu and his wife lend them some money to start a business. Gopal's business becomes successful. Gowri and Gopal, who have a son, are about to have another baby. A Punjabi family led by Baldev Singh move into one of the portions. A Malayalee Muslim led by Ibrahim family take up residence in other part of the same house. After some initial hiccups, the four families settle down and become close friends. Gopal's secretary Kalaivani tries to entice him and her cunning brother takes a photo of the two of them together. He begins to blackmail Gopal, whose neighbours help him fight the blackmailer off, thus sealing the bond between the families even more strongly. When the house owner decides to sell the house and return to England, the families buy the house together with Gopal paying Naidu's share. They call the house Bharatha Vilas, since it houses people from all parts of the country. The movie fast-forwards to a few years later, which sees Gopal successful and slightly arrogant about his wealth. His grown-up daughter is very close to Ibrahim's family and she considers Ibrahim's son Hamid as her brother. After receiving an anonymous letter implying wrongly that they are in a relationship, an irate Gopal cuts off all contact with Ibrahim and fixes his daughter's wedding with one of his relatives. Ibrahim kicks Hamid out of the house, and Hamid joins the army, which is to go to war. He is killed in the war and a letter he wrote before he left for battle makes it clear to Gopal that his daughter and him were just like siblings. Gopal and Ibrahim reconcile. Meanwhile, Gopal's son and Baldev Singh's daughter – who are both medical students – are in love without their parent's knowledge. Gopal suddenly suffers a huge loss in business and is unable to pay the dowry for his daughter. When the groom's family pressures him, his neighbours offer to contribute towards the dowry. Gopal is humbled by their generosity, and he requests Naidu to have his son marry his daughter. Naidu agrees on the condition that Gopal gets his son married to Baldev Singh's daughter. The neighbours finally become one large happy family.

Cast

as Gopal * K. R. Vijaya as Gowri * Major Sundarrajan as Baldev Singh *

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi) (25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil, Telugu with few Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi film industry. She was a popular lead actress in the 1960s. Devika is the grand daughte ...

as Gulabhi * V. K. Ramasamy as Ibrahim Bhai *

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

as Sameer *

M. R. R. Vasu Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Vasudevan was an Indian actor who was active in Tamil cinema and theatre during the latter half of the 20th century. He was known for playing negative roles, but he was also a successful character actor. He acte ...

as Narasimma Naidu * Manorama as Meera Bai * Sivakumar as Shankar * Jayasudha as Mohini *

Jayachitra Jayachitra is an Indian actress films who works mostly in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Early life Jayachitra was born in 1957. Her father Mahendra was a veterinary doctor, who had earlier worked as a lawyer. Her mother Ammaji (a.k.a. Ja ...

as Sundari * Sasikumar as Ameer * Jayachandran as Narasimma Naidu's son *

S. V. Ramadas S. V. Ramadas (1921-2004) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films, most often as a villain. He acted in more than 700 films in a career spanning over four decades. Film career Among popular movies, he acted in Aayirathil Or ...

as Gilbert * J. P. Chandrababu as Doctor * 'Baby' Sridevi as young Sundari *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor) Senthamarai was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil cinema and theatre. Career Senthamarai was born on 13 April 1935 at Kancheepuram. His family included his father Thiruvenkadam, his mother Vedamm ...

as Ramamoorthy *

A. Sakunthala Arunachalam. Sakunthala (C. I. D. Sakunthala) is an Indian actress. She has filled roles as a Heroine, Item number Dancer, and Villainess in over 600 Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. The first movie in which she performed as an act ...

as Kalaivani *Rajapandiyan as Blackmailer *Comedy Shanmugan as Punnakku kadai Punniyakodi * Karuppu Subbiah as Savuri kadai Chellamuthu *

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

as a Telugu actor (Guest appearance) *

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrille ...

as a Hindi actor (Guest appearance) *

Madhu Madhu (Sanskrit: ) is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning ''honey'' or ''sweet''. It is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European ''*médʰu'', whence English '' mead''. Metaphorical use ''Madhu'' has been used for millennia si ...

as a Malayalam actor (Guest appearance)

Themes

''Bharatha Vilas'' revolves around the themes of "religious unity, secularism, and brotherhood".

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Vaali. The song "Indhiya Naadu" had "lyrics that stressed on the importance of sharing river waters and the significance of national integration".

Reception

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 ...

'' appreciated Tirulokchandar's direction and Thirumaran's dialogues. ''Bharatha Vilas'' won the

Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil The Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil (Kollywood) films. Winners Nominations 1970s *1972 - '' Pattikada Pattanama'' *1973 - '' Bharatha Vilas'' *1974 - ''Dikkat ...

, and Tirulokchandar won for Best Director – Tamil.

References

External links

* {{A. C. Tirulokchandar 1970s Tamil-language films 1973 films Films directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan