''Ezhandha Kadhal'' () is a 1941 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, nati ...

-language film directed by K. S. Mani. The film stars

N. S. Krishnan Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is conside ...

T. A. Mathuram T. A. Mathuram (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1974) was an Indian stage and film actress and singer. Biography and career Mathuram was born in Srirangam on 14 October 1918 in a family of artists. Her first Tamil film was Rathnaavali released in ...

, T. Premavathi and K. P. Kamakshi.

Plot

A rich man on his death bed gave 5000 rupees to his trusted friend and asked him to take care of his motherless daughter Padma and to marry her to Jagadish when she comes to the right age. The friend, Somanathan Pillai undertakes his friend's request. Padma comes to live with Somanathan Pillai's family. Jayapalan, a son of Somanathan Pillai, likes Padma. They become lovers. However, Somanathan Pillai forcibly marries Padma to Jagdish as per his dead friend's wish. He also finds another bride, Saroja, for Jayapalan. But then both Jayapalan and Padma are not happy in their respective married lives. Jayapalan becomes a drunkard and loses eyesight on a stormy night. A sacred ''sadhu'' enters the scene. How he solves all the problems forms the rest of the story.

Cast

List adapted from the song book *

''as'' Venu *

''as'' Veni * T. P. Ponnusami Pillai ''as'' Somanatha Pillai * K. P. Kamakshi ''as'' Jagadish * O. N. Kittu ''as'' Jayapal * C. S. Jayaraman ''as'' Sadhu * T. R. Ramasami ''as'' Astrologer * P. A. Subbaiah Pillai ''as'' Sundaram Pillai * N. S. Velappan ''as'' Rajaram * P. G. Kuppusami ''as'' Sivakozhandhu * E. Krishnamurthi ''as'' Music Teacher * P. V. Chinnasami ''as'' Narendran * Master Radhakrishnan ''as'' Gopal * M. Raghavan ''as'' Shankaran * Chellappa ''as'' Beggar Boy * T. Premavathi ''as'' Padma * M. R. Mangalam ''as'' Saroja

Production

The film was produced by

under his own banner ''Asoka Films'' and was directed by K. S. Mani who was a member of the N. S. Krishnan's unit. Cinematography was handled by E. R. Cooper while the editing was done by Surya. The film was shot at Central Studios, Coimbatore. Another film

Chandrahari ''Chandrahari'' is a 1941 Indian, Tamil language film directed by K. S. Mani. The film featured N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Mathuram in the lead roles. Plot It is a spoof of a legendary story of King Harishchandra who never told a lie. The main cha ...

was packaged together as Part 2 with this Part 1 film.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by N. S. Balakrishnan and K. M. Gowrisan. N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Mathuram and C. S. Jayaraman sang the songs.

Reception

Film historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of the ...

wrote in 2014 that the film is "Remembered for the melodramatic storyline, pleasing music rendered by C. S. Jayaraman and comedy sequences of NSK and Mathuram.

References

{{reflist 1941 films 1941 drama films Indian drama films Indian black-and-white films Indian films based on plays Films directed by K. S. Mani