''Kairasi'' () is a 1960 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 directed by

K. Shankar Kannan Shankar (17 March 1926 - 5 March 2006) was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well as in Hindi. Film career Shanka ...

and produced by N. Vasudeva Menon. The film stars

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

(credited as Ganesh) and

B. Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of ...

. It revolves around a doctor whose father is wrongfully convicted. ''Kairasi'' was released on 19 October 1960, during

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

, and became a commercial success. It was later 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 ...

as '' Jhoola'' (1962).

Plot

Sundaram, an honest police constable, is falsely accused of murder and subsequently imprisoned. Ramanathan, a judge, adopts Sundaram's son, Mohan, who goes on to become a successful doctor.

Cast

;Male cast * Gemini Ganesh as Mohan * K. A. Thangavelu as Madhu *

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

as Kumar *

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 ...

as Sundaram * K. D. Santhanam as Judge Ramanathan * (Appalachari) Rama Rao as Lord * C. S. Pandian as Somu *

P. D. Sambandam P. D. Sambandam was a comic actor who has performed many supporting and minor roles in Tamil films. Filmography References

Male actors in Tamil cinema Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Li ...

as Sambandam * V. P. S. Mani as Sekhar * K. Natarajan as Dr. Shankar * G. K. Pillai as Sub-Inspector ;Male supporting cast * Mahalingam, Karikol Rajoo, Rathnam,
Balakrishnan, V. T. Kalyanam, and Maruthappa. ;Female cast *

as Sumathi *

M. V. Rajamma M. V. Rajamma (10 March 1918 – 23 April 1999) was an Indian actress, producer and playback singer of films mostly in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages from the 1930s through 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine an ...

as Lakshmi * K. Malathi as Kanakam * Mohana as Kokila * Ramani as Susheela * Chellam as Chellam * Pushpamala as Angamuthu ;Female supporting cast * Seethalakshmi, Ramamani Bai,

Santha Kumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

, and Baby Mangalam.

Production

''Kairasi'' was directed by

, who doubled as editor. N. Vasudeva Menon produced the film under Vasu Films, and this was his second film as producer. The story was written by Kothamangalam Sadanandan, while the dialogues were written by

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 ...

and K. D. Santhanam, who also appeared onscreen as a judge. Cinematography was handled by Thambu, and K. Narayanan co-edited the film, while A. Balu was the art director. The final cut of the film measured 163 minutes.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by R. Govardhanam. 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 ...

Kothamangalam Subbu Kothamangalam Subbu (born S. M. Subramanian, 10 November 1910 – 15 February 1974) was an Indian poet, lyricist, author, actor and film director based in Tamil Nadu. He wrote the cult classic Tamil novel ''Thillana Mohanambal'' and was awarded ...

and K. S. Gopalakrishnan. Music historian

Vamanan Vamanan is an Indian writer, journalist, documentary film-maker and film music historian based in Chennai. He is known for his documentation of the lives of Tamil film music composers, singing stars and playback singers. Vamanan was awarded the T ...

wrote that ''Kairasi'' "brought out the best in Govardhanam, with its limpid melodies brimming forth sweetly with lyrical intimations of love and romance."

Release and reception

''Kairasi'' was released on 19 October 1960, during

. It was distributed by Solar Film Distributors in Madras, and other distributors in other districts in Tamil Nadu. ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' positively reviewed the film, praising the performances of Ganesh, Rajamma, Sahasranamam and Radha, as well as the songs written by Kannadasan and the title track written by Subbu. Despite facing competition from ''

Mannathi Mannan ''Mannathi Mannan'' (; ) is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language swashbuckler film directed and produced by M. Natesan. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Anjali Devi and Padmini. The film, written by Kannadasan, had musical score by Viswanathan–Ra ...

'', ''

Petra Manam ''Petra Manam'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film directed by A. Bhimsingh and produced by National Pictures. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Pushpavalli, S. S. Rajendran and Padmini. It is the Tamil version of the 1953 Telugu film '' Pem ...

'', and ''

Paavai Vilakku ''Paavai Vilakku'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Somu and written by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Sowcar Janaki, Pandari Bai, M. N. Rajam and Kumari Kamala. It is based on Akilan's novel of ...

'', released on the same day, the film became a commercial success.

References

External links

* {{K. Shankar 1960 films 1960s Tamil-language films Films about miscarriage of justice Films directed by K. Shankar Films with screenplays by K. S. Gopalakrishnan