''Kaithi'' () is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by S. Balachander for Jupiter Pictures. Balachandar also composed the music, and stars alongside S. A. Natarajan, S. Revathi and V. Meenakshi. Adapted from the American film '' Dark Passage'' (1947), it revolves around a man being wrongfully convicted, and escaping to clear his name. ''Kaithi'' was released on 23 December 1951, and emerged a commercial success. No print of the film, however, is known to survive, making it a lost film.

Plot

Karunakaran, a generous man, meets Vijayan, a poor unemployed graduate, at the Guindy Race Course and offers a tip-off to help him make money. The bet proves a success, but Vijayan finds Karunakaran killed when attempting to give him the winnings and is framed for the murder. The plot follows his escape from prison and search for the killer, Vijaya Sarathi.

Cast

;Male cast * S. Balachander as Vijayan * S. A. Natarajan as Vijaya Sarathi * G. M. Basheer as Prosecutor Raman * M. K. Mustafa as Inspector Kesavan * G. Muthukrishnan as Sekar * M. R. Santhanam as Karunakaran * A. Ganesan as Pandu * T. M. Gopal as Arumugam * K. N. Venkatramanan as a public prosecutor * S. Peer Mohamed as a public prosecutor * S. V. Rajagopal as the bandyman * Pinni Raju as the judge ;Male supporting cast * Master Shivaraman, Krishnan, Prabhakaran ;Female cast * S. Revathi as Kamala * V. Meenakshi as Revathi * R. Malathi as Jayam * S. Saroja as Seethamma

Production

The producer M. Somasundaram of Jupiter Pictures approached S. Balachander to make a film for his banner. Balachander developed a story based on the American film '' Dark Passage'' (1947) involving a wrongfully convicted man escaping from prison to clear his name. While he also wrote the screenplay, the dialogues were written by T. S. Venkatasamy, Kalaimani and N. Seetharaman. Cinematography was handled by B. Ramasamy, and editing by M. A. Thirumugam, then the staff editor of Jupiter. Initially, the film was announced with the title ''Raktham'' (Blood), and various Tamil publicity posters had the caption ''Velivarugirathu! Jupiterin Raktham!'' (Coming! Jupiter's Blood!) in bold and all caps. This shocked Balachander, Somasundaram and Jupiter co-founder S. K. Mohideen, so the title was changed to ''Kaithi'', suggested by Balachander.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by S. Balachander and lyrics written by

K. D. Santhanam K. D. Santhanam was an Indian actor, writer and lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil films. Career He was a teacher at Madurai Sri Mangala Bala Gana Sabha training young boys in dramatics. He was known as a strict disciplinarian. He punished ...

. The song "Aiya Horee Ram" was adapted from the "Canoe Song" sung by Paul Robeson in '' Sanders of the River'' (1935). A song beginning with the English lines, "Be happy... Be jolly... Be cheerful...", was also popular.

Release

''Kaithi'' was released on 23 December 1951. The film emerged a commercial success at a time when crime thrillers were not common in Tamil cinema. However, no print of it is known to survive, making it a lost film.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{S. Balachander 1950s crime thriller films 1950s lost films 1950s Tamil-language films 1951 films Films about miscarriage of justice Films directed by S. Balachander Indian black-and-white films Indian crime thriller films Jupiter Pictures films Lost Indian films Films scored by S. Balachander