''Kathiruntha Kangal'' (; ) is a 1962 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

T. Prakash Rao Tatineni Prakash Rao (24 November 1924 – 1 July 1992) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi, and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. In a career spanning nearly four decades, he directed ov ...

. The film stars Savitri and

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 ...

, the former in dual roles. It is a remake of the 1960

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

film ''Smrithi Tukku Thak'', which itself was adapted from the Bengali play of the same name by Malabika Roy. The film revolves around twin sisters who get separated at birth due to circumstances, and cross paths as adults. It was released on 25 August 1962, and emerged a commercial success.

Plot

Twin sisters Shenbagam and Lalitha get separated at birth due to poverty. Lalitha is brought up by a rich person, Panchanatha Mudaliar, and the other twin Shenbagam by their mother Kamakshi. Krishna, a doctor, comes to treat the ailing Kamakshi, and Shenbagam falls in love with him, which he is not aware of. On her deathbed, Kamakshi reveals to Shenbagam the other twin's existence. Shenbagam goes in search of Lalitha and eventually both end up travelling on the same train. An accident occurs, causing Lalitha to lose her memory and she is presumed dead. Things further escalate when Krishnan marries Shenbagam, under the assumption that she is Lalitha. Their child is born, and the real Lalitha shows up. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

* Savitri Ganesan as Shenbagam and Lalitha *

as Krishnan * M. R. Radha as Thanikachalam * S. V. Ranga Rao as Panchanatha Mudaliar *

Pandari Bai Pandari Bai (1930 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroi ...

as Balaji's sister * Sandhya as Thilagam *

S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...

as Kamakshi * Raghavan as Dr. Nair *

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 ...

Karikol Raju Karikol Raju was a Tamil film veteran actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He acted in more than 500 films in a career spanning over five decades. He had started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a charac ...

as Ulaganathan * Balaji as Doctor * Gopalakrishnan as Sundaram

Production

''Kathiruntha Kangal'' is a remake of the 1960

film ''Smrithi Tukku Thak'', which itself was adapted from the Bengali play of the same name by Malabika Roy. The film was directed by

, produced by T. K. Ramasamy under the banner Vasumathi Pictures, and its dialogues were written by M. S. Solamalai and Maa. Raa. Cinematography was handled by Kamal Ghosh, and editing by N. M. Shankar. Shooting took place at Vijaya-Vauhini Studios in Madras,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by the duo

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy wo ...

, with lyrics 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 ...

Release and reception

''Kathiruntha Kangal'' was released on 25 August 1962 by Vijayasri Pictures, and emerged a commercial success. 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 ...

'' positively reviewed the film, calling Savitri's dual role performance it's high point.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0254484 1960s Tamil-language films 1962 films Films based on adaptations Films about twin sisters Films directed by T. Prakash Rao Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Tamil remakes of Bengali films Twins in Indian films