''Kodimalar'' is a 1966 Indian
Tamil-language
drama film written and directed by
C. V. Sridhar
Chitthamoor Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi language, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu Languages.
Ea ...
. The film stars
Muthuraman and
R. Vijayakumari, with
A. V. M. Rajan
Shanmugasundaram, known by his stage name A.V.M. Rajan, (26 July 1935) is a former Indian actor in Tamil cinema who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Pudukottai, Shanmugasundaram was very eager to join cinema though he held a bachel ...
,
Nagesh,
M. V. Rajamma and
Kanchana in supporting roles. It is a remake of the
Bengali film ''
Shyamali
''Shyamali'' (Bengali: শ্যামলী) is a 1956 Indian Bengali-language romantic drama film directed by Ajoy Kar and stars Kaberi Bose as the title character Shyamali. Uttam Kumar stars in this movie as the male protagonist. The film ...
'' (1956), itself based on Debnarayan Gupta's play of the same name. The film was released on 4 March 1966 and failed commercially.
Plot
Lakshmi, a mute woman, faces numerous troubles with her mother-in-law.
Cast
;Male cast
*
Muthuraman as Ramu
*
A. V. M. Rajan
Shanmugasundaram, known by his stage name A.V.M. Rajan, (26 July 1935) is a former Indian actor in Tamil cinema who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Pudukottai, Shanmugasundaram was very eager to join cinema though he held a bachel ...
as Thambi Durai
*
Nagesh as Annamalai
;Female cast
*
R. Vijayakumari as Lakshmi
*
M. V. Rajamma as Ramu's mother
*
Kanchana as Parvathi
Production
Although the
Bengali film ''
Shyamali
''Shyamali'' (Bengali: শ্যামলী) is a 1956 Indian Bengali-language romantic drama film directed by Ajoy Kar and stars Kaberi Bose as the title character Shyamali. Uttam Kumar stars in this movie as the male protagonist. The film ...
'' (1956), based on Debnarayan Gupta's play of the same name was a failure, C. V. Sridhar still decided to adapt the story in Tamil.
The remake, titled ''Kodimalar'', was produced by Sree Productions and directed by Sridhar who also wrote the screenplay. Cinematography was handled by Balu, and editing by N. M. Shankar.
Filming was suspended, but resumed in October 1965 after sixth months.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by
M. S. Viswanathan
Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...
, with lyrics by
Kannadasan.
Release and reception
''Kodimalar'' was released on 4 March 1966, and distributed by Rajshri Productions.
On 12 March 1966, ''
The Indian Express'' wrote, "The main defect with the film is that its characters and incidents are so strikingly similar to those seen in some previous Tamil movies that we do not feel like viewing a new film." Writing for ''
Sport and Pastime'', T. M. Ramachandran wrote "The delineation of the story follows the conventional pattern. The direction by Sridhar is uninspiring in the first half of the film, in which they are dull patches though it improves in the second". ''
Kalki'' said Vijayakumari's performance salvaged the film's flaws.
The film was commercially unsuccessful.
References
External links
*
{{C. V. Sridhar
1960s Tamil-language films
1966 drama films
1966 films
Films about disability in India
Films directed by C. V. Sridhar
Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan
Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar
Indian drama films
Indian films based on plays
Tamil remakes of Bengali films