''Madras to Pondicherry'' is a 1966 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

road film A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

, directed by

Thirumalai–Mahalingam A. Bhimsingh or Bhim Singh (1924–1978) was an Indian filmmaker who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. Apart from Tamil, he made films in other languages that include 18 films in Hindi, 8 films in Telugu, 5 films in Malayalam and 1 film in ...

and written by Usilai Somanathan. The film stars

Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include: * Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011) * Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971) * N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad * N. Ravichandran, ...

and Kalpana. It was released on 16 December 1966, became a commercial success, and was 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 '' Bombay to Goa'' (1972). This in turn went on to inspire the 2004

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

film ''

Navra Maza Navsacha ''Navra Maza Navsacha'' (Marathi: नवरा माझा नवसाचा) is a 2004 Marathi film. The film stars Sachin Pilgaonkar, Ashok Saraf and Supriya Pilgaonkar in leading roles. The movie portrays the journey of the couple from M ...

'', which was also remade in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

in 2007 as ''

Ekadantha ''Ekadantha'' is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed and written by Bollywood actor - director Sachin starring Vishnuvardhan, Prema and Ramesh Aravind. It features soundtrack from Gurukiran.Released on 16 March 2007, t ...

''.

Plot

Mala, an aspiring film actress, leaves home because of her interest in this which is kindled by a group of thugs. One of them shoots a member of his gang, which she witnesses. To escape them, she jumps onto a running bus going from Madras to Pondicherry. The thugs hire an assassin to board the bus Mala is in to kill her. However, a man named Baskar also gets into the bus. Realising that Mala is in danger, he voluntarily saves her and ends up falling in love with her. Ultimately, it is revealed that Baskar is Mala's prospective bridegroom whom she tried to avoid by leaving her home.

Cast

as Baskar * Kalpana as Mala *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...

as the bus conductor * Manorama as a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

woman * A. Karunanidhi as the bus driver *

Pakoda Kadhar Pakoda Kadhar was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil films (Kollywood) in comedic and supportive roles. He acted in over 200 films in the Tamil language during the decades 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. He is notable for his comedian roles along with ...

as Gopu / the Brahmin couple's son *

A. Veerappan A. Veerappan (21 June 1933 2005) was an Indian comedian, screenwriter, and film director. While having worked in more than 100 films. He is notable for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Nagesh in the 1960s. He wrote comedy tracks ...

as a Brahmin man * V. K. Ramasamy as street magicians *

V. S. Raghavan V S Raghavan (18 February 1925 – 24 January 2015) was an Indian actor, who has acted both in Tamil films as well as television. He started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a character actor in films, starting ...

as Mala's father *

O. A. K. Thevar O. A. K. Thevar (1924–1973) was an Indian actor. He acted in over 200 films and stage plays. He is known for his antagonistic roles. In 1955 he acted his debut movie ''Maman Magal''. His notable movie are Mahadhevi, Thaikkupin Tharam, Utha ...

as Hotel owner *

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 charact ...

as Bhagavathar *

K. K. Soundar K.K. Soundar (1925-2003) was a Tamil people, Tamil film film actor, actor. He has done character roles in many Tamil movies from the 1950s till the 1990s. Filmography ''This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.'' 1930s 1950s 196 ...

as Mad mother's son *

A. K. Veerasami A. K. Veerasamy was an Indian actor who acted in over 500 films in the Tamil language, in supporting and minor roles. One verse that he spoke of in the Mudhal Mariyadhai film, "''Enakku Oru Unmai Therinchavunum"'' dialogue is still far from ...

as Baskar's father *Thayir Vadai Desikan as Bus passenger *

Kallapart Natarajan Kallapart Natarajan was an Indian actor who works in Tamil-language films. He received the moniker 'Kallapart' from his role as a thief (Kallapart) in stage dramas. Selected Filmography *'' Marumagal'' (1953) *''Nalla Idathu Sammandham'' (1958) ...

as Mala's love interest * K.S. Angamuthu as Bus passenger *Gundu Karuppaiah as Bus passenger

Production

''Madras to Pondicherry'' was directed by the duo

, written by Usilai Somanathan, and produced under the banner Sri Venkateswara Cinetone by four people: T. S. Adhinarayanan, P. M. Nachimuthu, S. Sivaraman and G. K. Selvaraj. It was among the earliest

road films A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienat ...

in Tamil cinema.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy and the lyrics were written by

Alangudi Somu Alangudi Somu (12 December 1932 − 6 June 1997) was an Indian Tamil film lyricist who wrote many popular songs in several films. He was active in the field from 1960 till late 1990s. About Alangudi Somu born on 12 December 1932 in Alangudi vil ...

Panchu Arunachalam Panchanathan Arunachalam (22 March 1941 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a lyricist in the Tamil cin ...

, Thanjai Vaanan and Namakkal Varadarajan.

Release and reception

''Madras to Pondicherry'' was released on 16 December 1966. ''

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 ...

'' criticised the film for its story. Despite this, it became a commercial success.

Remakes

''Madras to Pondicherry'' was remade in Hindi as '' Bombay to Goa'' in 1972. This in turn went on to inspire the 2004

film ''

'', which was also remade in

in 2007 as ''

''.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2548220 1960s comedy thriller films 1960s Tamil-language films 1966 comedy films 1966 films Films scored by T. K. Ramamoorthy Films set in Chennai Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Puducherry Indian black-and-white films Indian comedy road movies Indian comedy thriller films Tamil films remade in other languages