''Meenda Sorgam'' () 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
romantic musical film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
, written and directed by
Sridhar. 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 ...
and
Padmini, with
K. A. Thangavelu,
T. R. Ramachandran
Thirukampuliyur Ranga Ramachandran (9 January 1917 – 30 November 1990) was an Indian actor and comedian who acted mainly in Tamil films. He was cast mostly in lead or supportive roles, especially in comical parts, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kn ...
,
N. Lalitha and
Manorama in supporting roles. It was released on 29 July 1960, and failed commercially.
Plot
Nirmala is a poor but talented dancer who falls in love with Sekar, a rich man's son. But Sekar is forced into a marriage with Prathiba, a rich man's
spoilt daughter. Inconsolable, Nirmala promises her lover that she will never give public performances. Due to various circumstances, Sekar's finances suffer losses and his house is put up for auction. To rescue him from a dire future, Nirmala breaks her promise and gives a dance performance. With the money thus earned, she saves his house. But Sekar is unaware of this. When he learns the truth, he begins searching for her. In the meantime, Prathiba, who is now reformed, commits suicide. Sekar locates Nirmala, who is on the verge of committing suicide, and they are reunited.
Cast
*
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 ...
as Sekhar
*
Padmini as Nirmala
*
K. A. Thangavelu as Sachithanandham Pillai
*
T. R. Ramachandran
Thirukampuliyur Ranga Ramachandran (9 January 1917 – 30 November 1990) was an Indian actor and comedian who acted mainly in Tamil films. He was cast mostly in lead or supportive roles, especially in comical parts, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kn ...
as Gopu
*
N. Lalitha as Prathiba
*
Manorama as Sachu
* K. N. Kamalam as Kamalam
* K. Nataraj as Nirmala's dance Teacher
* Sairam as Azhagu
* P. S. Venkatachalam as Duraisami
;Dance
* Sasi, Revathi, Sakunthala, Rita, Bala, Rajam,
Jaya, Shantha, Jayanthi, Nirmala, Nalini, Mohana,
Leela, Kamala, Nagu, Vittoba, and Rajeswari.
Production
Madhuram Pictures initially began a film called ''Agal Vilakku'' () with
S. S. Rajendran
Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema.
Film career
Rajendran made his acting de ...
and
E. V. Saroja
E. V. Saroja (1935 - 2006) was an Indian actress and dancer. She was born on 3 November 1935 as Engan V. Saroja. She belonged to Engan village of Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu.
Her debut film was '' En Thangai'' in 1952 starring M. G. Ramacha ...
starring.
Sridhar penned the script for that film; however the film was dropped after the first filming schedule due to Saroja's pregnancy. The company decided to make a new film ''Meenda Sorgam'' and chose
T. R. Raghunath
Thimatchipuram Rajagopal Raghunath (16 July 1912 – 2 January 1990) was an Indian film director. He was the younger brother of film director Raja Chandrasekhar.
Career
Raghunath started his film career as an assistant director in ''Gnanasoun ...
as director 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 ...
and
Padmini as lead actors. However Raghunath wanted Rajendran as the lead and left the film due to uncertainty in finalising the lead actor which led the film's crew to insist Sridhar to direct this film. The film was produced by T. A. Dorairajan, cinematography was handled by
A. Vincent, and editing by N. M. Shankar.
C. V. Rajendran
C. V. Rajendran (12 March 1937 – 1 April 2018) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi film industries. He was a cousin of famous director C. V. Sridhar.
Film career
He worked ...
, a relative of Sridhar, joined the film as an assistant director, making this the first of many collaborations between him and Sridhar.
Soundtrack
Music was composed by
T. Chalapathi Rao
Tatineni Chalapathi Rao (22 December 1920 – 22 February 1994) was an Indian music composer who worked in Telugu cinema. His career spanned more than three decades from early 1950s, till 1980s. He was the cousin of T. Prakash Rao.
Early life ...
and 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 ...
, Subbu Arumugam and P. S. Gopalakrishnan. Sridhar signed on Rao as the composer after working with him in ''
Amara Deepam'' (1956). He initially wanted
Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram
Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram (13 April 1930 – 8 October 1959) also known as Pattukottaiyar was an Indian Tamil poet and lyricist. Considered to be the most popular Tamil lyricist of the 1950s, he is particularly remembered for the philo ...
to write the lyrics, but could not hire the poet due to his death. The song "Kalaiyae En Vazhkaiyin" is set in
Bageshri
Raga Bageshri or Bageshree () is a Hindustani classical raga. It is a popular night raga, which is meant to depict the emotion of a woman waiting for reunion with her lover. It is said to have been first sung by Miyan Tansen, the celebrated ...
raga, and "Aadum Arul Jothi" is set to
Kalyani.
Release and reception
''Meenda Sorgam'' was released on 29 July 1960.
''
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 ...
'' praised the performances of the cast, particularly Ganesan, Padmini and Thangavelu, along with Vincent's cinematography. 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 ...
'' appreciated Ganesan's performance, but felt it lacked newness, though the film could be watched more than once.
According to historian
Randor Guy
Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of the ...
, the film did not succeed commercially, as it was thought to be too highbrow and idealistic.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{C. V. Sridhar
1960 films
1960s romantic musical films
1960s Tamil-language films
Films directed by C. V. Sridhar
Films scored by T. Chalapathi Rao
Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar
Indian black-and-white films
Indian romantic musical films