''Naanal'' () is a 1965 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

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

, written and directed by

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

. It is based on his play of the same name. The film stars

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

, Srikanth,

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telug ...

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than five decades in South Indian cinema. ...

and

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 ...

. It was released on 24 December 1965.

Plot

Four jailbirds escape from prison to take revenge on the judge who sentenced them. They take over his house, and the film builds around the judge and his family escaping from them.

Cast

as Inspector Baskaran *

as Prisoner Arasu *

as Savitri *

as Jaya, Raghunathan's sister * Srikanth as Murali *

as Pattabi Raman *

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 Lakshmi * Shobha *

K. Vijayan K. Vijayan was an Indian film director. He predominantly worked in Tamil cinema. He mainly worked with Sivaji Ganesan. He directed many Malayalam films as well. Career K. Vijayan was an employee of the Golden Rock Railway Workshop in Tiruchi ...

as Judge Raghunathan * Gemini Mali as Prisoner David * Hari Krishnan as Prisoner Bairavan * I. S. R. as Kesavan (Servant) *

Typist Gopu Gopalarathnam, known by his stage name Typist Gopu, was an Indian actor known for comedy and supporting roles. He acted in over 600 stage plays and 400 films. Career A native of Manakkal, Lalgudi in Trichy district, Gopalarathnam was active ...

as Milk Man

Production

''Naanal'' was a play written by

and inspired by the film ''

Desperate Hours ''Desperate Hours'' is a 1990 American neo-noir action thriller film, and a remake of the 1955 William Wyler crime drama of the same title. Both films are based on the 1954 novel by Joseph Hayes, who also co-wrote the script for this film wi ...

''. It was later adapted by him into a film with the same name. This is the feature film debut of

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

V. Kumar V. Kumar ( ta, வரதராஜுலு குமார், ) (28 July 1934 – 7 January 1996) was a yesteryear Tamil cinema music director, born in Chennai, Tamilnadu on 28 July 1934 to Varadharajulu and Dhanabhakiyam couple, in July 1969 ...

and 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 ...

and Suratha. A. R. Venkatachalapathy of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote, " urathahad a knack for compiling data, making lists and turning them into poetry", citing "Vinnukku Melaadai" in ''Naanal'' as an example.

Release and reception

''Naanal'' was released on 24 December 1965. T. M. Ramachandran of ''

Sport and Pastime ''Sport and Pastime'' was a weekly sports magazine published by The Hindu Group from 1947 to 1968. Founded by S. K. Gurunathan, the magazine was eventually stopped in 1968. It was replaced with ''Sportstar ''Sportstar'' is an Indian monthly ...

'' positively reviewed the film, praising Sundarrajan's performance more than the other cast members. ''

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 ...

'' gave the film a less positive review, comparing it unfavourably to the source play.

Legacy

The storyline of

Crazy Mohan Mohan Rangachari (16 October 1952 – 10 June 2019) known professionally as Crazy Mohan, was an Indian actor, comedian, screenwriter and playwright. An engineer by profession, Mohan started writing plays and established his own drama troupe calle ...

's play ''Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam'' was inspired by ''Naanal''.

References

External links

* {{K. Balachander 1960s Tamil-language films 1965 comedy films 1965 films Films based on adaptations Films directed by K. Balachander Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Indian black-and-white films Indian comedy films Indian films based on plays