''Neerkumizhi'' () 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, nati ...

-language film 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 ...

in his directorial debut. It portrayed the stories of patients and staff in a hospital setting. The film is based on Balachander's play of the same name. It was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

in 1969 as ''Chiranjeevi''.

Plot

Sethu, an orphan is a patient who is constantly playing pranks on the other hospital patients, the nurse in-charge and the doctors. A romantic bond develops between a young doctor, Indra and another patient, a football player, Arun much to the chagrin of her father, the senior-most doctor in the hospital. The football player has a greedy brother who tries to arrange for his sibling to be killed. How Sethu, on learning that he is terminally ill cherishes the short time he has to live and takes it upon himself to unite the lovers forms the rest of the story.

Cast

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 Sedhu *

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 ...

as Dr. Indra * V. Gopalakrishnan as Arun *

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 ...

as Dr. Balakrishnan * Jayanthi as the nurse in-charge * I. S. R. as patient *

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, ...

* Shoba as nurse

Production

''Neerkumizhi'' marked the directorial debut of

who earlier worked as a screenwriter and it was based on his stage play of the same name.

and V. Gopalakrishnan, who were part of the play, returned to the film adaptation. Balachander said that he was advised by friends and relatives to change the title but he was adamant and kept the title. The film was produced by A. K. Velan under Thirumalai Films. Cinematography was handled by Nimay Ghosh, and the art direction by Ranganna.

Soundtrack

The 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 ...

, in his debut. Balachander wanted

Sirkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day May ...

to sing the song "Aadi Adangum" as he felt that "his emphasis on certain words and letters always produced the effect required." The title song is based on "

The Green Leaves of Summer "The Green Leaves of Summer" is a song by Paul Francis Webster, with music by Dimitri Tiomkin, written for the 1960 film '' The Alamo''. It was performed in the film's score by the vocal group The Brothers Four. In 1961, the song was nominated fo ...

Release and reception

''Neerkumizhi'' was released on 23 October 1965, during

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

day. ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'', in a review dated 14 November 1965, said that despite its few flaws, the film could be watched once for Nagesh. Writing in ''

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 ...

'', T. M. Ramachandran named it his favourite Diwali release of the year because "it blazes a new trail in screen entertainment", while calling it better than the original play. ''

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 ...

'' praised the film for its story and Nagesh's performance.

References

External links

* {{K. Balachander 1960s Tamil-language films 1965 directorial debut films 1965 films Films directed by K. Balachander Films scored by V. Kumar Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Films set in hospitals Indian films based on plays Tamil films remade in other languages