''Palum Pazhamum'' (; ) is a 1961 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

A. Bhimsingh 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 ...

. The film stars

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

and

B. Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of ac ...

. It was released on 9 September 1961. The film was 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 ...

as ''

Beratha Jeeva ''Beratha Jeeva'' (''Mixed Lives'') is a 1965 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by K. R. Seetharama Sastry and produced by K. R. Seetharama Sastry and Shivaram. The film stars Kalyan Kumar, B. Saroja Devi, Jayanthi and K. S. Ashwath in the ...

'', and 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 '' Saathi''.

Plot

Ravi is a doctor searching for a

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

cure. Shanthi is Ravi's nurse who assists him in his research. Ravi offers to marry her after her father's death. After putting in enormous efforts, Ravi emerges successful in formulating a new drug but Shanthi is diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Ravi begins to neglect his duties as a doctor, focusing on Shanthi's health. Shanthi flees on a train as she does not wish to divert him from his research. The train crashes and Shanthi is believed to be dead. Ravi is heartbroken but vows to complete his research. Ravi's family forces him to marry Nalini, but they do not have a happy home life, as he is more oriented towards his research than his family. Nalini and Ravi fight, and in one of these fights Ravi loses his eyesight. Meanwhile, Shanthi escapes the train crash and goes to Switzerland to cure her tuberculosis. Shanthi returns from Switzerland to find that her husband has lost his eyesight. She offers to nurse Ravi; Ravi finds her voice familiar but does not recognise her, and confides in her that he is still fond of his ex-wife. Nalini overhears this, and complains to her parents. Shanthi faces criticism from the womenfolk of the house for her intimacy with Ravi. Ravi's brother Sekar grows fond of Shanthi and tells Ravi so. Ravi suggests they marry. Shanthi is upset and reveals her identity to Ravi's family. Ravi's sight is restored by an operation. He recognises Shanti and rushes to the marriage hall to find that Shanthi's sister is married to his brother. Ravi reunites with Shanti while Nalini joins the Red Cross and flies to Switzerland. The movie ends with Ravi and Shanthi working together to benefit mankind.

Cast

as Dr. Ravi *

as Shanthi & Neela *

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 Nalini *

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

as Mama *

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fiel ...

as Chinnavar * S. V. Subbaiah as Periyavar *

M. S. Sundari Bai Madurai Saurashtra Sundari Bai (2 March 1923 – 12 March 2006) was an Indian actress, singer and dancer who worked mainly in Tamil cinema from the 1940s to the 1970s. Sundari Bai was the wife of writer and director Kothamangalam Subbu. Her mos ...

as Gomathi *

A. Karunanidhi A. Karunanidhi ( Tamil : கருணாநிதி) was an Indian actor and comedian who featured mainly in Tamil-language films. He was active in the field from 1948 till 1978. Though he was a comedian, the roles he played in some of the film ...

as Sanjeevi * Manorama as Mayilvahanam *

C. T. Rajakantham C. T. Rajakantham (1917–2002) was a Tamil stage and film actress. She was the mother-in-law of playback singer Tiruchi Loganathan and grandmother of playback singers and popular music show judges T. L. Maharajan and Deepan Chakkravarthy E ...

as Maruthayee *K. Sairam as Devangu *S. A. Kannan as Shanthi Ungel *T. Thangaraj *

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. I ...

as Doctor (Guest Appearance) *

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the histo ...

as Sekar * K. D. Santhanam as Bai

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy wo ...

(a duo consisting of

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 ...

and

T. K. Ramamoorthy Trichirappalli Krishnasamy Ramamoorthy (15 May 1922 – 17 April 2013) was an Indian Tamil music composer and violinist. Ramamoorthy was known as ''Mellisai Mannar'' ( ta, மெல்லிசை மன்னர்; "The King of Light Music") ...

) with lyrics 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 ...

. The song "Ennai Yaarendru" is based on

Sindhu Bhairavi The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

raga, "Indha Nadagam" is based on

Shubhapantuvarali Shubhapantuvarali (pronounced , meaning ''the auspicious moon'') is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 45th '' melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is ...

, "Kadhal Siragai" is based on

Kapi Kapi, Kapı, or KAPI may refer to: Places * Kapi, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Kapı, Karataş, a village in Turkey * a possible old volcanic eruption site near Krakatoa People * Mari Kapi (1950–2009), Papua New Guinean judge * Mustafa Ka ...

, and "Paalum Pazhamum" is based on

Natabhairavi Naṭabhairavi is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 20th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. It corresponds to the Natural minor scale of western music system. Natabhaira ...

. The song "Naan Pesa Ninaippathellam" was written by Kannadasan to showcase his friendship with Viswanathan.

Release and reception

''Palum Pazhamum'' was released on 9 September 1961, and distributed by

Sivaji Films Sivaji Productions was an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. Established in 1958, it was involved mainly in Tamil and Hindi-language films until 2010. History Sivaji Productions company is owned by Prabhu and ...

. ''

Kumudam ''Kumudam'' is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1948 by S.A.P. Annamalai, and his close friend and confidante P.V. Parthasarathy. Now the magazine is published under the Kumudam Group, which also publishes ...

'' praised the film for Saroja Devi's performance. 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 ...

'' criticised the film title's lack of relevance to the story, but called the film an entertainer. The film ran for over 100 days in theatres.

In popular culture

The film's title also became the name for a collection of silk saris.

References

External links

* {{A. Bhimsingh 1960s Tamil-language films 1961 films Films directed by A. Bhimsingh Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Tamil films remade in other languages