''Paavai Vilakku'' () 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, nati ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by K. Somu and written by

A. P. Nagarajan Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan (24 February 1928 – 5 April 1977) was an Indian film director, producer, actor and writer who set a trend in film making in Tamil cinema from 1965 to 1977. Film career Nagarajan started his own drama c ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

Pandari Bai Pandari Bai (1930 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroi ...

M. N. Rajam ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

and

Kumari Kamala Kumari Kamala (born 16 June 1934) is an Indian dancer and actress (also known as Kamala Lakshman). Initially featured as a child dancer, Kamala appeared in almost 100 Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films throughout her career. In the 1970s, she ...

. It is based on

Akilan Akilandam, better known by his pen name Akilan, was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Tamil. He was attracted by Gandhian philosophy during his school days and he discontinued his college education at Pudukkottai to join the freedom st ...

's novel of the same name, serialised in the Tamil magazine ''

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 ...

''. ''Paavai Vilakku'' was released on 19 October 1960,

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.

Plot

Thanikachalam and Gowri are a married couple, and they have a daughter named Kalyani. Sengamalam is a dancer to whom Thanikachalam is attracted, but they do not marry since he already has a wife. Devaki, a widow, is also attracted to him, but later starts to treat him as a brother. Uma, a friend of Gowri, stays with the couple and raises their child as her own. She too falls in love with Thanikachalam, but is not able to marry him. An accident at Thanikachalam's house results in the death of Kalyani; Uma is not informed of her death. She later meets with a similar accident and upon learning about the child's death, she dies in the arms of Gowri and Thanikachalam.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Thanikachalam * V. K. Ramasamy *

Sarangapani Sarangapani was a composer of Carnatic music who lived during the 17th century in the village of Karvetinagaram in Andhra Pradesh. He is famous for his composition of ''Padams'', a type of Carnatic song sung during Bharatanatyam performances. Sar ...

* Ashokan *

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

;Female cast *

as Gowri *

as Devaki *

as Uma *

as Sengamalam Balaji,

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 ...

, Sriram and

Santhanam Santhanam or Santanam ( te, సంతానం) is an Indian name that may refer to: People * K. Santhanam (1895–1980), Indian politician * Madabusi Santanam Raghunathan (born 1941), Indian mathematician * Maharajapuram Santhanam (1928–1992) ...

make guest appearances as Thanikachalam's friends.

Production

''Paavai Vilakku'' was a novel written by

and serialised in the Tamil magazine ''Kalki''. The film version of this novel was directed by K. Somu, written by

, and produced by editor T. Vijayarangam and cinematographer V. K. Gopanna under the Sri Vijayagopal Pictures.

's home, Annai Illam, also featured in the film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Malayalam cinema, Malayalam, and Kann ...

, and the lyrics were written by

A. Maruthakasi A. Maruthakasi (13 February 1920 – 29 November 1989) was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He penned more than 4000 lyrics in more than 250 Tamil films. Early life Born in Melakudikadu in Tiruchirappal ...

. The song "Aayiram Kan Podhadhu" is set in the raga known as Mand, and "Mangiyathor Nilavinile" is based on

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

's poem of the same name.

Release and reception

''Paavai Vilakku'' was released on 19 October 1960, during

. The film was 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 ...

in Madras. ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "Despite the picture being crowded with a battalion of familiar faces, the total effect is pleasing and K. Somu's direction compels attention". Kanthan of ''Kalki'' said

K. Sarangapani Kumbakonam Sarangapani (1904-1984) was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based ou ...

, Ramasamy and

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 ...

gave light to the film. Facing competition from ''

Kairasi ''Kairasi'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film directed by K. Shankar and produced by N. Vasudeva Menon. The film stars Gemini Ganesan (credited as Ganesh) and B. Saroja Devi. It revolves around a doctor whose father is wrongfully convicte ...

'', ''

Petra Manam ''Petra Manam'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film directed by A. Bhimsingh and produced by National Pictures. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Pushpavalli, S. S. Rajendran and Padmini. It is the Tamil version of the 1953 Telugu film '' Pem ...

'', and ''

Mannathi Mannan ''Mannathi Mannan'' (; ) is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language swashbuckler film directed and produced by M. Natesan. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Anjali Devi and Padmini. The film, written by Kannadasan, had musical score by Viswanathan–Ra ...

'', released on the same day, the film did not perform well at box-office.

References

External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1960 drama films 1960 films 1960s Tamil-language films Films based on Indian novels Films directed by K. Somu Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Indian drama films