''Pangaaligal'' () is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language film directed by G. Ramakrishna. The film stars Gemini Ganesan,

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 ...

Anjali Devi Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer in Telugu and Tamil films. She was well known for her role as the Devi Sita in ''Lava Kusa'' as well as for the titular roles in movies like Chenchu ...

and Devika. It was released on 16 December 1961.

Plot

Three poor men (Ranga Rao, Sarangapani and Muthaiah) get together, form a partnership and establish a metal vessel factory. Rao gets hold of the authority and make the other two as wage earners. Rao's son (Radha) goes abroad for studies and comes back as a fully westernised man. He marries the daughter (Anjali Devi) of one of the wage earners as agreed upon earlier. But he is not interested in her and ill-treats her. The son of that wage earner (Gemini Ganesan) goes to Malaysia to learn a trade. When he returns he finds that his sister is married to Radha and undergoes ill-treatment. The other wage earner had two daughters. One of them, (Devika) is lost during a festival and was brought up by a railway porter (Durairaj and family. They make her a dancer so as to exploit rich men. They get hold of Radha. The other daughter (Saroja) and Ganesan become lovers. The porter family swindles all his wealth from Radha and he is reduced to living in a hut. He realises his folly. Ganesan helps to sort out matters and all ends well.

Cast

The list is compiled from

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 ...

review article and from the book ''Thiraikalanjiyam''. ;Male cast * Gemini Ganesan as Ponnaiya *

as Selvaraj *

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history of ...

as Thiruvasagam *

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 ...

as Kannayiram *

T. S. Muthaiah T. S. Muthaiah (1923 – 12 February 1992) was a Malayalam and Tamil film actor. He was a very popular actor in both film industries who usually played character and supporting roles in 1950s and 1960s. He acted with M. G. Ramachandran in Thayi ...

as Marudhamuthu ;Male cast (contd.) *

T. S. Durairaj T. S. Durairaj (31 December 1910 – 2 June 1986) was a Tamil film comedian, drama artist, producer and director in the early stages of the Tamil film industry (Kollywood). He received a Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu Government in 2 ...

as Nadesa Pillai * Karikol Raju as Nagalingam *K. Sayeeram *''Gemini'' Balu *''Sandow'' Krishnan ;Female cast *

as Meenatchi * Devika as Rani/Kamalam *

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 ...

as Valli *K. Malathi as Ponnamma *P. S. Gnanam

Production

The film was produced by T. Kanmani, C. K. Kannan and P. Rangasami Reddiar under the banner ''Iris Movies''. M. S. Solaimalai wrote the screenplay and dialogues while the film was directed by G. Ramakrishna who is a nephew of K. Ramnoth.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

S. Dakshinamurthi Susarla Dakshinamurthi Jr. (Telugu: సుసర్ల దక్షిణామూర్తి; 1921 – 2012) was an Indian music composer, playback singer, record producer, Carnatic musician, multi-instrumentalist,Ilavelpu in Naati 101 Chitralu ...

while the lyrics were penned by A. Maruthakasi, Kannadasan and Ku. Ma. Krishnan.

Release and reception

''Pangaaligal'' was released on 16 December 1961. On 22 December, '' The Indian Express'' said, "A host of characters swarm around the story with little apparent purpose. But some of the roles, such as that of Anjali, S. V. Ranga Rao, Gemini Ganesh and a few others are acted well enough for their irrelevance to be overlooked".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0390342 1960s Indian films 1960s Tamil-language films 1961 drama films 1961 films Films scored by Susarla Dakshinamurthi Indian drama films