''Panneer Pushpangal'' () is a 1981 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

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

jointly directed by Santhana Bharathi and

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

in their directorial debut. The film stars Pratap,

Venniradai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

and newcomers Suresh Kumar and

Shanthi Krishna Shanthi Krishna is an Indian actress known for her leading roles in Malayalam and Tamil films. As a star in the 1980s and 1990s, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sharadammini in ''Chakoram'' (1994), t ...

. It was released on 3 July 1981. It was dubbed into

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 ...

as ''Madhura Geetham'' and released on 20 March 1982.

Plot

''Panneer Pushpangal'' is a love story between Aravind Prabhu and Uma supported by their teacher Prem.

Cast

* Pratap as Prem *

as the hostel warden *

Suresh Suresh is an Indian masculine given name originating in the Sanskrit word ' (compound of ' and '). Its meaning is "Ruler of Gods" and it has been used an epithet for the Hindu gods Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. People named Suresh include: * Su ...

as Aravind Prabhu *

as Uma *Jr. Manohar as Babu *Archana as Uma's mother

Production

Development

During an impromptu discussion, K. Somasundareswaran had narrated the story of two convent students coming of age to

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...

. Moved by the tale, Amaran gave the directorial opportunity to

and Santhana Bharathi at the helm. Vasu, son of make-up man Peethambaram and Santhana Bharathi, son of producer M. R. Santhanam, made their directorial debuts with this film. According to Amaran, "The idea of the story came out of friendly banter".

Casting

A photographer friend of Suresh Kumar's father opined that Suresh could make it as a lead actor and with a portfolio, Suresh approached director

C. V. Sridhar Chitthamoor Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi language, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu Languages. Ea ...

to feature in his films, but his effort went in vain. He then met Bharathi and Vasu who decided to cast him in ''Panneer Pushpangal'', while simultaneously he was cast in the lead role in

Bharathiraja Bharathiraja (born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of rural life in his films. ...

's ''

Alaigal Oivathillai ''Alaigal Oivathillai'' () is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language romance film written and directed by Bharathiraja, from a story by Manivannan. The film stars two new debutants Karthik and Radha, while Thiagarajan, Silk Smitha and Kamala Kamesh app ...

'' presenting him with a dilemma of which film to choose; he chose the former. The film also marked the Tamil debut of Shanthi Krishna.

Filming

The film was shot at The Laidlaw Memorial School of St. George's Homes, Ketti, in the Nilgiris.

Themes

''Panneer Pushpangal'' deals with adolescent love, a theme that was not frequently explored in 1980s Tamil cinema.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

Tamil (original) version

Lyrics were written by Gangai Amaran. The song "Ananda Raagam" is set in

Simhendramadhyamam Simhendramadhyamam is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 57th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Sumadyuti in Muthuswami Dikshitar schoo ...

raga, and "Vengaya Sambarum" is set in

Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 56th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chāmaram in Muthuswami Diksh ...

. Ilaiyaraja later reused "Ananda Ragam" as "Saara Yeh Aalam" in ''

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

'' (2006).

Telugu (dubbed) version

This film was dubbed into Telugu as ''Madhura Geetham'' and all songs were written by

Rajasri Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telug ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0279310 1980s Tamil-language films 1981 directorial debut films 1981 films Films directed by P. Vasu Films directed by Santhana Bharathi Indian coming-of-age films Indian romance films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja 1980s coming-of-age films 1980s romance films