''Parakkum Pavai'' (; ) is a 1966 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

T. R. Ramanna Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Ramachandran (T.R.Ramanna) (1923–1997) was an Indian film director and producer. Film career Ramanna started his life as a sound recordist in a city studio and then made his way to film direction. He started the prod ...

, starring M. G. Ramachandran,

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 ...

and Kanchana.The film was released on 11 November 1966 and averagely grossed, having run in theatres for 80 days.

Plot

Jeeva, the son of a businessman, promises a dying man Vedhachalam, that he will take care of his daughter Kala. To do so, he obtains employment as a trapeze artist in the National Circus.

Cast

* M. G. Ramachandran as Jeeva *

as Kala *

J. P. Chandrababu Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, director, singer and dancer, whose Chaplinesque-style on-screen movements and singing style made him popular from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. He had ...

as Rubber *

R. S. Manohar Rasipuram Subramaniyan Iyer Manohar was an Indian actor who performed roles ranging from hero to villain to comedic characters. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He acted in over 200 films. He is known for his versatility and dominating personal ...

as Kabali *

K. A. Thangavelu Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu (15 January 1917 – 28 September 1994) popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporarie ...

as The director of The National Circus * S. V. Ramadas as Veeramuthu *

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 Vedhachalam *

O. A. K. Thevar O. A. K. Thevar (1924–1973) was an Indian actor. He acted in over 200 films and stage plays. He is known for his antagonistic roles. In 1955 he acted his debut movie ''Maman Magal''. His notable movie are Mahadhevi, Thaikkupin Tharam, Utha ...

as Balasubramaniyam *

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema, known mostly for his villain roles in an eight decade long career. He has also appeared in a few Malayalam films. ...

as Rangasamy *

S. A. Ashokan S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelled Asokan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles but was also a successful character actor. Early life Ashokan was b ...

as Vijayan * N. S. Natarajan as Dhandapani * Sadan as the leader of the group of the men in "Nilavenna Aadi" * Rajasulochana as Sarasu * Kanchana as Shantha *

G. Sakunthala G. Sakunthala (19 August 1932 - 8 November 2004) was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Tamil films and plays. As she was a prominent member of MGR's drama troupe, Sakuntha appeared as a 'regular' cast member in many of MGR's movies, ...

as Kannamma * S. D. Subbulakshmi as Amaniyamma * Manorama as Dilruba * Madhavi as Rita

Production

''Parakkum Paavai'' was produced and directed by

under R. R. Pictures, and written by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy. Cinematography was handled by M. A. Rehman. The film was prominently shot in an actual circus location.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

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 ...

, 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 ...

Release and reception

''Parakkum Pavai'' was released on 11 November 1966. ''

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, "Spectacular thrills, spills, breathtaking serial feats and a dazzling display of acrobatics highlight R. R. Pictures ''Parakkum Pavai'' ..a social drama set against an exciting panorama of circus life." '' Kalki'' also lauded the film for the circus scenes. Despite this, according to historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of the ...

, the film was not a major success as it ran for only 80 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{T. R. Ramanna 1960s Tamil-language films 1966 drama films 1966 films Circus films Films directed by T. R. Ramanna Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Indian drama films