''Pasi'' () is a 1979 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

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 ...

written and directed by

Durai Durai may refer to: * Durai (director) Durai (born 25 February 1940) is an Indian film director who was mostly active during the 1970s. As of 2014, he has directed 46 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Though known for his ...

. It stars

Shoba Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her rol ...

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor *Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films *Vi ...

and

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

. The critically acclaimed film won two awards each at the

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

, the

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, and the

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

. It was remade 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 ...

by Durai as ''Pet Pyaar Aur Paap''.

Plot

Muniyan, a cycle-rickshaw puller, is a road-side dweller along with his wife Valliamma and their seven children – two daughters and five sons. Despite being the sole breadwinner of his family, Manian spends the majority of his meager earnings on liquor. His wife struggles to make ends meet with the remaining amount. Her friend Rakkamma, a street food vendor, lends financial support to Valliamma's family. The educated Krishna, one of Manian's sons, elopes with a girl and separates himself from the family. Manian's daughter Kuppamma along with her friend Chellamma contribute a small income to the family by picking up rags on the roads. Rangan, a kindhearted lorry driver, befriends Kuppamma and offers assistance to her whenever she is in need of any help. They both get close to each other and their friendship leads to a physical relationship. When Valliamma gets to know this, she commits suicide fearing that Kuppamma's act has brought disgrace to the family. Meanwhile, Kuppamma gets shocked when she learns that Rangan is already married. With an intention to not disclose Rangan's identity, she keeps herself away from him. During this time, Kuppamma finds out that she's pregnant. Despite the advice of fellow road-side dwellers to abort the child, she refuses to do so. She also protects Rangan's identity by informing her relatives that her lover had died in an accident. Knowing that she is about to deliver their child, Kuppamma wishes to meet Rangan. But Rangan had relocated to another locality after she turned down his support. When Rangan's wife gets to know of the relationship, she empathises with Kuppamma and insists that Rangan bring her to their home. When Rangan reaches the slum, he finds Kuppamma in throes of labour pain. Kuppamma dies soon after, upon delivering their child. Rangan and his wife then decide to adopt the child as penance for Rangan's sins.

Cast

Shobha Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her rol ...

as Kuppamma *

as Rangan *

as Munian *

Praveena Bhagyaraj Praveena Bhagyaraj was an Indian actress who had worked mainly in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She married director K. Bhagyaraj in 1981. Praveena starred in several films like '' Manmatha Leelai'', '' Manthoppu Kiliye'', ''Pasi' ...

as Roopa *

Tambaram Lalitha Tambaram Lalitha (also known as Thambaram Lalitha, Tambaram N. Lalitha) was an Indian stage and film actress who acted in about 100 films as heroine and in supporting roles. She died in 1983. Partial filmography # ''Town Bus'' (1955) # ''Kokil ...

as Valliamma *

S. N. Parvathy S. N. Parvathy is an Indian actress who appears in supporting roles in Tamil films and serials. She often plays roles of a mother in films. She has worked in popular movies like ''Anubavi Raja Anubavi'', ''Pasi'', '' Palaivana Solai'', ''Agaya ...

as Rakkamma * Sathya as Chellamma *

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

as Mrs. Rangan *

Suruli Rajan Suruli Rajan was a Tamil film comedian/character artiste. He was a recipient of Tamil Nadu State Government's Best Comedian Award for the year 1981–82. Biography Suruli Rajan was born in 1938 in Periyakulam, near Theni. His father ''Ponnai ...

as Begger\Rickshaw Owner Guest appearance *

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

as Himself

Production

The film focused on the plight of roadside dwellers. Durai, who is known for making commercial films, made ''Pasi'' in a realistic manner by compromising on commercial aspects such as songs and dance sequences. The background score was composed by

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 a ...

. The

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

provided a subsidy of 100,000 for the film.

Reception

Released on 21 December 1979, the film met with unanimous critical acclaim. It was equally successful at the box-office, running for more than 100 days in the theatres. In 1984, Durai himself remade the film in Hindi as ''Pet Pyaar Aur Paap'', starring

Smita Patil Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who worked in films, television series and theatres. She appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada films in a career that spanned just o ...

and

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He was the Pr ...

. A review from the Tamil magazine ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'', dated 13 January 1980, appreciated the film for its realistic depiction of the lives of the poor. It also praised Shobha's acting and Ranga's camerawork. Durai's script and dialogues received equal praise but the end credits of the film were criticised as it was considered as not being appropriate to the characters of the film. The same year it was screened at the Tashkent Film Festival. The film served as a launchpad for

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.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 out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

in the 1980s. Another debutante Sathya, who played Shobha's friend Chellamma, acquired the prefix "Pasi" after the film. Shortly after receiving the

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

award at the

27th National Film Awards The 27th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictur ...

and a day before the 100th day celebration of the film's success, Shobha committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Accolades

* 1980 – Silver Lotus Award - Best Actress -

* 1980 –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awa ...

;

* 1979 – Best Tamil Film (Durai)Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
* 1979 – Best Tamil Actress (Shobha) ;

* 1980 – Best Film (first prize) (G. Lalitha) * 1980 – Special Prize for Best Actor (

)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{TamilNaduStateFilmAwardBestFilm 1979 films Films about poverty in India Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance Films set in Chennai 1970s Tamil-language films Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh Tamil films remade in other languages Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners Films directed by Durai