''Thai Ullam'' () is a 1952 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 film directed by

K. Ramnoth K. Ramnoth (1912–1956) was an Indian cinematographer and director active in Tamil cinema. Career Ramnoth was born in 1912 at Pujapura, Thiruvananthapuram, Trivandrum. After passing his Bachelor degree, he arrived in Chennai in search of a ...

. Starring

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. ...

Manohar Manohar is a surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: ;given name * Manohar Ajgaonkar, Indian politician * Manohar Das, 17th century Indian Hindu painter * Manohar Joshi, politician * Manohar Lal Chibber, soldier * Manohar L ...

and R. Ganesh, the film has music composed by Nagayya and A. Rama Rao. It is an adaptation of the 1861 novel ''

East Lynne ''East Lynne'' is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs Henry Wood. A Victorian best-seller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centring on infidelity and double identities. There have ...

'', by Ellen Wood. The film was released on 9 February 1952, and emerged both a critical and commercial success.

Plot

Cast

;Male cast *

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

Seethapathy *

as Manohar * R. Ganesh as Sekar * K. Ramasami as Clerk Kuppu * N. Seetharaman as Magistrate Masilamani * Chandra Babu as Sukumar * Kolathumani as Ponnambalam * C. V. V. Panthulu as Sabapathy ;Female cast *

M. V. Rajamma M. V. Rajamma (10 March 1918 – 23 April 1999) was an Indian actress, producer and playback singer of films mostly in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages from the 1930s through 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine an ...

as Nirmala *

Madhuri Devi Madhuri Devi (19 September 1927 – June 1990) was a lead actress in Tamil films from the late 1940s until the 1950s. She has paired opposite leading heroes like M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. G. R and known for acting in the films ''Ma ...

as Vasundhara *

K. R. Chellam Kambayanatham Rangaswami Kanakavalli (born 1918), known professionally as K. R. Chellam, was an Indian actress who appeared in Tamil language films. Early life Kambayanatham Rangaswami Kanakavalli was born in 1918 to a middle-class Iyengar fam ...

as Santhamma *

T. P. Muthulakshmi T. P. Muthulakshmi (Native name: தமிழ்: டி. பி. முத்துலட்சுமி) was an Indian actress who was active from the 1950 to 1969. She was a prominent lead comedy actress during the early 1950s in Tamil langu ...

as Janaki * Sakunthala as Singari * C. K. Saraswathi as Kanthimathi ;Supporting cast T. K. Kalyanam, G. V. Sharma, Nandaram, Loose Arumugam, and V. T. Kalyanam.

Production

, who had left

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Subr ...

on 15 August 1947, worked for Narayanan & Company, for which he made the film ''Thai Ullam'', an adaptation of the 1861 novel ''

'' by Ellen Wood. While

was cast as the male lead,

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fiel ...

was considered for playing the antagonist. He however opted out of the project after demanding a salary of 75,000, which he was refused. Subsequently, he was replaced by a then struggling actor named R. Ganesh, who later became known as

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

Soundtrack

The songs were composed by Nagayya and A. Rama Rao, with lyrics by Kanakasurabhi,

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 ...

and

Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai (27 July 1876 – 26 September 1954) was a Tamil language, Tamil poet born to Sivadhanu Pillai and Aadhilakshmi. He was born in the southern district of Tamil Nadu in Kanniyakumari district in a village called Th ...

. The song "Vella Thamarai" is based on Bharati's poem of the same name. The song "Konjum Puraave" is based on the song "Thandi Hawayen" from the

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 ...

film '' Naujawan'' (1951). That, along with the songs "Kovil Muluthum Kanden", "Kathayai Kelada", "Vellai Thamarai" and "Poo Chendu Nee" attained popularity.

Release

''Thai Ullam'' was released on 9 February 1952, and distributed by Narayanan & Company themselves. The film was both a critical and commercial success, and a major breakthrough for Ganesh, who would later become a part of the "Big Three" of

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' ...

, the other two being

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 ...

and

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0260425 1950s Tamil-language films 1952 films Films based on British novels Films directed by K. Ramnoth Films scored by Nagayya Films scored by A. Rama Rao