''Thirumanam'' () is a 1958 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 ...

directed by

A. Bhimsingh A. Bhimsingh or Bhim Singh (1924–1978) was an Indian filmmaker who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. Apart from Tamil, he made films in other languages that include 18 films in Hindi, 8 films in Telugu, 5 films in Malayalam and 1 film in ...

, and produced and written by

Valampuri Somanathan Valampuri Somanathan (c. 1928 – 21 June 2010) was a Tamil language, Tamil scholar and poet. He worked as a screenwriter in the Tamil film industry. In addition to screenwriting, he produced and directed a few films in Tamil. He was elected as ...

. The film stars

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 ...

and Savitri. It revolves around a singer who does not sing for money, believing there is a curse upon him that if he did so, he would die. ''Thirumanam'' is the first film produced by the studio Valampuri Pictures. While primarily black-and-white, it featured some dance sequence which were shot in

Gevacolor Gevacolor is a color motion picture process. It was introduced in 1947 by Gevaert in Belgium, and an affiliate of Agfacolor. The process and company flourished in the 1950s as it was suitable for on location shooting. Both the companies merged in ...

. The film was released on 18 July 1958 and failed commercially. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

Plot

Brothers Chidambaram and Nataraj live in a village. They hail from a family of musicians. The brothers do not sing for money, since they believe there is a curse upon the family that if they sing for money, they would die. In the face of poverty Nataraj goes to

Madras 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 ...

in search of a job. He stays in the

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

of Damodharam, a friend of Chidambaram. Damodharam's daughter Vani falls in love with Nataraj. Damodharam, who learns about the financial difficulty faced by his friend through Nataraj, sends money to Chidambaram but Chidambaram returns the money as his policy is not to receive money from others without doing any work. Enraged, Vani tells Nataraj that people with so much self-respect should not have come to their house. Nataraj leaves the house. He saves a clerk from robbers. The clerk gives accommodation to Nataraj. Vani feels sorry for Nataraj and somehow finds his new place of stay. Damodharam decides to have their marriage ceremony. Vani discovers that Nataraj can sing. She arranges for him to sing in a radio broadcast. Nataraj says about the curse but Vani brushes away that saying it is superstitious. Nataraj agrees with her and sings on the radio. He receives payment for his performance and sends money to his elder brother. In the meantime, Nataraj gives accommodation to another girl named Mullai in the house. Vani becomes suspicious and stops the marriage arrangements. When he learns that Nataraj sang for money, Chidambaram dies of shock. Upon learning of Chidambaram's death, Nataraj returns to the village. He becomes mentally unbalanced. Doctors say that he cannot be cured by medicine. Mullai decides that he can be cured only by bringing Vani. The rest of the story deals with what happens afterwards.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Nataraj * K. A. Thangavelu as Adambaram *

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. ...

as Chidambaram *

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 Damodharam * N. Viswanathan as Sundar * V. R. Rajagopal as Rajagopal * Ashokan as Ashokan ;Female cast * Savitri as Vani * M. N. Rajam as Mullai *P. Hemalatha as Mangalam *Sandhya as Sandhya *M. S. S. Bhagyam as Bhagyam *Baby Uma as Megalai *

Suryakantham Suryakantam or Sooryakantam (pronounced sūryakāntam) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 17th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. I ...

as Kanthammal ;Supporting cast *K. M. Nambirajan *Rama Rao *Sharma *

Karikol Raju Karikol Raju was a Tamil film veteran actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He acted in more than 500 films in a career spanning over five decades. He had started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a charact ...

;Dance * Gopi Krishna * Kamala Lakshman *

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 ...

Production

''Thirumanam'' was the inaugural production of the studio Valampuri Pictures. It was directed by

and written by

, who also produced the film. Cinematography was handled by G. Vittal Rao and C. F. Marconi, and the art direction by P. P. Chowdhri. Photography was handled by Thirumalai, and the choreography by

Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai (1910–1991) was an Indian Bharatanatyam dance teacher and choreographer. Early life Vazhuvoor Bagyathammal Ramaiah Pillai was born in 1910 to Parthiban and Bagyathammal in Vazhuvoor. He learned the arts of Nattuv ...

, Gopi Krishna, Thangaraju, and Thangappan. The film was processed at Bharani Studio. Although primarily black-and-white, the film featured some dance sequence which were shot in

. The final length of the film was .

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Subburayulu Munuswami Subbaiah Naidu (a.k.a. SMS) (15 March 1914 – 26 May 1979) was an Indian composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was one of the oldest music directors. He worked as an in-house music composer for Central Studios an ...

and

T. G. Lingappa Thiruchirappalli Govindarajulu Lingappa (22 August 1927 – 5 February 2000) was an Indian music director who worked predominantly in Kannada language films. He also worked in Tamil and Telugu movies. He was the son of G. Govindarajulu Naidu w ...

while the lyrics were written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass,

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 ...

, Subbu Arumugam, Suratha,

Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram (13 April 1930 – 8 October 1959) also known as Pattukottaiyar was an Indian Tamil poet and lyricist. Considered to be the most popular Tamil lyricist of the 1950s, he is particularly remembered for the philo ...

and M. K. Athmanathan. There were two songs, one each written by poets

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

Ramalinga Swamigal Thiruvarutprakasa Vallalār Chidambaram Ramalingam (5 October 1823 – 30 January 1874), commonly known in India and across the world as Vallalār, Ramalinga Swamigal and Ramalinga Adigal, was one of the most famous Tamil Saints and also one of t ...

. The song "Mangiyathor Nilavinile", based on Bharati's poem of the same name, is set in the

Carnatic raga Carnatic raga refers to ''ragas'' used in Carnatic music. A Carnatic raga has several components - primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system (''swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka'') and important tones. Origins and histo ...

known as Desh, "Ennamellam Or Idathaye" is set in Sahana, and "Thanga Nilavil" is set in

Abheri Abheri (pronounced ābhēri) is a raga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a ''Janya'' raga (derived scale), whose ''Melakarta'' raga (parent, also known as ''janaka'') is ''Kharaharapriya'', 22nd in the 72 ' ...

Release and reception

''Thirumanam'' was released on 18 July 1958, by Palaniyappa Film Corporation. It was previously scheduled for

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

1957. On 25 July 1958, ''

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 ...

'' stated, "''Thirumanam'' is a film that really holds the audience. himsingh'sdirection has made the tale of a village family that falls on evil times owing to its faithfulness to tradition memorable." However, the film was not commercially successful. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{A. Bhimsingh 1950s lost films 1950s romance films 1950s Tamil-language films 1958 films Films about superstition Films directed by A. Bhimsingh Films scored by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Films scored by T. G. Lingappa Indian romance films Lost Indian films Lost romance films