''Thozhilali'' () is a 1964 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 M. A. Thirumugam and produced by

Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar "''Eugen Sandow, Sandow''" Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Thevar (28 June 1915 – 8 September 1978) was a producer of Tamil cinema, Tamil films in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his films featuring a ...

who also wrote the story. Inspired by Thevar's early life as a milk supplier before he became a wealthy film producer, it stars

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 ...

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than five decades in South Indian cinema. ...

and newcomer Rathna. The film was released on 25 September 1964 and became a box-office success.

Plot

Raju, a relentless worker, is the only son of a widow of peasant origin, which in spite of the economic difficulties, makes a success, in parallel, of brilliant of high studies. We see him climbing, not without happiness and problems, the social scale, via diverse jobs, arousing in the passage, the jealousy of his rich neighbours. But his effort will be rewarded in the measure for hard sound labour, in the person of beautiful and intelligent Vijaya. Raju joins a bus company and earns the respect of boss Murugappan. Murugappan's daughter Meena falls for Raju but he refuses to marry her and is thrown out of the company.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Raju * M. N. Nambiar as Velu * S. A. Ashokan as M. Murugappa *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...

as Kithan ;Female cast *

as Meena * Rathna as Vijaya * Manorama as Chandira *

S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...

as Raju 's mother

Production

''Thozhilali'' marked the acting debut of Rathna. The film was inspired by

's early life as a milk supplier before he became a wealthy film producer in a

rags to riches Rags to riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype in literature and popula ...

manner. While Thevar himself wrote the story, Aaroor Dass wrote the dialogues.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan.

Release and reception

''Thozhilali'' was released on 25 September 1964. Writing for ''

Sport and Pastime ''Sport and Pastime'' was a weekly sports magazine published by The Hindu Group from 1947 to 1968. Founded by S. K. Gurunathan, the magazine was eventually stopped in 1968. It was replaced with ''Sportstar ''Sportstar'' is an Indian monthly ...

'', T. M. Ramachandran praised M. A. Thirumugam's direction, saying he has "shown much improvement in skill and ability as a box-office wizard" and also praised N. S. Varma's cinematography and performances of the artistes. The film became a box-office success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar 1960s Tamil-language films 1964 films Films directed by M. A. Thirumugam Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan