''Vietnam Veedu'' () is a 1970 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 ...

, directed by P. Madhavan and written by Sundaram. The film stars

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 Padmini, with

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 ...

, K. A. Thangavelu, Srikanth,

M. Bhanumathi M. Bhanumathi (1946 – 4 February 2013) was an Indian actress, who was active in Tamil cinema during the latter 20th Century. She was well known playing negative and supporting roles. She acted in more than 100 films in Tamil, Malayalam and Ka ...

and

Rama Prabha Rama Prabha is an Indian actress who performs in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. She has acted in more than 1,400 films and is credited as a character artist who shared screen space with superstars across all generation of South Indian Cinema ...

in supporting roles. Produced by

Sivaji Productions Sivaji Productions was an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. Established in 1958, it was involved mainly in Tamil and Hindi-language films until 2010. History Sivaji Productions company is owned by Prabhu and h ...

, it is based on Sundaram's play of the same name. The film was released on 11 April 1970 and became a commercial success. It won the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film is given by the Government of Tamil Nadu as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. It includes prizes for three top places. Key List of winners Reference ...

. The film was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''Vintha Samsaram'' (1971).

Plot

"Prestige" Padmanabhan Iyer, the manager of a reputed company, lives with his wife Savithri, sons Sridhar and Murali, and a daughter. He is famous for living with prestige and is a keen observer of status in all matters. Sridhar is married while Murali is looking for a job. With his hard earned money, Padmanabhan buys his ancestral house, sold earlier due to poverty and names it "Vietnam Veedu" (Vietnam House) because of the constant tiffs among the family members, similar to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. His major problem is that he is unable to come to terms with his children's behaviour. He retires from his job, is unable to accept the situation, and gets worried about how his sons will manage the family. Added to this, they spoil his "Prestige" image. Sridhar, who accepts bribes at his work place, is arrested by the police after a search of their home and subsequently loses his job. Murali takes a loan from a moneylender and does not repay it. Hence, the moneylender lands up at Vietnam Veedu and demands repayment from Padmanabhan. The neighbours come to know of these happenings and mock him for living with false prestige. Padmanabha feels dejected; only Savithri empathises with him. He fears that after his death, his children will not take good care of their mother. Padmanabhan's constant worry leads to a serious medical problem; his family doctor advises him not to get overexcited. Padmanabhan undergoes a surgery after which the doctor says that though he is fine now, he may not be able to take any exciting news, as his heart is weak. Now all the family members are reconciled with each other and take good care of him. Padmanabhan soon receives a letter from his previous employer offering him the post of director, for which he would be required to go abroad for training. Reading this, he is overjoyed that he is still revered by many for his ethics and honesty, but due to the resultant excitement he dies.

Cast

Production

''Vietnam Veedu'' was the first full-length play written by Sundaram, and intended for the United Amateur Artistes (UAA) troupe, co-founded by his mentor

Y. G. Parthasarathy Yecha Gunja Parthasarathy (born Y G Parthasarathy; 30 September 1917https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung&biw=412&bih=652&tbm=bks&ei=7cf-XPSLFrPAmwW9lZ34BQ&q=Y.+G.+Parthasarathy+30th+September+1917&oq=Y.+G.+Parthasarathy+30th+Sep ...

. After writing the script, he approached Parthasarathy, who was uninterested in the play being staged. It later caught the attention of

who, impressed with the script, decided to stage it through his Sivaji Nataka Manram troupe. The play was inaugurated in 1965, and became a resounding success; Sundaram earned the title of the play as the prefix to his name. Ganesan later bought the rights to adapt the play for the screen. According to Venkatesh Chakravarthy, Regional Director and HOD-Direction at the LV Prasad Film & TV Academy, Chennai, the plot is based on

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

's play ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...

''. The closing text added to the screen was, "Idhu padam alla, paadam" (This is not a film, this is a lesson) rather than the usual "Vanakkam" (Welcome).

Soundtrack

The music was composed by K. V. Mahadevan 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 ...

. The song "Palakkattu Pakkathile" was remixed in ''

Yaaradi Nee Mohini ''Yaaradi Nee Mohini'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Mithran Jawahar. It is a remake of the 2007 Telugu hit Selvaraghavan's ''Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule'' and stars Dhanush, Selvaraghavan's brother, a ...

'' (2008). The song "Un Kannil Neer Vazhindhaal" is set in

Kapi Kapi, Kapı, or KAPI may refer to: Places * Kapi, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Kapı, Karataş, a village in Turkey * a possible old volcanic eruption site near Krakatoa People * Mari Kapi (1950–2009), Papua New Guinean judge * Mustafa Ka ...

raga.

Release and reception

''Vietnam Veedu'' was released on 11 April 1970. ''

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 ...

'' appreciated the way the bonding between Ganesan and Padmini was depicted. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres. It also won the

Legacy

''Vietnam Veedu'' is included with other Ganesan films in ''Yettavathu Ulaga Athisayam Sivaji '' (Sivaji, the Eighth Wonder of the World), a compilation DVD featuring Ganesan's "iconic performances in the form of scenes, songs and stunts" which was released in May 2012.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{TamilNaduStateFilmAwardBestFilm 1970 drama films 1970 films 1970s Tamil-language films Films directed by P. Madhavan Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Indian drama films Indian films based on plays Tamil films remade in other languages