''Ethiroli'' () 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

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

film, directed by K. Balachander, featuring

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 ...

. The film had musical score by K. V. Mahadevan and became a commercial success. It was also the only collaboration between Balachander and Ganesan.

Plot

The story revolves around Advocate Shankar, who gifts 7 principles to his daughter which he wants her to follow. In a critical case that he takes up, Shankar ends up breaking each principle which causes misery in his case and personal life. The film ends with his daughter gifting him the same 7 principles, which he intends to follow again.

Cast

as Advocate Shankar * K. R. Vijaya as Vijaya * S. S. Rajendran as Raju *

Jyothi Lakshmi Jyothi Lakshmi (2 November 1948 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian actress who appeared in more than 130 movies. In the early 1970s, she was well noted for her leading roles and songs in movies. She also acted in female-oriented movies and was a ...

as Shanti * Sivakumar as Sundaram *

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

as Kalpana * Major Sundarrajan as Manickam *

V. S. Raghavan V S Raghavan (18 February 1925 – 24 January 2015) was an Indian actor, who has acted both in Tamil films as well as television. He started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a character actor in films, starting ...

as Public Prosecutor *

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 ...

as Singapur Minor Balaiya *

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 fil ...

as Krishna Rao * G. Sakunthala as Radhamani *

Rojaramani Roja Ramani (also known as Chemparathy Shobana; born 16 September 1959) is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Telugu films. She was a child actor and her debut movie was '' Bhakta Prahlada'' (1967) for which she receiv ...

as Raji * O. A. K. Thevar as Thevar *

Vijaya Lalitha Vijayalalitha or Vijaya Lalitha was an Indian actress who appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known for her appearances in '' Rani Mera Naam'' (1972), ''Baazigar'' (1972) and '' Saa ...

as Valli *

Peeli Sivam P.L. Sivanappan known by his stage name credited as Peeli Sivam (5 July 1938 – 25 September 2017) was an Indian actor who featured around 400 Tamil-language films and plays from 1958–2017. He has featured in several films such as ''Muhamma ...

as Doctor * S. R. Prabhakar as Chittor

Themes

''Ethiroli'' revolves around the "moral decay of men".

Soundtrack

The music was composed by K. V. Mahadevan.

Release and reception

''Ethiroli'' was released on 27 June 1970. ''

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 be ...

'' wrote, "this is quite a different movie. It makes a fairly successful and quite an interesting study of blackmailer and the blackmailed".

References

External links

* {{K. Balachander 1970 films 1970s Tamil-language films Films directed by K. Balachander Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Indian courtroom films Indian legal drama films