''Kalai Kovil'' () 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, na ...

-language

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

written and directed by

C. V. Sridhar Chitthamoor Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu Languages. Early life Sridhar hailed from Chitthamur, a villa ...

. The film stars S. V. Subbaiah,

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

, Chandrakantha and

Rajasree Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telug ...

, 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 fi ...

, V. Gopalakrishnan, V. S. Raghavan, Jayanthi and S. N. Lakshmi in supporting roles. It focuses on the

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 popul ...

story of a

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

vidwan In Hindu philosophy ''vidvān'' alludes to an expert in discrimination, to the one who is an expert in the Vedanta. A ''vidwan'' (or ''vidvan'') is a person who has '' vidyā'' (knowledge) of a particular science or art. This term is usually used ...

, whose success is almost derailed when he takes to liquor abuse. ''Kalai Kovil'' was produced under the banner Bhagyalakshmi Productions by

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

(using the name Visu) and Ganga. Viswanathan also composed the film's soundtrack with T. K. Ramamoorthy under the name

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy wo ...

, and Ganga also served as the art director. Sridhar's frequent collaborator

Chitralaya Gopu Sadagopan (better known as Chitralaya Gopu) is an Indian screenwriter and director who works in the Tamil cinema. He has written nearly 60 films, and directed 27 of them. He scripted dramatic films such as '' Moondru Dheivangal'' and ''Shanti Ni ...

served as the film's assistant dialogue writer. ''Kalai Kovil'' was released on 25 September 1964 and received positive reviews from critics for its music, cast performances, writing and direction by Sridhar. It was not commercially successful, but the song "Thangaratham Vanthathu", performed by

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

and

M. Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

, attained popularity.

Plot

An impoverished man rises from

by becoming a

, but almost loses it in the lap of a danseuse and the lavishness of liquor.

Cast

;Male cast * S. V. Subbaiah *

* V. Gopalakrishnan * V. S. Raghavan ;Female cast *Chandrakantha *

* Jayanthi * S. N. Lakshmi

Production

After the success of '' Kadhalikka Neramillai'' (1964), its producer and director

decided to make his next directorial venture based on the life of a musician. His frequent collaborator, writer

met up with him at Marina Beach to discuss their next project which he wanted to be a comedy, but Sridhar told him to listen to the story he already finished writing, the story that became the film ''Kalai Kovil''. Gopu was assigned as the film's assistant dialogue writer. After listening to the story, composer

decided to produce the film along with Ganga under the banner Bhagyalakshmi Productions. Ganga also worked as the art director, while Viswanathan was credited as "Visu" for his role as producer in the posters and opening credits. Cinematography was handled by Balu, and editing by N. M. Shankar. Chitti Babu played the

offscreen for Muthuraman.

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 o ...

was Sridhar's initial choice for the lead role; since he did not turn up on the sets on the first day of the shoot, he was replaced with S. V. Subbaiah who initially refused to play the role as he was asked to sport a fake beard which he was not comfortable with but later relented.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

(a duo consisting of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy) and the lyrics were penned 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 "Deviyar Iruvar" 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 hi ...

known as Shree, while "Thangaratham Vanthathu" is set in

Abhogi Abhogi () is a raga in Carnatic music and has been adapted to Hindustani music. It is a pentatonic scale, an ''audava'' raga. It is a derived scale ('' janya'' raga), as it does not have all the seven '' swaras'' (musical notes). ''Ābhōgi'' ...

. Shyam was the violinist of the latter song, which attained popularity. He felt diffident in playing the classical-themed song as he was then more comfortable with westernised songs.

Release and reception

''Kalai Kovil'' was released on 25 September 1964. The film received positive reviews from critics who praised the music, performances of the cast, the screenplay, dialogues and direction by Sridhar. On 2 October 1964, ''

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 ...

'' praised the first half, but criticised the second half, saying the film maintained a "richly musical and at times absorbing" tone till the second half, when "scripter-director Sridhar's hands, like that of the hero in the movie, begin to slip". The reviewer called the songs composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy "a delight to the ears", but felt they did not exploit the veena, "the very soul of the film", fully. They also lauded Balu's cinematography, Ganga's art direction and the performances of Subbaiah and Nagesh, saying they "try to salvage the film, but in vain". The film was commercially unsuccessful.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{C. V. Sridhar 1960s Tamil-language films 1964 films 1964 musical films Films about alcoholism Films about music and musicians Films directed by C. V. Sridhar Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar Indian musical films