''Nadu Iravil'' (; ) 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, na ...

-language

crime thriller film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

, directed and produced by

S. Balachander Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian veena player and filmmaker. He directed, produced, and also composed music for a few of his films. Balachander was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1982. He died of a hear ...

. The film's story was written by him and dialogue was written by Ve. Laxmanan, who also composed the music. It is based on

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fiction ...

's 1939 novel ''

And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, a ...

''.

Plot

Dhayanandam is a rich man who takes care of his wife Ponni, they have no children. Dr. Saravanan was the close friend of Dhayanandam, he tells about his blood cancer and he dies in 20 days. All Dhayanandam's assets are going in vain. Dr. Saravanan gives an idea, to call all his relations and they have come. Unfortunately, they are murdered one by one in the night. All are terrified. The suspicion on the murderer shifts onto Dr. Saravanan only for it to be revealed that the real murderer is Dhayanandam's handicapped brother.

Cast

Production

After the success of '' Bommai'' (1964),

launched a film named ''Nadu Iravil'' the same year. It was based on the 1939 novel ''

'', by the British writer

. Unlike the novel, it features the characters in an urban house rather than being stranded on an island, but "dutifully follows the same idea of each one dying, with the assets of the deceased out for the taking".

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. Balachander, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Ve. Laxmanan.

Release and reception

Though Balachander completed the film in 1964–1965, no distributor was willing to buy it, prompting him to distribute the film himself. ''Nadu Iravil'' was eventually released in 1970 and became a major success, prompting several distributors who earlier rejected the film, to return and beg Balachander for distributing it. ''

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, "The movie succeeds as a very good entertainer entirely due to the directorial work of S. Balachander and Reddi's camera".

References

External links

* {{authority control 1970 films 1970s crime thriller films 1970s Tamil-language films Films based on And Then There Were None Films based on British novels Films scored by S. Balachander Films directed by S. Balachander Indian black-and-white films Indian crime thriller films