''Nallavan Vazhvan'' () is a 1961 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

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 ...

produced and directed by

P. Neelakantan Palaniyaandi Neelakantan (2 October 1916 – 3 September 1992) was a Tamil film director, who was active for nearly four decades. Life He was born at Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. He graduated to movies from stage play. His play '' Naam Iruvar'' ...

. The film 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 ...

and

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

. It revolves around a man who is sentenced to death on false charges, and escapes from prison to clear his name. ''Nallavan Vazhvan'' is the 50th film for Ramachandran as an actor. The screenplay was written by

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

, from a story by Na. Pandurangan, and cinematography was handled by G. Durai. The film was released on 31 August 1961 and underperformed at the box office, with a theatrical run of 80 days.

Plot

Muthu, a convict sentenced to death on false charges of murder, escapes from prison. He will have to himself confuse the culprit, Nallasivam, the local personality, of the most well-to-do, above suspicion, a priori. During his escape, disguised as a shaman, Muthu leads an investigation, and finds that the matter rests on the indestructible support of some women. First of all, his young and beautiful Chandra (that he saved formerly, captivated in the hands of Nallasivam), of its mother and the one that he considers as his young sister Chenbagame. But the husband of the latter, the inspector of police, in charge of this case, Madhavan, friend, nevertheless, Muthu, convinced of his guilt, does not stop pursuing him. However, the hired men thrown by Nallasivam cross the region in search of the fugitive to kill him. In front of such threats, will Muthu manage to put, in time, the hand on the unique witness which could exonerate him?

Cast

;Male cast *

as Muthu * M. R. Radha as Nallasivam * M. N. Nambiar as Inspector Madhavan *D. Balasubramaniam as Nallasivam's clerk * S. Rama Rao as Makeup Meganathan ;Female cast *

as Chandra *

E. V. Saroja E. V. Saroja (1935 - 2006) was an Indian actress and dancer. She was born on 3 November 1935 as Engan V. Saroja. She belonged to Engan village of Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. Her debut film was '' En Thangai'' in 1952 starring M. G. Ramacha ...

as Chenbagame *Lakshmi Prabha as Muthu's mother *P. S. Seethalaksmi as the witness

Production

''Nallavan Vazhvan'' was produced and directed by

under Arasu Pictures. The screenplay was written by

, from a story by Na. Pandurangan. It was the 50th film for

as an actor. Cinematography was handled by G. Durai.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by T. R. Pappa, with lyrics by M. K. Athmanathan and Vaali. This was the first Ramachandran film for which Vaali wrote lyrics. The team initially rejected the lyrics Vaali wrote for the song "Sirikindraal Indru Sirikindraal" and wanted

A. Maruthakasi A. Maruthakasi (13 February 1920 – 29 November 1989) was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He penned more than 4000 lyrics in more than 250 Tamil films. Early life Born in Melakudikadu in Tiruchirappal ...

to write new lyrics, but Maruthakasi convinced the team to retain Vaali's lyrics. The song contains the lyrics "Udayasooriyan ethiril irundhal, ullai thamarai malaratho" (in front of the rising sun, the lotus of one's heart blooms), where the "rising sun" is a reference to the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

's election symbol.

Release and reception

''Nallavan Vazhvan'' was released on 31 August 1961. Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' negatively reviewed the film, saying one redeeming feature was its short runtime of . The film underperformed at the box office and ran for 80 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{P. Neelakantan 1960s crime thriller films 1960s Tamil-language films 1961 films Films about miscarriage of justice Films directed by P. Neelakantan Films scored by T. R. Pappa Indian crime thriller films