''Needhikku Thalaivanangu'' () is a 1976 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 film 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'' ...

, starring

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 Latha. It is a remake of the Telugu film ''

Neramu Siksha ''Neramu Siksha'' () is a 1973 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by K. Viswanath who co-wrote the film with M. Balayya. The film is an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's ''Crime and Punishment'' (1866). The film received positive revie ...

'' (1973). The film was released on 18 March 1976 and became a box office success.

Plot

Vijay, who lives with his parents, leaves home one day as his father insults him. While he is fleeing his home, he comes across a girl whom he adopts as his sister, and begins work on improving her life. In the course of time, he commits a mistake, which leads to several consequences. He also meets a young woman and falls in love with her. As a reformed person who realises his mistakes, he makes amends in many ways, and in order to please everyone, he ends up sacrificing everything, including his life.

Cast

as Vijay * Latha as Vimala *

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

as Maragadhan * Pushpalatha as Seetha *

Roja Ramani 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 ...

alias Nirmala as Eswari * M. N. Nambiar as Sathiyamoorthy * V. K. Ramasamy as Vajaravel * Thengai Srinivasan as Muthaiya *

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 Rajasekaran * V. Gopalakrishnan as Gopal *

M. Balayya Mannava Balayya (9 April 1930 – 9 April 2022) was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer in Telugu cinema. He acted in 300 films. Early life and career Mannava Balayya, was born at Chavupadu, Amaravathi mandalam, Guntur district ...

as Chinnaiya *

S. V. Ramadas S. V. Ramadas (1921-2004) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films, most often as a villain. He acted in more than 700 films in a career spanning over four decades. Film career Among popular movies, he acted in Aayirathil Or ...

as the rapist at the hotel * Isari Velan as Mani, the cook *

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 Slum people *

Ennathe Kannaiah Ennathe Kannaiah (1925 - 7 August 2012) was a comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. In the Ravichandran-Jayalalita starrer Naan, as he spoke his dialogues, he frequently used the word Ennathe and this became his nickname. Decades later ...

as The collector of rent *

Loose Mohan Arumugam Mohanasundaram (8 February 1928 – 16 September 2012), popularly known as Loose Mohan and Raja Gopalakrishnan, was an Indian actor who had acted as a comedian in over 1000 Tamil films. He is credited with popularizing Madras Basha ...

as Muthiya's sidekick * T. K. S. Natarajan as Pimp

Production

A remake of the Telugu film ''

'' (1973), ''Needhikku Thalaivanangu'' was directed by

and produced by Sri Umayambikai Productions. Cinematography was handled by Thambu, and editing by M. Umanath. The costumes were designed by M. G. Naidu, the founder of Naihaa. During the filming of a sequence, Latha tripped and nearly drowned, resulting in

reprimanding stuntman Sahul.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. Na. Kamarasan made his debut as lyricist with this film. The songs like "Intha Pachaikili" were well received.

Release

''Needhikku Thalaivanangu'' was released on 18 March 1976. The film became a box office success and ran for over 100 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{P. Neelakantan 1970s Tamil-language films 1976 films Films directed by P. Neelakantan Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Tamil remakes of Telugu films