''Paasam'' () is a 1962 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 film directed by

T. R. Ramanna Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Ramachandran (T.R.Ramanna) (1923–1997) was an Indian film director and producer. Film career Ramanna started his life as a sound recordist in a city studio and then made his way to film direction. He started the prod ...

. It 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 ...

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

and B. Saroja Devi. The film was released on 31 August 1962 and failed commercially.

Plot

Depicts the extraordinary love of a son towards his mother. Gopi is brought up in a juvenile home, as he accidentally commits a murder. After his release he searches for his mother and brother, but is unable to trace them. He lands up in the same village, where his brother Raghu, lives and works as a government officer. He falls in love his friend Kali's sister, Chandra, but Kali refuses the alliance, accusing him of being an orphan. Raghu and Chandra are to be engaged. Angry at being thwarted and little knowing that Raghu is his brother, he joins Swaminathan in trying to trap Raghu in a burglary case. Ironically, both Raghu and Gopi do not know the true identity of Swaminathan. It is he who had thrown away his wife Shanta, their mother, several years ago. Several truths are revealed when Gopi meets his mother face to face. Is he able to set things right?

Cast

as Gopi *

as Swaminathan * B. Saroja Devi as Manju *

T. R. Rajakumari Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Rajayee (5 May 1922 – 20 September 1999), known by her screen name T. R. Rajakumari, was an Indian actress, Carnatic singer and dancer. She has been called the first "dream girl" of Tamil cinema. Film career Ra ...

as Shantha *

Sheela Sheela Ravichandran (Born 22 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as he ...

devi as Chandra * Kalyan Kumar as Raghu * Ashokan as Kali *

T. R. Ramachandran Thirukampuliyur Ranga Ramachandran (9 January 1917 – 30 November 1990) was an Indian actor and comedian who acted mainly in Tamil films. He was cast mostly in lead or supportive roles, especially in comical parts, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kn ...

as Swaminathan's servant *

S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...

as Meenakshi *

C. K. Saraswathi C. K. Saraswathi (died 1998) was an Indian actress who featured mainly in Tamil films. She was active in the field from 1945 till 1998. During the early days she featured in character roles and in comedy tracks. Later she became famous for her a ...

as Swaminathan's sister *

Lakshmi Rajyam C. Lakshmi Rajyam or shortly Lakshmirajyam (1922–1987) was a South Indian film and drama actress and film producer in 1930s to 1970s.Nata Ratnalu, Mikkilineni Radhakrishna Murthy, Second edition, 2002, pp: 594–96 She is a native of Owk. She ...

as Bakkiyam * 'Kottapuli' Jayaraman as Iyer * Kannaiah as Swaminathan's sidekick * Soundar as Mayandi

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

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 lyrics were written 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 ...

Release and reception

''Paasam'' was released on 31 August 1962 and distributed by Emgeeyaar Pictures in Madras, delayed from a 24 August release. The film failed commercially because fans of Ramachandran could not digest seeing his character dying and considered it anticlimactic. Ramanna received hundreds of letters from fans condemning him. He said the film's ending not only made him understand the actor's dominance, "but also that one could not say things that are in contradiction with people's sentiments".

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{T. R. Ramanna 1960s Tamil-language films 1962 films Films directed by T. R. Ramanna Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy