''Panathottam'' () is a 1963 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

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

K. Shankar Kannan Shankar (17 March 1926 - 5 March 2006) was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well as in Hindi. Film career Shank ...

. 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 B. Saroja Devi. It was released on 11 January 1963.

Plot

Selvam is arrested on a false charge of passing counterfeit bills. He escapes and tries to put the hand on the real authors, that is, the leader of the band of the counterfeiters to be exonerated. His quest complicates when Natarajan, a firm policeman, dashes in his pursuit, convinced of his guilt.

Cast

as Selvam * B. Saroja Devi as Kala *

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 ...

as Meena * S. V. Subbaiah as Ponnambalam * M. N. Nambiar as Chidambaram *

S. A. Ashokan S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelled Asokan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles but was also a successful character actor. Early life Ashokan was bo ...

as Inspector Natarajan * M. V. Rajamma as Thangamma * C. Lakshmi Rajyam *

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 ...

as C. K. Ramu *

Karikol Raju Karikol Raju was a Tamil film veteran actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He acted in more than 500 films in a career spanning over five decades. He had started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a charact ...

as Raju * A. Veerappan as Ramu's friend * V. P. S. Mani * Thirupathisamy

Production

''Panathottam'' is named after the book of the same name 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 ...

. The climax began filming one day at 7:00am, and ended the next day at 7:00pm.

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 ...

, with lyrics 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 "Pesuvathu Kiliya" is based on

Bilaskhani Todi Bilaskhani Todi is a Hindustani classical raga. It is a blend of the ragas Asavari and Todi, and has a close affinity with Komal Rishabh Asavari. Theory The Hindustani classical raga Bilaskhani Todi is an example of the flaws of the Bhatkhand ...

raga. It contains multiple references to Ramachandran's vital stats through its lyrics "Paaduvadhu kaviyaa illai, paarivallal magana; Seranukku uravaa senthamizhar nilava"; the line "Seranukku uravaa" refers to Ramachandran's place of birth

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, "paari vallal" references his perceived generous nature, and "senthamizhar" gives emphasis to Ramachandran's Tamil pride.

References

External links

{{K. Shankar 1960s action drama films 1960s Tamil-language films 1963 films Films directed by K. Shankar Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Indian action drama films