''Vazhkai Vazhvatharke'' () is a 1964 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

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by

Krishnan–Panju R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi. Early life R. Krishnan was born on 18 ...

. Produced by Kamaludheen under the banner Kamal Brothers, the film stars

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

and

B. Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of ...

. It was released on 7 February 1964.

Plot

Cousins Kandan and Valli have been lovers since childhood. As a boy, Kandan leaves the home of Valli after being insulted and ridiculed by her mother as good-for-nothing and as the offspring of mother whose fidelity has been questioned by her husband. Picked up by a race horse owner, Kandan grows up into a jockey and when he becomes rich, he goes to Valli's home to claim her in marriage. He is again rebuffed and, after several moments of anguish, he clears up the stigma attached to his mother and, when all doubts and misunderstandings are cleared, he re-unites with Valli. With the re-union of the family members, his sister also finds a solution to the problem of her marriage with her lover, a

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

Cast

as Kandan *

as Valli * K. A. Thangavelu as the robber and the

* M.V. Rajamma * Sharada * M. S. Sundari Bai * S. A. Ashokan * T. S. Muthaiah * G. Sakunthala * K.Malathi *

Kutty Padmini Kutty Padmini is an Indian actress who mainly works in Tamil cinema. She was a child star in her debut movie ''Ambala Anjulam'' (1959). She has also acted in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. She made her debut in Tamil cinema at ...

Production

''Vazhkai Vazhvatharke'' was directed by

(a duo consisting of R. Krishnan and S. Panju) and produced by Kamaludheen under the banner Kamal Brothers. The story was written by Kothamangalam Subbu and the dialogue by

Murasoli Maran Murasoli Maran (17 August 1934 – 23 November 2003) was an Indian politician and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party which was headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 3 ...

. Cinematography was handled by

S. Maruti Rao Shelkey Maruti Rao (25 April 1921–2000) was an Indian cinematographer who worked mainly in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Career Cinematography Rao was born in Thanjavur on 25 April 1921. He became interested in photography as a student. He ...

, and the art direction by A. K. Sekhar. The length of the film was .

Soundtrack

The music of the film 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 ...

(a duo consisting of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy) while the 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

''Vazhkai Vazhvatharke'' was released on 7 February 1964. On the same day, ''

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 ...

'' described the story as lacking "life" and the direction as "amateurish", concluding, "The producers, perhaps, want us to believe that this is life and it is worth living." On 21 March 1964, T. M. Ramachandran of ''

Sport and Pastime ''Sport and Pastime'' was a weekly sports magazine published by The Hindu Group from 1947 to 1968. Founded by S. K. Gurunathan, the magazine was eventually stopped in 1968. It was replaced with ''Sportstar ''Sportstar'' is an Indian monthly ...

'' dismissed the film as a

potboiler A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, Play (theatre), play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means ...

, but praised the performances of Ganesan and Saroja Devi, while describing Thangavelu, in his dual role performance, as "the real life and soul of the picture". 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 ...

'' panned the film, criticising virtually every aspect including the story, songs, characters and the confusing screenplay.

References

External links

* {{Krishnan–Panju 1960s romance films 1960s Tamil-language films Films directed by Krishnan–Panju Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Indian romance films