''Veguli Penn'' () is a 1971 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

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

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 ...

directed and co-written by S. S. Devadoss. The film stars Gemini Ganesh and

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi) (25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil, Telugu with few Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi film industry. She was a popular lead actress in the 1960s. Devika is the grand daughte ...

, with

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

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 fil ...

, V. K. Ramasamy, V. Nirmala, Radhika, K. Balaji and

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 '' ...

in supporting roles. It revolves around a woman who becomes pregnant, and the mystery surrounding the father of her child. ''Veguli Penn'' is an adaptation of the play ''Vellikizhamai'' () by

Kalaignanam Kalaignanam (born K. M. Balakrishnan), is an Indian writer, actor, producer and director who works in Tamil films. Early life Kalaignanam was born in Elumalai Village. Cinema career Rajinikanth essayed first independent lead role in the movie ...

. The film was released on 2 July 1971, received critical acclaim and became a commercial success, with a 100-day run in theatres. It also won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several aw ...

at the 19th National Film Awards.

Plot

Inspector Ramu and Janaki are married for ten years and have no children. Janaki's sister Radha, an

ingénue The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such role ...

, lives with them. Janaki constantly coddles Radha, and is close to Doctor Lakshmi and her son Manohar, a psychologist. Ramu's brother, Captain Muthu, returns to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. On the train, he meets Rani, daughter of Bhoopathy Raja, a local

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 ...

. Rani is attracted to Muthu after she reads about his bravery award. Rani's cousin Mohan likes Radha and she also likes his kind personality. When Muthu returns home, he becomes attracted to Radha. One day Muthu sees Radha loitering on the road and sends her home. On her way back, Radha stops at Manohar's place, where he tries to

hypnotise Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

her. Muthu searches for her when she does not return. He and Janaki find her chatting with Manohar before Janaki reprimands her. Ramu's family, Mohan, Rani, and her father go to

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () is a hill station which is located in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name in the Tamil language means "The Gift of the Forest". Kodaikanal is referred to as the "Princess of Hill stations" and has a long ...

on vacation. Janaki notices Mohan's interest in Radha and warns him. Muthu rejects Rani's advances and makes it clear that he loves Radha. Janaki and Ramu decide to fix Muthu's marriage with Radha, but Radha refuses, saying she cannot marry someone who always scolds her. Both Janaki and Ramu decide to proceed with their plan. Ramu leaves to

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

to investigate a case. Radha falls unconscious after Muthu drugs her drink. Muthu walks into her room that night before he leaves for the army the following day. Three months later, Ramu returns. Janaki notices changes in Radha's health and takes her to Lakshmi, who confirms that Radha is pregnant. Janaki is shocked and does not know who the father is. She informs Ramu about the pregnancy; Ramu assumes that Janaki is pregnant and shows excitement. Ramu's superiors order him to travel to London for an urgent investigation while Janaki decides to find the man responsible for Radha's pregnancy. Janaki indirectly informs Manohar and Mohan. Janaki takes Radha to their estate in Kodaikanal; a local doctor, Manjula, attends to Radha, who delivers a baby boy. Ramu returns from London and is excited to see his son, Babu, with Janaki. She tries to tell the truth, but he does not listen. Manjula visits Chennai with her husband and visits Ramu's house. Manjula starts talking about Radha's delivery before Janaki stops her. Muthu returns after being discharged for medical reasons, and Janaki suspects Muthu is responsible. Mohan meets Janaki and tells that he is innocent and that he doubts Muthu. Janaki shares her suspicion about Manohar. Ramu decides to wed Radha to Muthu but Janaki stalls. She finally agrees to the marriage, but Muthu refuses, stating that he does not wish to marry the girl who refused him a year back. Mohan confronts Manohar about Radha's pregnancy; Manohar protests his innocence and reveals that Muthu had come to get sedatives. Mohan informs Janaki and now she confirms that Muthu is the one. Janaki gets a call that Muthu will marry Rani at

Tiruttani Tiruttani is a town in Tiruvallur district, suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit in state of Tamil Nadu, India. This town is famous for Tiruttani Murugan Temple which is one of the Arupadaiveedu and is dedicated to (Kartik ...

. She tries to stop the marriage with Mohan, but is too late. Janaki brings the newlyweds home. At home, Rani illtreats the child and Radha slaps her. Rani feels that Radha is jealous of her marriage to Muthu and decides to leave. Radha comes for Babu's first birthday party, but Janaki takes her aside and scolds her for coming home when they still have not determined the baby's father. Ramu overhears and he demands the truth from Janaki. Radha now confesses that Babu is her child. Ramu demands to know the father's identity; Mohan and Manohar point at Muthu. Ramu draws his revolver on Muthu, who reveals the truth: he was about to drink his medication when he heard a car and rushed into his room, assuming it was Janaki. Ramu is the one who arrived and drank the medication before entering Radha's room by mistake. A disoriented Ramu came out of Radha's room and informed Muthu that Janaki was sleeping inside and that he was leaving for work. Hearing this, Janaki asks Ramu to accept Radha as his wife before dying from a heart attack.

Cast

* Gemini Ganesh as Ramu *

as Janaki *

as Muthu *

as Mohan * V. K. Ramasamy as Bhoopathy Raja * V. Nirmala as Radha * Radhika as Rani * K. Balaji as Manohar *

as Lakshmi

Production

''Veguli Penn'' was directed by S. S. Devadoss, and is based on

's play ''Vellikizhamai''. The film was produced by Devadoss and his wife Devika's company Jennat Combines, though S. M. Abdul Gaffar received sole producer credit. Cinematography was handled by M. Krishnasamy and editing by J. Stanley. While Devadoss also wrote the screenplay, the dialogues were written by

Vietnam Veedu Sundaram Vietnam Veedu Sundaram was an Indian playwright, screenwriter and film director. He wrote films such as Gauravam, Vietnam Veedu, Gnana Oli, Satyam, Grihapravesam, Justice Gopinath, Annan Oru Koyil, Naan Yen Pirandhen and Naalai Namadhe. He a ...

. On the first day of shooting,

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

clapped the shot.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

V. Kumar V. Kumar ( ta, வரதராஜுலு குமார், ) (28 July 1934 – 7 January 1996) was a yesteryear Tamil cinema music director, born in Chennai, Tamilnadu on 28 July 1934 to Varadharajulu and Dhanabhakiyam couple, in July 1969 ...

Release and reception

''Veguli Penn'' was released on 2 July 1971. No distributor was willing to buy the film as they felt it was too "

arty Arty may refer to: People * Arty (Queen), 8th century BC wife of Pharaoh Shebitku * Arty (musician) (born 1989), Russian record producer and DJ born Artem Stolyarov * Arty Ash, stage name of British actor Arthur Richard Dodge (1895–1954) * A n ...

", which prompted Jennat Combines to take over distribution. The film received critical acclaim and became a commercial success with a 100-day run in theatres. It won the

at the 19th National Film Awards.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilmTamil 1970s mystery drama films 1970s Tamil-language films 1971 films Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners Films about brothers Films about rape in India Films about siblings Films about sisters Films about women in India Films set in Chennai Films shot in Kodaikanal Indian black-and-white films Indian films based on plays Indian mystery drama films