''Vidivelli'' () is a 1960 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 written and directed by

C. V. Sridhar Chitthamoor Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi language, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu Languages. Ea ...

. The film stars

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

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 ac ...

and M. N. Rajam; Ganesan also produced it under Prabhuram Pictures, a subsidiary of his own company

Sivaji Films Sivaji Productions was an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. Established in 1958, it was involved mainly in Tamil and Hindi-language films until 2010. History Sivaji Productions company is owned by Prabhu and ...

. The film focuses on a brother who steals a diamond necklace for his sister's happy life. But the necklace itself becomes a problem. The rest of the story deals with what is the secret of the necklace and how the brother solves this puzzle. ''Vidivelli'' was released on 31 December 1960. The film was a critical and commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

Plot

Chandru has a sister Meena who is married to Ravi. But her in-laws insist on a diamond necklace, sans which she cannot join her husband. Hence, Chandru steals a diamond necklace with a locket and then Meena joins her husband. He and his mother move to

Madras 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 ...

, where the former obtains employment. Chandru falls in love with his boss's daughter Chitra. One day, the necklace falls down and the locket opens, revealing the photograph of a man. Ravi and his family want to know who he is. Meena says she has never seen him before. But suspecting the worst, she is sent back to her old home. After Chandru saves his boss from a large loss, the boss gives him a large sum of money in gratitude. Chandru purchases another necklace using that money and Meena goes back to her husband. However, Chandru's boss dismisses him to keep him away from Chitra. Chandru surrenders to the police station for the theft. He later realises that the earlier necklace belongs to Chitra, and the man in the locket is her brother who died at war. However, Chitra's father denies ever having had a son. The rest of the film deals with how the puzzle is solved.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Chandru *

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history of ...

as the boss * Balaji as Ravi *

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 Babu *

M. R. Santhanam Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...

as Devit ;Female cast *

as Chithra * M. N. Rajam as Meena *

Santha Kumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

as Chandru's mother *

Padmini Priyadarshini Padmini Priyadarshini (later Padmini Ramachandran) was an Indian actor, dancer and choreographer. She acted in supporting roles during the 1950s and 1960s in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. She established a dancing school in Bangalore named ''Na ...

as Rosie

Production

In 1953,

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 ...

intended to produce a film titled ''Vidivelli'' with M. Karunanidhi writing; however, the project was dropped after Karunanidhi's arrest for participating in the

Kallakudi demonstration The Kallakudi demonstration was organised by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on 15 July 1953 in Kallakudi in the erstwhile Tiruchirappalli district against naming the place as Dalmiapuram. Ramakrishna Dalmia, a businessman from Bihar, estab ...

that year. The title was later used for an unrelated film written and directed by

and produced by

under Prabhuram Pictures, a subsidiary of his company

. Cinematography was handled by

A. Vincent Aloysius Vincent (14 June 1928 – 25 February 2015) was an Indian cinematographer and director known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi language films. From the mid-1960s on, he directed some 30 movies including the landmark Mal ...

, editing by N. M. Shankar, and art direction by Ganga.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was composed by

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

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 ...

A. Maruthakasi A. Maruthakasi (13 February 1920 – 29 November 1989) was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He penned more than 4000 lyrics in more than 250 Tamil films. Early life Born in Melakudikadu in Tiruchirappal ...

and Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam.

Release and reception

''Vidivelli'' was released on 31 December 1960. In a review published on 8 January 1961, the critic from ''

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 betw ...

'' praised the performances of the cast, particularly Ganesan, Saroja Devi, Balaji and Santhakumari, and Vincent's cinematography. ''

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 ...

'' also appreciated the film for various aspects, including the story, direction and cast performances. The film was a critical and commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{C. V. Sridhar 1960 films 1960s Tamil-language films Films directed by C. V. Sridhar Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar