''Unmaiye Un Vilai Enna?'' () is a 1976 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language satirical film written and directed by

Cho Ramaswamy Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy, better known as Cho Ramaswamy (5 October 1934 – 7 December 2016), was an Indian actor, comedian, editor, political commentator, satirist, playwright, film director and lawyer from Tamil Nadu. He was a popular comedi ...

. It is based on his stage play of the same name. Cho also stars, alongside R. Muthuraman,

Padmapriya Padmapriya (born Padmalochani; died 16 November 1997) was an Indian actress who worked in Kannada, Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu language, Telugu films. Her first movie was in Telugu, ''Adapillala Tandri'' (1974). In Kannada, sh ...

and S. A. Ashokan. The film revolves around a priest's efforts to save a young man from conviction for murder. It was released on 30 April 1976.

Plot

A priest takes all possible steps to save a young man from conviction for a murder he committed to save a married woman from a womaniser. The priest stands up to his call as a minister of God and keeps to himself what the accused told him in private confession. He even hides that man from the police until he collects the necessary evidence to disclose the circumstances that led to the murder. He succeeds in his endeavour, risking his reputation, his job and eventually his life.

Cast

;Male cast * R. Muthuraman as Arumainayagam * S. A. Ashokan as Arokiasamy * Srikanth * Vijayakumar *

as Sathyanarayana ;Guest appearances * V. K. Ramasamy * Thengai Srinivasan ;Female cast *

as Rama * Sakunthala * Manorama as a journalist *

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...

* Shobana * Baby Indira * Santhi * Halam as a dancer ;Supporting cast * Neelu * Heron Ramasamy * Jayachandran

Production

''Unmaiye Un Vilai Enna?'' was a popular play staged by

through his Viveka Fine Arts Club. The play, which also starred Neelu, was critically acclaimed, and Cho adapted it into a film under the same name, serving as director, writer and even as actor. The film adaptation was produced by D.A.B. and Rana under Mohind Movies. Cinematography was handled by Sampath, and the editing by E. V. Shanmugham. The film was launched at

Vauhini Studios Vauhini Studios was an Indian film production company and studio facility in Madras. It was founded by Moola Narayana Swamy and B. N. Reddy (Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy). In later years, Nagi Reddi, owner of Vijaya Productions, acquired Vauhini ...

in September 1975, and filming took place primarily at

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Its final length was .

Themes

According to the 1983 book ''Cinema as Medium of Communication in Tamil Nadu'' by C. R. W. David, the point of ''Unmaiye Un Vilai Enna?'' is to illustrate that "Movies have sharpened God-consciousness by emphasizing the neighbour-consciousness."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

Release and reception

''Unmaiye Un Vilai Enna?'' was released on 30 April 1976. Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' lauded the film, particularly for Muthuraman's performance and Cho's writing. The film was also reviewed by Naagai Dharuman of ''Navamani''.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title 1970s Indian films 1970s satirical films 1970s Tamil-language films 1976 films Films directed by Cho Ramaswamy Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films shot in Bengaluru Films with screenplays by Cho Ramaswamy Indian films based on plays Indian satirical films Tamil-language Indian films