Ask The Experts

[groucho070]

Attention Old fans of classic films and New fans of Classic films.

This is where we meet and share our info and knowledge. This thread is for those nagging questions you have haunting you day and night about certain film, or certain actor, or certain something about that some old film you watched and you cannot remember and its ruining your day :D (It happened to me many times that I bug Murali-sar and Joe a lot, owe them many cups of chaaya).

So, go ahead and ask. We have experts here who can help you.

I'll kick start with this:

S. Balachander as a director. Apart from Andha Naal, did he experiment again? I recall a film called Bommai, what is great about the movie and did it do well?

[NOV]

To my knowledge S. Balachander was a Veenai Vidhwan who dabbled in directing once a while. My introduction to his film was via Nadu Iravil - I couldnt sleep after watching the film as a kid. :shaking: Later on I came to know that it was based on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers, but was much chillier almost Hitchcockian.

[RAGHAVENDRA]

ASK THE EXPERTS - Very good topic. Murali Srinivas and many others would help solve many confusions. Thank you for giving the opportunity to seek clarifications or answers to rare and old tamil film related doubts.

S.Balachander was one of the genii in Tamil films. He came to limelight as an actor in Penn, Koteeswaran, Maragatham, etc. Besides, his films as a director made Tamil film rise its head in pride. His films mostly belonged to the genre of thrillers and detective stories. Avanaa Ivan, Idhu Nijama, to name a few. Nadu Iravil was a super hit film and theatre owners in Tamil Nadu refused to allow children below the age of 18 (the film was not awarded A Certificate!). I was one of them. I got a ticket and at the entrance I was not allowed to enter the auditorium. However my prolonged stance was fruitful and at last could gain entry to the film and what a film it was.

A great actor and director, technician, what not~

Raghavendran

[NOV]

Heard somewhere that Culcutta Viswanathan (Rajini's father in Moondru Mudichu) was the original choice for lead role in Andha Naal.

How far is this true? And how old was CV when AN was filmed?

[Aalavanthan]

I have a question for the classic experts here :)

I watched a couple of movies by director Sridhar 1. Ilamai oonjalaadigiradhu, 2. Avalukenru oru Manam.

I thought director Sridhar was wonderful in both these films with his direction. I am not sure about who the screenplay writer was, but they both had the essence of anticipation of whats going to happen next. Ofcourse there were lot of twists in the end that made the movie work.

Do you know more about Sridhar.. is there any thread started for him ? is it really true that he has directed about 100 movies ?

[gaddeswarup]

I keep remebering a Tamil song from my college days with the lines 'Vinnodum Mugilodum Vilayadum Vennilavae'. Can somebody provide a link to this song. Thanks

[NOV]

download: http://ca.music.yahoo.com/track/9044768

lyrics: http://www.tfmpage.com/forum/archives/2048.09.29.07.html

rendition by others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u38PEDoF5o

[gaddeswarup]

Thanks. It must be at leat 45 years since I heard the song; it used be very popular in functions. It is nice to see that younger people are still singing it. I wonder whether somebody can explain the meaning of the lyrics. Many thanks again.
Swarup

[P_R]

I wonder whether somebody can explain the meaning of the lyrics. You aren't missing much IMO.

Here is an attempt:


viNNOdum mugilOdum
viLayAdum veNNilavE
kaNNOdu konjum
kalai azhagE isaiyamudhE
isaiyamudhE

O moon that plays with the sky and cloud
O beauty of art that dotes on the eye
O nectarine music

alaipAyum kadalOram
iLamaangaL pOla
viLayAdi isaipAdi
vizhiyAle uRavAdi
inbam kaNalaam

Beside the waves of the sea
Like young deer
We shall prance and sing
And let our glances mingle
And thus find joy
(viNNOdum)


thEdAdha selva sugam
thAnaga vandhadhu pOl
OdOdi vandha
sorga bhOgamE
OdOdi vandha
sorga bhOgamE

Like the bliss of unexpected wealth
(You) came to me running
O joy of heaven


kANAdha inba nilai
kaNdaadum nenjinilE
Anandha bOdhai oottum
yOgamE vaazhvilE
viLayAdu..isaipAdi
vizhiyAle uravAdi
inbam kANalAm

Like the heart that saw (hitherto)
Unknown state of bliss
(My) life is on joyful high
We shall prance and sing
And let our glances mingle
And thus find joy
(viNNOdum)

sangeetha thenRalilE
sathirAdum poongkodiyE
sandhOsham kANa
uLLam naadudhE
sandhOsham kANa
uLLam naadudhE

O gentle one who dances to
The musical breeze
My heart pines for joy
My heart pines for joy

mangAdha thangam idhu
mARadha vairam idhu
onRaaki inba geetham
paaduvadhE vaazhvilE
viLayAdu..isaipAdi
vizhiyAle uravAdi
inbam kANalAm

This is gold that doesn't lose lustre
This is diamond that doesn't change
(We) shall mingle and sing the song of joy
We shall prance and sing
And let our glances mingle
And thus find joy

(viNNOdum)

[gaddeswarup]

Thanks P_R. Of course, many songs loose much like the idiom and sound in translation but still it is nice to know the gist of the song.
Thanks again.

[Lambretta]

Can someone pls. tell me which movie this song is from: Paarve ondRu pothumE....pala aayirampol venduma....? I believe its a Jaishankar starrer.
Someone first told me it was CID Shankar, than later on I was told its from Vallavan Oruvan......now am confused.

[saradhaa_sn]

Can someone pls. tell me which movie this song is from: Paarve ondRu pothumE....pala aayirampol venduma....? I believe its a Jaishankar starrer.
Someone first told me it was CID Shankar, than later on I was told its from Vallavan Oruvan......now am confused.

This song is from the movie 'YAAR NEE?'

for more details about theat film, please click here:

http://www.forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1938550&sid=5a88e2f9b22e7a399c2710613db0a7ad#1938550

[Querida]

I keep reading that Kamal Hassan has won best actor award for the movie "Oru Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu" but there are no reviews or synopsis for this movie online that I have been able to find. Can anyone shed some light on what the movie is about and why he won an award for his acting in this movie?

[Murali Srinivas]

Querida,

Oru Oodhappu was a novel written by Pushpa Thangadurai that was serialised in Dinamani Kadhir. It was a love story with a difference.

It would tread the normal course in the initial part where a man and woman are in love with each other. But as circumstances would warrrant, the girl would marry another person. The hero is dejected.

After the marriage the hero would meet the heroine and would ask for one favour. They had planned to marry but could not. Why don't they spend one day together as husband and wife in an house as if they are married. Though initially shocked, with reluctance the heroine would agree.[Conveiniently the husband would have gone out of station].

What transpires on that day and at the end of it, what it leads to would form the climax.

It was relatively a bold theme during that period. Released in 1976, it was directed by Sp.Muthuraman. Sujatha was the heroine and Vijayakumar was the husband. It was one of the few Tamil films that had music by Dakshinamurthy who was quite a tall figure in Malayalam cine music world. Aanadavan Illa Ulagam idhu by TMS and Nalla Manam Vaazhga by KJY were the only 2 songs.

As for as Kamal getting the best actor award, I think it must have been by Filmfare.

Regards

[Querida]

Thank you Murali Srinivas for your detailed and thoughtful reply. :ty: Bold indeed, even with the similar story version in "Jillendru Oru Kadhal" they changed the story of Surya's and Bhoomika's day together as a dream of Jo's.

[mr_karthik]

There is song 'கண்ணுக்கு தெரியாத அந்த சுகம்' from the movie (MGR's) என் அண்ணன் sung by PBS & Eswari, starred by Muthuraman & Vijayanirmala.

It was shot in a nice location like a 'dam-park' with nice gardens and an artificial cave in the shape of a BIG FISH, in which muthuraman & v.nirmala will enter.

now my question to Experts is....

What is the name of that Location and where it is situated?.
(I am 200% sure that it is NOT Sathanur Dam).

[mr_karthik]

I have not yet get answer about the location...

In the meantime, two days back when I was watching இசையருவி tv channel, I saw a song from the movie 'பிள்ளையோ பிள்ளை' starred Mu.Ka.Muthu & Lakshmi.

that song was also picturised in the same location I mentioned in the previous post, and the song starts as.... 'மீனாட்டம் கண்கொண்ட மீனாட்சி, கோபங்கள் கூடாது காமாட்சி'

I hope some of the experts will clear my doubt now. :D

[ilekani]

I'm trying to recall the name of this movie:

B&W movie, village setting. Padmini is a schoolteacher and Sivaji is an illiterate man who wants to learn to read. Jayalalitha is his jodi. There's a song in the beginning about Bioscope.

Thank you.

[NOV]

:think:

there's guru datchanai with ondrE ondru ulagam ondru ulagil deivam ondru - padmini as teacher.

as for bioscope, there's needhi with Oduthu paaru nalla padam Ottuvadhu chinna ponnu - but Jayalalitha is not a teacher but a bioscope operator.

[ilekani]

:think:
there's guru datchanai with ondrE ondru ulagam ondru ulagil deivam ondru - padmini as teacher.

Yes! The male Bioscope operator in the movie is a secondary character, but gets a song, "Paaru Paaru Nalla Paaru". I found the song on Cool Toad just now.

Thank you!

[saradhaa_sn]

:think:
there's guru datchanai with ondrE ondru ulagam ondru ulagil deivam ondru - padmini as teacher.

Yes! The male Bioscope operator in the movie is a secondary character, but gets a song, "Paaru Paaru Nalla Paaru". I found the song on Cool Toad just now.

Thank you!
'குருதட்சனைதான்'.

பயாஸ்கோப் ஓட்டுபவர் நகைச்சுவைத்தென்றல் 'டனால்' கே.ஏ.தங்கவேலு.

[ilekani]

What other movies did Poornima of Thoorathu Idi Muzhakkum do?

When I search online, the results are about Poornima who married Bhagyaraj but this looks like a different person.

[RC]

That pUrnima did only few films.

sattam oru iruttaRai
nIru pUththa neruppu ( I think)

[ilekani]

That pUrnima did only few films.

sattam oru iruttaRai
nIru pUththa neruppu ( I think)

Thanks -- did she make movies in other languages?

[ilekani]

(nevemind, answered)

[hattori_hanzo]

Groucho, here's some info on thrillers made by the Genius S.Balachandar - I read these reviews when they appeared on The Hindu supplement few months back.

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article2462010.ece

Avana Ivan 1962

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00784/18cp_Avana_Ivvan__j_784374e.jpg

One of the sensational American murder cases during the first decade of the 20th Century was the Gillette Murder Case. A young man, the nephew of a garment factory owner in New York State, was carrying on an affair with an attractive young woman working in the factory whom he seduced under the promise of marriage. The poor girl fell for him and looked forward to the happy day when they would exchange ‘I do'. However, the ambitious young man had no such intention and hoped to marry a rich woman. Soon the factory girl was pregnant, and he decided to kill her. One fateful day he took her on a boat ride in a well-known summer resort in New York State and the poor girl had no idea of what lay in store for her. During the boat ride, he suddenly crept up behind her and smashed her with the oar, killing her instantly. He pushed the body into the river and jumped out of the boat trying to fake his death. But he swam to safety …

The police were informed. Soon the young woman's body was found, but not the man's! Digging into the murder of the woman, they found out all about the young man and arrested him. The case and trial created a sensation and he was sentenced to death.

One of the greatest writers of America, Theodore Dreiser saw it as a shocking example of degradation of values in American society, and he wrote a king-sized novel running to hundreds of pages, called ‘An American Tragedy.' It turned out to be a bestseller and classic work of fiction which was made into a movie by the talented cinematographer-director George Stevens (Giant, I Remember Mama and Shane) under the title A Place In The Sun (1951) featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Shelley Winters as the murdered woman. This film was a major hit and enjoyed a successful run in India. S. Balachandar was drawn to the film and he adapted it in Tamil, turning producer in the process. The film was Avanaa Ivan and he called his company S. B. Creations, the first time the word ‘Creations' was used in south India for a motion picture production company, revealing his inventive genius.

The movie closely followed the Hollywood movie. Balachandar played the antihero who kills his wife (Lakshmirajam) to marry the other woman (Vaasanthi).
Some children go on a picnicduring which the murder takes place. Two of them (‘Kutti' Padmini and ‘Master' Sridhar) watch the killing of the woman and finally expose the killer. The film was brilliantly narrated onscreen by the multi-faceted Balachandar.

Vaasanthi, a Telugu actor, played the female lead, while Lakshmirajam, who passed away recently at the age of 91, was the wife.

Besides the excellent direction and interesting storyline, the film had melodious music composed by Balachandar. There were five songs in the movie — one of them ‘Kalyana Ponnu Kalangaathey Kannu' was a hit. ‘Vaaranamayiram', a pasuram, was rendered by Radha of the Radha-Jayalakshmi duo of classical musicians. Jayalakshmi sang off-screen during that period, and this was another novelty introduced by SB.

A group song, ‘Manamvittu', was used in a novel way by SB. He used the background instrumentation of the song as title music and brought out a 78rpm gramophone record of it, again an innovation for the day.

In the last shot while the killer is taken away by the cops, he winks at the kids and says “Tata” — a fine touch by the creative filmmaker!
A piece of trivia — Balachandar sent blank cheques to his cast and crew, requesting them to fill the amount according to their wish and inform his office!
He also introduced interesting publicity materials. One was a larger-than-life cut-out of the hero which was erected in the Mount Road area opposite a popular non-vegetarian restaurant. There was also a cut-out of the dark glasses the hero wears; on one lens was written ‘Avanaa', and on the other ‘Ivan'! These attracted enormous attention, building up pre-release publicity.

In spite of expectations, Avanaa Ivan did not fare well at the box office.

Cast: S. Balachandar, Vaasanthi, ‘Javert' Seetharaman, Lakshmirajam Sadan, ‘Kutti' Padmini, ‘Master' Sridhar

Remembered for the fine music and excellent onscreen narration.
Keywords: Tamil cinema, Nostalgia, Experimental, Avant garde

Blast from the Past - Bommai 1964

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article2579729.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00821/cp30_bommai_jpg_821116e.jpg

S. Balachandar, V. S. Raghavan, L. Vijayalakshmi, V. Gopalakrishnan, Ramesh, Sadan, Srinivasan, S. N. Lakshmi, Lakshmirajam and Maali

Alfred Hitchcock, described as ‘the Merchant of Menace', an icon of World Cinema and the maestro of the suspense genre, created many unsurpassed classics both in the United Kingdom, where he began his career as a filmmaker, and later in Hollywood. He made successful films most of which became classics such as Psycho, North By Northwest, Vertigo, Strangers On A Train and The Man Who Knew Too Much. One of the early masterpieces he made in England was Sabotage (1936), which is watched today not only by his fans but also suspense movie buffs around the world.

Hitchcock has been a source of inspiration to many filmmakers in several parts of the world, including India. Influenced by his style of filmmaking and onscreen narration, S. Balachandar, the multifaceted Tamil filmmaker, adapted Sabotage in Tamil, suitably changing the storyline for the local market. His movie was titled Bommai, the reason being that, as in the original British movie, the central character is a baby doll which a terrorist uses to plant a bomb and sends it through a boy. The boy travels by bus unaware of the content and, like most boys, wanders around attracted by the sideshows on the road. Finally the bomb explodes inside the bus, and the passengers, including the boy, are killed.

For the Tamil audiences, Balachandar had a walking baby doll in which the bomb was concealed. It was taken in a car and exploded, killing all the villains and saving the hero (Balachandar), for whom the bomb was intended.

Balachandar wrote the story and screenplay, while the dialogue and lyrics were written by his close associate Vidwan Ve. Lakshmanan. Of course, the music was composed by Balachandar.

Veteran stage and screen actor V. S. Raghavan plays the main role of the person who is anxious to get rid of the hero, along with his followers such as Sadan, Maali, Lakshmirajam, Gopalakrishnan and Srinivasan, who pretend to be the hero's friends. L. Vijayalakshmi, an attractive classical dancer who had had a brief career in movies, plays the heroine and does a few dance numbers.

Expectedly, the movie had quite a few song sequences though it was a suspense thriller. Songs such as ‘Thatthi thatthi nadandhu varum chella paapa' (Voice: L. R. Easwari) became a big hit. An interesting feature is the multilingual singer K. J. Jesudas took his bow as an off-screen singer in Tamil Cinema with the song ‘Neeyum bommai naanumbommai', which was filmed on an old roadside beggar.

Balachandar as the protagonist was excellent, underplaying his role like a Hollywood star (James Cagney was his favourite star). There were many newcomers in the film such as Ramesh and Srinivasan. Much was expected of these actors but they faded away. Srinivasan who played a key role in Bommai is totally forgotten today.

Though the film was completed in 1963 and censored, it was released only in 1964 for many reasons. Balachandar faced some problems in marketing it because of the new faces and lesser-known artists doing major roles. However, Bommai turned out to be a box office hit, scoring the much-coveted hundred-day run in many cinemas, winning critical appreciation. Today it is treated as a classic in the rare genre of suspense movies in Tamil.

Balachandar searched high and low for the appropriate baby doll, which is in fact the hero of the movie, and much to his surprise found it in one of the local shops.

Remembered for the interesting storyline, excellent onscreen narration and performances by Balachandar, V. S. Raghavan and the doll. And also the melodious music, some of the tunes becoming hits and fondly remembered after nearly five decades.

[hattori_hanzo]

I have a question for the classic experts here :)

I watched a couple of movies by director Sridhar 1. Ilamai oonjalaadigiradhu, 2. Avalukenru oru Manam.
I thought director Sridhar was wonderful in both these films with his direction. I am not sure about who the screenplay writer was, but they both had the essence of anticipation of whats going to happen next. Ofcourse there were lot of twists in the end that made the movie work.
Do you know more about Sridhar.. is there any thread started for him ? is it really true that he has directed about 100 movies ?Sridhar is one of TFI's top directors & his biggest hit is the memorable Kadhalikka Neramillai starring Ravichandran, Muthuraman & Nagesh. Other major hits are Ooty Varai Uravu, Nenjam Marappadhillai (horror/thriller), Nenjirukkum Varai and Nenjil Oru Aalayam. You can find a lot more info on him in the hub pages. One of his last movies was Nanum Oru Thozhilali starring Kamal.

[hattori_hanzo]

Here is my question to the Experts.

I saw this comedy scene several years back in Vijay TV but never got a chance to find out which movie it is from. It features Cho Ramaswamy in a dual role with VKR. Cho1 is VKR's son-in-law, who has a twin brother. His wife finds it difficult to differentiate them and decides to shave off Cho1's hair to make things simpler. Now Cho2 too tonsures his head, which causes further trouble.

Now this is the best part. To differentiate one mottai from another, VKR comes up with a plan. He gives Cho1 a Gulla, which looks strikingly similar to the one worn by MG Ramachandran, in real life(This is a color movie and it must have been made after MGR started wearing the famous Gulla). When VKR gives him the Gulla, Cho gets shocked and says 'Ayyayyo, indha thoppi enakku vendaam' and throws it to Cho2. Cho2 throws it back and says, 'Ayyo, andha thoppi enakkum vendaam"

Which movie is this from? Was it during the same time that Cho did movies with MGR?

[groucho070]

h_h, thank you. That's some find you got there. And a thread I started years ago, wow...

[Murali Srinivas]

h_h,

The movie you are talking about is Rojavin Raja. The hero was NT and heroine was Vanishree. This movie started in 1973 got delayed and finally hit the screens by 25th December, 1976. By this time Cho was not in MGR movies and IIRC his last film with MGR was Rickshakaran [1971].

BTW, was it not three Cho s?

Regards

[hattori_hanzo]

Murali Sir, thanks for the reply!

Grouch, thanks for starting this thread. But I feel this thread should have a better visibility. Classic section is a place mostly visited by experts themselves and they might not really have any questions to ask. If this is placed in Current movies section, the younger lot might find it useful.

[ilekani]

Aasai 60 Naal and Nandha en Nila -- are these different movies? what are the storylines? They both seem to star the same people -- Sumithra, Vijayakumar, Fatafat Jayalakshmi. I saw N E N a few months ago, and then I just started A 6 N and seems to be exactly the same story.... ?