Avana Ivan

Avana Ivan!? (transl. Is that him?!) is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by S. Balachander. The film was an adaptation of the 1951 American film A Place in the Sun,[1] itself adapted from the novel An American Tragedy written by Theodore Dreiser.[2] The novel was based on the Gillette murder case that shook America in the early 20th century.

Not to be confused with Avan Ivan.

Avana Ivan!?
Poster
Tamilஅவனா இவன்!?
Directed byS. Balachander
Produced byS. Balachander
Screenplay byS. Balachander
Viduvan K. Lakshmanan
Story byS. Balachander
Based onAn American Tragedy
by Theodore Dreiser
Music byS. Balachander
Release date
31 August 1962
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Kumar (S. Balachandar) kills his wife played by Lakshmirajam Sadan in order to marry another woman, Vaasanthi. The murder is witnessed by two children (Kutty Padmini and Master Sridhar), who go for a picnic along with other children who later expose the truth. At the last the murderer is arrested and taken away by the police; he winks at the children who exposed him and says "ta ta".

Cast

Cast according to the songbook:[3]

Production

The film was an adaptation of the American film A Place in the Sun, based on the novel An American Tragedy written by Theodore Dreiser.[1] The novel was inspired by the Gillette murder case that shook America in the early part of the 20th century. The original film, featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Shelley Winters, was a major success in India. S. Balachander was much impressed with the film and tried to remake the film in Tamil, thus making his production debut.[4] He named his company S. B. Creations, the first time the word "Creations" was used in a south Indian film for a film production company.[2]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 5 songs composed by S. Balachander. Lyrics by Vidhvan Ve. Lakshmanan. Playback singers are P. Suseela, Radha Jayalakshmi, L. R. Eswari, Renuka, Seetha, Kamala & Pattom Sadan. The BGM of the movie has a few piano pieces which were played by Handel Manuel.

NoSongSingerLyricsLength(m:ss)
1"Kalyaana Ponnu Kalangaathey Kannu"L. R. Eswari & RenukaVidhvan Ve. Lakshmanan04:07
2"Kalyaana Tirunaal"P. Suseela
3"Manam Vittu Siritthittu"Renuka, Seetha & Kamala03:07
4"Vali Vali Valli"Pattom Sadan & Renuka03:33
5"Varanamayeram Soozha Valam Sei"Radha Jayalakshmi

Release

Before the making of the film, it was reported that Balachandar sent blank cheques to the cast and crew. The film failed to make an impact at the box office.[2][5]

References
  1. Sruti. P. N. Sundaresan. 1990. p. 35.
  2. "Avana Ivan 1962". The Hindu. 17 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  3. அவனா இவன்!? (PDF) (song book) (in Tamil). Vijaya Vauhini Studios. 1963.
  4. "Avana Ivan? Opens New Chapter In Film History". The Indian Express. 31 August 1962. p. 3.
  5. V, Lakshmi (10 March 2010). "Horror films disappoint movie buffs". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.