Kalathur Kannamma

Kalathur Kannamma is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh and written by Javar Seetharaman. The film stars Gemini Ganesh, Savitri Ganesh and Kamal Haasan. It revolves around a couple — a wealthy zamindar's son and a farmer's daughter — who are separated due to circumstances, while their innocent son is forced to grow up in an orphanage.

Kalathur Kannamma
Theatrical release poster
Directed byA. Bhimsingh
Produced byA. V. Meiyappan
Kumaran
Arun Veerappan
Written byJavar Seetharaman
StarringGemini Ganesh
Savitri Ganesh
Kamal Haasan
Music byR. Sudharsanam
CinematographyT. Muthuraj
Edited byS. Surya
Production
company
Release date
  • 12 August 1960 (1960-August-12)
Running time
176 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Kalathur Kannamma, inspired by the film Nobody's Child was originally directed by T. Prakash Rao who left due to creative differences, resulting in Bhimsingh taking over. It was the debut film of Kamal Haasan. The film's soundtrack was composed by R. Sudharsanam.

Kalathur Kannamma was released on 12 August 1960. The film was critically acclaimed, with Haasan's performance being singled out. It was also commercially successful, running for over 100 days in theatres. It won the Certificate of Merit by the Government of India, and the President's Gold Medal award for Haasan. The film was remade in Telugu as Mooga Nomu, in Hindi as Main Chup Rahungi (with Bhimsingh returning as director), and in Sinhala as Mangalika.

Plot

Rajalingam is the only son of Ramalingam, the zamindar of Kalathur. Kannamma is the daughter of Murugan, a farmer of the same place. On the zamindar's advice, Murugan sends his daughter to Madras for higher education. While returning from Madras, Kannamma meets Raja in the train. Noticing her respect and awe for the zamindar, Raja calls himself an electrician visiting the palace. They fall in love. A few days later, Kannamma learns the truth and to reassure her, Raja marries her secretly in a temple.

Two days later, Raja has to go abroad for higher studies. During his absence, Ramalingam learns of the marriage and orders Kannamma to forget his son. Moved by the zamindar's feelings, Kannamma promises never to mention their marriage to anyone. Kannamma is now in the family way. Ramalingam arranges for the stay of Murugan and Kannamma in a nearby town, Sevalpatti. Murugan, who is ashamed of Kannamma's love affair, leaves Kannamma's newborn son in an orphanage and lies that the child was stillborn. They both decide to leave the place and settle in Bangalore.

When Raja returns, he learns that Kannamma had left Kalathur. His inquiries in Sevalpatti lead him to believe that Kannamma had led an immoral life. Grief-stricken, he travels from place to place to forget Kannamma and takes to drinking as a last resort. In Bangalore, he encounters Kannamma in a dancer's house where she had come to teach the dancer's daughter. Her presence in the house and reticence to Raja's questions strengthens his belief that Kannamma is a woman of ill repute and in disgust, he returns home.

Kannamma's son Selvam grows up into an intelligent boy and is living in the orphanage in Sevalpatti. Murugan visits the orphanage and on meeting Selvam, decides to shift to Sevalpatti to be near him. Kannamma becomes a teacher in Selvam's school and feels attracted to him. She invites him to stay with her but he refuses as he has to look after Mani, a lame orphan living with him. Raja is invited to Sevalpatti by Singaram, a rich merchant who wants to marry his daughter Maduram to him, to preside over a school function. Raja takes a fascination for Selvam who acts in the school play. After the play ends, he encounters Kannamma again and orders the headmistress to dismiss her.

Mani is critically ill and Selvam turns to Raja for help. Raja brings a doctor who is unable to save Mani. Raja takes Selvam with him to the palace. At Selvam's insistence, he stops drinking and to give him a mother, decides to marry Maduram. A seriously ill Murugan confesses to Kannamma that her child is not dead and reveals the identity of Selvam. Kannamma tries to contact Selvam but does not find him in the orphanage. The news shocks Murugan and to soothe his nerves, they move back to Kalathur. In the local temple, Kannamma meets Selvam and tells him that she is his mother. On learning from him that Raja is bringing him up and is marrying shortly to find him a mother, she asks him not to mention anything about her to Raja.

Maduram learns from Selvam that he is the son of Raja, after which Singaram insists on a written undertaking that the properties of Raja would go to the children of Maduram only. The news of this conflict spreads in the village. On learning this, Murugan rushes to the palace to own the boy but collapses near the palace gate. Kannamma, who has followed, takes Selvam and tries to move away when she is intercepted by Raja who demands the boy back. Raja refuses to believe that Selvam is Kannamma's son and abuses Kannamma for her shameless life. Ramalingam observes that even in such a humiliating situation, Kannamma is silent and does not breathe a word about her promise to him. He is moved and acknowledges her as his daughter-in-law. Selvam is united with his parents, and Raja's marriage with Maduram is cancelled.

Cast

Production

Development

After assisting A. V. Meiyappan in producing films for AVM Productions, his sons Saravanan, Murugan, Kumaran discussed producing one on their own with his son-in-law Arun Veerappan. Their mother Rajeswari told Meiyappan about this, and he gave his consent.[5] The first story the brothers discussed was Maanam Periyadhu, but it did not shape up well. Unwilling to make a half-baked story as their inaugural production, Saravanan continued searching. Vellaichaami, an ex AVM employee, told Saravanan that Javar Seetharaman had been discussing a story with Meiyappan. Saravanan inquired further and learned that the story was called Pattuvum Kittuvum. However, Meiyappan told Seetharaman that while the story was good, AVM could not film it. When Saravanan and his brothers learned that Seetharaman was in discussions with another production company, they ran to Meiyappan and told him that they were interested in Seetharaman's story; to their relief, Meiyappan revealed that Seetharaman would be visiting him that afternoon. After Seetharaman realised that Saravanan and his brothers were interested, he willingly gave them his story, which evolved into Kalathur Kannamma.[6]

Impressed with T. Prakash Rao's work in Amara Deepam (1956) and Uthama Puthiran (1958), Saravanan and his brothers considered he would be best to direct Kalathur Kannamma. This decision was questioned, given that AVM had its own "director unit" of which Prakash Rao was not a part. Though AVM paid its directors salaries ranging from ₹15,000 (equivalent to ₹1.1 million or US$15,000 in 2019) to ₹20,000 (equivalent to ₹1.4 million or US$20,000 in 2019), Prakash Rao charged ₹40,000 (equivalent to ₹2.9 million or US$41,000 in 2019)—twice as much. Meiyappan, not wanting to be an obstacle to his sons' enthusiasm, approved Prakash Rao's salary.[7] Despite Saravanan's desire, the credit of producing the film was given to Meiyappan, Kumaran, and Arun Veerappan.[8][3] The story by Seetharaman was loosely adapted from two sources: the play The Forgotten Factor by the Moral Rearmament Army,[9] and the film Nobody's Child.[10] Cinematography was handled by T. Muthuswamy, editing by S. Surya, and art direction by H. Shantaram.[8] S. P. Muthuraman worked as an assistant director, this being his first stint with film.[11][12]

Casting

Gemini Ganesan, his last name credited as Ganesh, was cast as Rajalingam and Savitri Ganesh as the title character Kannamma.[1] The former was paid a salary of ₹75,000 (equivalent to ₹5.4 million or US$76,000 in 2019).[13] Daisy Irani was originally chosen to play Rajalingam and Kannamma's son Selvam, after AVM were impressed with her performance in Yaar Paiyyan (1957). Sara Ramachandran, the family doctor of AVM, came to the AVM household with four-year old Kamal Haasan. Sara told Rajeswari that Haasan had come to meet Meiyappan as he aspired to become an actor; Haasan was eventually taken by Saravanan to Meiyappan, who asked him to act like Irani. Impressed with Haasan's performance in the audition, Meiyappan decided to replace Irani with him. Though Saravanan protested as Irani had already been already booked for the role and paid an advance of ₹10,000 (equivalent to ₹720,000 or US$10,000 in 2019), Meiyappan remained adamant as he felt Haasan was fresher and brighter than Irani.[14]

Filming

The song "Kangalil Vaarthaigal Puriyatho" was shot with many mango trees in the background. When it was decided to reshoot parts of the song, the mangoes were no longer in the trees since the season had ended. Hence, it was decided to reshoot the necessary scenes with fake mangoes hanging from the trees.[15] The first shot filmed on Haasan was a scene featuring Kannamma feeding him upma.[16] The song "Ammavum Neeye Appavum Neeye", picturised on Selvam, was recorded with three minutes duration, but Prakash Rao filmed its video to be only one-and-a-half minutes long. Meiyappan insisted to shoot the entire song so that Selvam could be established, and reshoot other scenes he was not satisfied with. Prakash Rao felt Meiyappan was interfering creatively and expressed his desire to quit the film, although up to nearly 8,000 feet (2,400 m) had been canned. Though Meiyappan was hesitant, Prakash Rao convinced him and left. AVM later hired A. Bhimsingh, under whose direction the film was completed.[17][18] Although Bhimsingh offered to retain Prakash Rao's name in the credits, he declined.[19] The final length of the film was 17,570 feet (5,360 m).[8]

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by R. Sudharsanam,[20][21] while the lyrics were penned by Kannadasan, Kothamangalam Subbu, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam, M. K. Athmanathan and T. K. Sundara Vathiyar.[22] For the song "Arugil Vanthaal", Kannadasan came up with 56 or 58 pallavis, of which eight were finalised.[23][24] The song "Aadatha Manamum" is set in the Carnatic raga known as Gourimanohari.[25] The soundtrack received positive response, with the number "Ammavum Neeye" being singled out for praise.[3][26][27]

Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Kangalin Vaarthaigal"KannadasanA. M. Rajah, P. Susheela3:33
2."Sirithaalum"KannadasanC. S. Jayaraman3:30
3."Aadatha Manamum"Ku. Ma. BalasubramaniamA. M. Rajah, P. Susheela3:19
4."Arugil Vanthaal"KannadasanA. M. Rajah3:23
5."Ammavum Neeye"T. K. Sundara VathiyarM. S. Rajeswari2:47
6."Unaikkandu Mayangaadha"Kothamangalam SubbuS. C. Krishnan, T. M. Soundararajan, M. S. Rajeswari, A. P. Komala6:58
7."Malaril Madhu Edharkku"M. K. AthmanathanJikki2:93
8."Ammavum Neeye" (Pathos)T. K. Sundara VathiyarM. S. Rajeswari1:26

Release and reception

Kalathur Kannamma was released on 12 August 1960,[28][29] and received mostly positive reviews.[30] On 11 September 1960, Ananda Vikatan praised Kamal Haasan's performance and described Kalathur Kannamma as one of the best films in Tamil to that point.[31] The Madras-based film magazine Movieland said, "A new star rises on the movie horizon". The article by film journalist, K. Vasudevan, praised the performance of Haasan.[3] The film was a major commercial success,[32] running for over 100 days in theatres.[8] It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film in 1961,[2] and Haasan's performance earned him the President's Gold Medal.[33][34]

Other versions

Kalathur Kannamma was dubbed in Telugu as Mavoori Ammayi, which was released on 20 October 1960.[35] The film was also remade in the same language as Mooga Nomu (1969).[36] Bhimsingh later remade the film in Hindi as Main Chup Rahungi (1962),[37] where "Ammavum Neeye" was re-used as "Tumhi Ho Mata".[38] The film was also remade in Sinhala as Mangalika (1963),[39] while the Hindi version was remade as Udarata Menike the same year.[40]

In other media

In Udan Pirappu (1993), Goundamani as a beggar sings "Ammavum Neeye" as "Mummy-um Neeye".[41] In Kaathala Kaathala (1998), the footage of "Ammavum Neeye" will be shown in the title credits and the young Haasan gets transformed into elder Haasan, he and Prabhu Deva along with children is seen singing this song to a garbage bin.[42]

References
  1. Bali, Karan (28 August 2016). "Lost in remaking? A Bhimsingh's films found new fans in Hindi but are better viewed in Tamil". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  2. "State Awards for Films". Directorate of Film Festivals. 31 March 1961. pp. 30–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  3. Guy, Randor (25 April 2015). "Blast from the past: Kalathur Kannamma". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  4. Rangan, Baradwaj (12 October 2015). "Legendary Tamil actor Manorama tribute: Mistress of arts". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. Saravanan 2013, pp. 67–68.
  6. Saravanan 2013, pp. 68–69.
  7. Saravanan 2013, pp. 69–70.
  8. Film News Anandan (2004). Saadhanaigal Padaitha thamizh thiraipada varalaru [Tamil film history and its achievements] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publishers. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017.
  9. Guy, Randor. "Tamil Cinema 75 – A Look Back" (PDF). Anna Nagar Times. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  10. Saravanan 2013, p. 81.
  11. Muthuraman, S. P. (13 May 2015). "சினிமா எடுத்துப் பார் 8- திரைக்கதை ஜாம்பவான் டி. பிரகாஷ் ராவ்!" [Try making a film, part 8 – The screenplay legend T. Prakash Rao!]. The Hindu (Tamil). Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  12. Jeshi, K. (18 March 2014). "Director's chair". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  13. Saravanan, M. (18 March 2017). "36. குறைந்த சம்பளத்தில் நடித்த ஜெமினிகணேசன்" [36. Gemini Ganesan, who acted for a lower salary]. Dina Thanthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  14. Saravanan 2013, pp. 70–73.
  15. Saravanan 2013, p. 74.
  16. Saravanan 2013, pp. 75–76.
  17. Saravanan 2013, pp. 77–78.
  18. Rangarajan, Malathi (25 August 2006). "The thrill of the hunt". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  19. Guy, Randor (August 2009). "Celebrating a Living Legend: Kamal Haasan". Galatta Cinema. pp. 72–75.
  20. "Kalathur Kannamma (1960)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  21. "Kalathur Kannamma (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  22. Neelamegam, G. (December 2014). Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 (in Tamil). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. p. 195.
  23. Krishnamachari, Suganthy (5 August 2016). "His lyrics held a mirror to life". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  24. Saravanan 2013, pp. 78–79.
  25. Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Pichhamal Chintamani. p. 121.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  26. Pradeep, K. (9 December 2012). "Kamal's 50 glorious years". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  27. "Stardom starts early in Kollywood". The Times of India. 14 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  28. "Kalathur Kannamma". The Indian Express. 12 August 1960. p. 1.
  29. Saravanan 2013, p. 67.
  30. Ramachandran 2012, p. 16.
  31. சண்முகம்; மீனாட்சி (11 September 1960). "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: களத்தூர் கண்ணம்மா" [Movie Review: Kalathur Kannamma]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  32. Kolappan, B. (19 October 2015). "AVM, seven decades and still running". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  33. "40th National Film Festival" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 1993. p. 73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  34. "Kamal Hassan to get Lifetime Achievement Award at Mumbai Film Fest". Firstpost. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  35. "Movies from AVM Productions". AVM Productions. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  36. Saravanan 2013, p. 90.
  37. Ramanan, V. V. (12 May 2012). "CinemaPlus Quiz". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  38. Bharatan, Raju (2010). A Journey Down Melody Lane. Hay House. ISBN 9789381398050. Chitragupta's 1962 Main Chup Rahungi Lata & Chorus Raag Bhairavi number, Tumhein ho maataa tumhein pitaa ho, re-emerged as the Tamil Ammavum neeye appavum neeye from Kalathur Kannamma (1960).
  39. Weerapperuma, E. (29 October 2007). "Sri Lankan film industry enters diamond era — Part 4". Daily News. Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  40. Coorey, Philip (1970). The Lonely Artist: A Critical Introduction to the Films of Lester James Peries. Lake House Investments. p. 4.
  41. "Comedy Udan Pirappu உடன் பிறப்பு" (in Tamil). Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  42. Kaadhala Kaadhala (motion picture). Saraswathi Films. 1998. From 0:39 to 2:06.

Bibliography
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