Naanum Oru Penn

Naanum Oru Penn (transl. I am a woman too) is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars S. S. Rajendran and R. Vijayakumari, with S. V. Ranga Rao, M. R. Radha, S. V. Subbaiah, C. K. Nagesh, Rajan and C. S. Pushpalatha in supporting roles. It revolves around a dark complexioned and uneducated girl and how she convinces everyone that more than appearance and education, it is the character which is important for a woman.

Naanum Oru Penn
Theatrical release poster
Directed byA. C. Tirulokchandar
Produced byM. Saravanan
M. Kumaran
M. Murugan
Screenplay byA. C. Tirulokchandar
Based onBodhu
by Sri Shailesh Dey
StarringS. S. Rajendran
R. Vijayakumari
Music byR. Sudarsanam
CinematographyT. Muthusamy
Edited byR. G. Gopi
Production
company
Release date
  • 7 June 1963 (1963-06-07)
Running time
155 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Naanum Oru Penn is a remake of the Bengali film Kala Bou,[1] which was an adaptation of Sri Shailash Dey's Bengali play Bodhu. The film is the second production of Murugan Brothers, a subsidiary of AVM Productions, and the feature film debut of Rajan. The soundtrack and background score were composed by R. Sudarsanam, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Kannadasan, Panchu Arunachalam, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam and V. Seetharaman.

Naanum Oru Penn was released on 7 June 1963. The film earned positive critical feedback and went on to become a commercial success. It won many awards, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and Cinema Fans Award for Best Film. The film was remade in Telugu as Naadi Aada Janme and in Hindi as Main Bhi Ladki Hoon (1964). Both the versions were directed by Tirulokachander with Ranga Rao reprising his role.

Plot

Bhaskar and Balu are brothers living with their father, the zamindar of Selvapuram, who prefers that his sons marry fair-skinned daughters. Things escalate when the illiterate, dark-skinned Kalyani visits Rajendran who falls in love with her. Even as the zamindar begins to warm up to Kalyani, she becomes the victim of a nefarious plot concocted by the brothers' uncle and is cast out of the house.

Cast

Production

Development

After watching the Bengali play Bodhu, A. V. Meiyappan of AVM Productions was impressed and decided to adapt it into a Tamil film. A. C. Tirulokchandar was selected to direct the film, titled Naanum Oru Penn.[2] It was produced by Meiyappan's sons Murugan, Saravanan and Kumaran under Murugan Brothers, a subsidiary of AVM. Naanum Oru Penn was the second production of Murugan Brothers, and Tirulokchandar also served as screenwriter.[3][4]

Casting

C. K. Nagesh portrayed the brother of two girls in this film. Most people had concerns about whether Nagesh, generally known as a comedian, would be accepted by audience in a serious character. However his acting in the film was accepted and he became a good character artiste apart from being a comedian.[5] The crew initially wanted Gemini Ganesan and Savitri as the lead pair, however Tirulokchandar was adamant and chose S. S. Rajendran and R. Vijayakumari instead.[6] The make-up for Vijayakumari was done by Kini.[5] Vijayakumari initially had apprehension of portraying the character since many people warned her not to spoil her career by doing this character, but Sivaji Ganesan encouraged her to act in this film.[7] This was the feature film debut of Rajan, who later prefixed AVM to his name.[8] Rajan and C. S. Pushpalatha met during the film's production, fell in love and got married.[9][10]

Filming

The song "Yemara Sonnadhu" was shot at Bangalore. It was later reshot at Vijaya Garden in Madras as the Censor Board objected to the scene where Rajan and Pushpalatha's characters are shown dancing in NCC costumes.[5] The final length of the film's prints were 4,520 m (14,830 ft) long.[11][12]

Soundtrack
Naanum Oru Penn
Soundtrack album by

R. Sudarsanam
Released1963
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LanguageTamil
LabelSaregama[13]

The soundtrack and musical score for Naanum Oru Penn were composed by R. Sudarsanam, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan, Panchu Arunachalam, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam and V. Seetharaman. The soundtrack was released under the label of Saregama.[13] Regarding the development of the song "Kanna Karumai", Saravanan recalled, "another poet gave us a lyric which matched our tune. But I was not happy with it. So we brought Kannadasan in. He said the lyric should precede the music, and also insisted that the pallavi should present the basic theme of the film. Thus was born ‘Kanna karumai nira Kanna,’ which we then set to tune."[14]

All lyrics are written by Kannadasan, Panchu Arunachalam, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam and V. Seetharaman.

Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Poopola Poopola"Panchu ArunachalamP. Susheela, T. M. Soundararajan 
2."Kanna Karumai"KannadasanP. Susheela 
3."Kannukkul"V. SeetharamanT. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela 
4."Emara Sonnathu"Ku. Ma. BalasubramaniamT. M. Soundararajan 
5."Emara Sonnathu"Ku. Ma. BalasubramaniamP. Susheela 
Total length:25:24

Release

Naanum Oru Penn was released on 7 June 1963.[2] It became a commercial success, completing a theatrical run of 25 weeks, and becoming a silver jubilee film.[15] The film was remade in Telugu as Naadi Aada Janme and in Hindi as Main Bhi Ladki Hoon (1964). Both versions were directed by Tirulokachander and featured Rangarao reprising his role.[16][17]

Reception

The Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, in its original review of the film dated 30 June 1963 mentioned that though many had acted well, S. V. Ranga Rao deserved the first prize for acting in the film for making viewers cry in a few places.[18] T. M. Ramachandran, writing for Sport and Pastime, also praised the film.[4]

Awards

The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at 11th National Film Awards. It also won Filmfare Award for Best film and Filmfans Award for Best film.[19][20][21] S. V. Ranga Rao won the Rashtrapati Award.[22]

Legacy

The song "Kanna Karumai" was considered as one of the memorable songs of P. Susheela. The song was rendered thrice by the contestants of the television contest show, Airtel Super Singer 4, and once each by the contestants of the second and third season of its junior version, Airtel Super Singer Junior.[23]

References
  1. "Tamil cinema's bong connection". The Times of India. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. Saravanan 2013, p. 135.
  3. Nanum Oru Penn (motion picture) (in Tamil). Murugan Brothers. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 2:24.
  4. Ramachandran, T. M. (6 July 1983). "Nanum Oru Penn". Sport and Pastime. Vol. 17. p. 43.
  5. முத்துராமன், எஸ்பி. (22 July 2015). "சினிமா எடுத்துப் பார் 18- நாகேஷின் அழுகை!". Hindu Tamil Thisai. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. "ஏ.சி.திருலோகசந்தர்: எம்.ஜி.ஆரை வைத்து இயக்கிய ஒரே படம் 'அன்பே வா'". Maalai Malar. 28 April 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  7. "விஜயகுமாரி கறுப்புப் பெண்ணாக நடித்த நானும் ஒரு பெண்". Maalai Malar. 1 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  8. "About AVM Rajan's name". The Times of India. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  9. Guy, Randor (16 July 2010). "Chitrangi (1964)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  10. "நானும் ஒரு பெண்ணில் இணைந்து நடித்த ஏ.வி.எம்.ராஜன் புஷ்பலதா வாழ்க்கையிலும் இணைந்தனர்". Maalai Malar. 3 June 2012. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  11. Film News Anandan (2004). Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru [Tamil film history and its achievements] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publishers. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  12. "Nanum Oru Penn". Central Board of Film Certification. 5 June 1963. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019. On this website, select the search box, then search for "Nanum Oru Penn".
  13. "Naanum Oru Penn". Saregama. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  14. Krishnamachari, Suganthy (20 October 2016). "Kannadasan's lyrics held a mirror to life". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  15. Raghavendra, M. K., ed. (2017). Beyond Bollywood: The Cinemas of South India. HarperCollins. p. 43.
  16. Saravanan 2013, p. 143.
  17. Upadhyaya, Prakash (15 June 2016). "Tamil filmmaker AC Tirulokchandar (AC Trilogchander) passes away". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  18. "நானும் ஒரு பெண்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 30 June 1963.
  19. Guy, Randor (6–12 August 2011). "Tamil cinema 75 – A look back | The AVM Story – 75" (PDF). Mambalam Times. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  20. "State Awards for Films" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 25 April 1964. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  21. Tamil Film History and Its Achievements, p 13
  22. Sanmana Satkaralu, Viswa Nata Chakravarti, M. Sanjay Kishore, Sangam Akademy, Hyderabad, 2005, pp: 65.
  23. Kanna Karumai from Naanum oru penn by Namitha in Super Singer Junior 4 (Reality show). India: Vijay TV. 14 June 2013.
    • Kanna Karumai by Aishwarya (Reality show). India: Vijay TV. 28 May 2014.
    • Airtel Super Singer Junior3, Rakshitha Sings Kanna Karumai Song (Reality show). India: Vijay TV. 17 June 2012.
    • Airtel Super Singer Junior3, Haripriya sings Kanna Karumai (Reality show). India: Vijay TV. 13 February 2012.

Bibliography
  • Saravanan, M. (2013) [2005]. AVM 60 cinema (in Tamil) (3rd ed.). Rajarajan Pathippagam.
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