Thennilavu

<p>A man named Raj meets a woman named Shanti in and falls in love with her. Shanti does not reciprocate his love and leaves for her home in . Shanti’s father Sokkalingam and his new wife Thangam decide to honeymoon in ; Shanti also wants to come. A friend of Sokkalingam suggests an alliance between Shanti and his nephew Raj, who is now in Madras. Raj-2 abandons his wife Lalitha, whom he had secretly married, when he learns of this proposed alliance; he leaves for Bangalore but misses the train. Raj-1 arrives in Bangalore, where Sokkalingam mistakes him for his friend’s nephew. Sokkalingam and Thangam leave for Kashmir with Raj-1 and Shanti, who still dislikes Raj-1 but eventually returns his love. Raj-2 reaches Kashmir in search of Sokkalingam. Lalitha, fearing the safety of her husband, also reaches Kashmir in search of him. Lalitha meets Raj-1 and stays in his house; she also meets Sokkalingam and tells him she is married to “Raj”. Sokkalingam misinterprets this as Raj-1 and fires him as Shanti’s manager. Meanwhile, Raj-2 meets Sokkalingam, explains everything and replaces Raj-1 as Shanti’s manager, despite Shanti’s dislike for him. Shanti later learns Lalitha is Raj-2’s wife and reconciles with Raj-1 while Sokkalingam and Thangam are still unaware. Raj-2 learns Shanti loves Raj-1 and becomes jealous. At the same time, he meets Lalitha, who he orders to return, otherwise she will be killed. Lalitha flees but secretly writes Raj-2 a love letter. Raj-2, touched by the letter, decides to take Lalitha on a boat ride but plans to kill her and frame Raj-1. When Lalitha joins Raj-2 on the boat ride, he forcefully rides the boat, causing her to fall into the lake. Subsequently, he frames Raj-1. Sokkalingam reports Lalitha’s murder to the Kashmir Police, who chase Raj-1, who elopes with Shanti—his only source of an alibi. Raj-1 and Shanti run into a forest for shelter, where they discover Lalitha is still alive and has been captured by a group of terrorists. Raj-1 and Shanti are put into the same prison as Lalitha, who reveals she washed ashore and was discovered by one of the terrorists. He started torturing Lalitha and she pushed him over a cliff to his death, and was imprisoned for murder. A gypsy dancer from the terrorist group helps them escape the prison but nearby guards see them and start shooting at them. The three escapees climb onto a boat, which develops a crack and starts sinking, leading to Raj-1’s separation from Lalitha and Shanti. Raj-1 swims ashore and the police capture him. During Raj-1’s trial in the high court, Shanti and Lalitha arrive, leading to his acquittal. The letter Lalitha wrote to her husband is discovered and after reading the last line, in which Lalitha advised her husband to kill her if wanted, the court suspects Raj-2 of her attempted murder. Lalitha claims she accidentally fell into the lake and does not identify Raj-2 as her husband. The case is dismissed, and Sokkalingam and Thangam continue their honeymoon. Other supporting roles were played by K. Natarajan, V. Mahalingam, , Veeraragavan and Balakrishnan. In the early 1960s, founded the production company after making films for Venus Studios. When discussing with his associates what should be the company’s first film, Sridhar devised the story of but later decided the company’s first film should not be a tragedy and devised the lighter . was the cinematographer, Ganga was the art director and T. R. Srinivasulu was the editor. was Chithralaya’s for the film. Sridhar cast most of the actors who appeared in his directorial debut (1959); (credited as Ganesh), , and . Despite being replete with film offers, accepted to star as the female lead. This was the Tamil film debut of . is the South Indian film to be shot in , unlike most Tamil films of that period, which were mostly filmed in studios. The first scene was filmed during an match at , Madras (now ). This scene was also used as the background for the film’s opening credits. One scene that was filmed in Madras depicts several buildings near that were under construction. While filming at , where the song “Nilavum Malarum” was filmed, Vyjayanthimala almost drowned but was rescued by the cameraman. The song “Oho Endhan Baby” was picturised on Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala ; Vyjayanthimala refused to use a . Other shooting locations included , and . lasted about two months. In retrospect, Sridhar noted he was determined to ensure all scenes in Kashmir were filmed well because returning to re-film them would be impossible. Because Kashmir did not have facilities, film rolls had to be sent to Vijaya Laboratory in Madras for processing. Before the film’s release, the objected to the climax where the lead character clashes with the community as it would lead to severing ties between India and Kashmir; this forced Sridhar to shoot a different climax at parts of resembling Kashmir. Patch work for certain scenes was done on a set built at Vijaya Studios. The final cut of the film measured 15,125 feet (4,610 m). composed music and wrote the lyrics. was originally signed on as the film’s lyricist and wrote three songs but differences arose between Rajah and Maruthakasi during the making of another Sridhar film (1960) and Maruthakasi swore not to work with Rajah again, and forced him to abandon the songs already written for . Vyjayanthimala was affectionately called “Pappa”, which Kannadasan translated into English as “Baby” and wrote the song “Oho Endhan Baby”. Writing for , Sruthisagar Yamunan noted many Tamil film songs in the 1960s have repetitive interludes, “the same notes and orchestration repeating before every “, citing “Paattu Padava” as an example. Both “Oho Endhan Baby” and “Paattu Padava” are set in the known as , while “Nilavum Malarum Paaduthu” is set in . N. Krishnaswamy, writing for in 1988, said “Kaalaiyum Neeye” is set in , a view that is shared by , who was writing for in 2009. Singer said it only has “Hamsanandi-like phrases” and is not strictly based on the raga itself. Carnatic musicologist Sundararaman identifies it as being set in the raga , while K. Easwaralingam, writing for , said it is set in . “Oorengum Thaedinaen” is set in . “Paattu Padava” was later adapted into a different song titled “All Your Beauty”, which appears in the film (2014). It was also recreated as the theme song for the 2022 TV series . was released on 30 September 1961. Kanthan of praised the performances of the cast and the photography in Kashmir but criticised the story. gave a more negative review, playing on the film’s title by saying ” Veen Selavu” ( is a waste of money). It was a success at the box office, running in theatres for over 100 days. inspired the filming of more Indian films in Kashmir. said; “People from an older era may claim that the definitive Gemini romance was , which reportedly was our grandmothers’ […] I, however, go with [ ], if only for the too-cool image of him in swimming trunks, water-skiing alongside the charmingly young Vyjayanthimala.” named one of “the best examples” where Thangavelu played a “father” role. Thangavelu’s dialogue ” ” (“Will we have cash left if we go to Kashmir?”) attained popularity. A brand named after the film was launched by in 1961. The song “Paattu Padava” was included in the opening scene of the 2020 Canadian film .</p>