Motor Sundaram Pillai

<p>Motor Sundaram Pillai, a man known for being virtuous, leads a double life, having two sets of families. The 1959 American film , adapted from a play written by , which was inspired by a real life incident, was a global success, especially in Madras (now ). Veppatthur Kittu of wrote a screenplay based on this film (with changes made to suit regional tastes) and approached to act. He refused, and Gemini Studios proprietor produced Kittu’s screenplay in as (1963). When Ganesan saw this film, he offered to act if Kittu made a Tamil version. Vasan later announced the Tamil version, titled . Like , this too featured some changes from the American film. It marked the directorial debut of Vasan’s son . Cinematography was handled by P. Ellappa. The soundtrack album was composed by . In the song “Gubu Gubu Naan Engine”, singer imitated engine sounds while imitated train car sounds. The song “Maname Muruganin” is set in the known as . Lyricist initially wanted it to be in , but as Viswanathan wanted it to be in Hindolam, Subbu assented. The song was re-used in the film (1968) as “Manase Andhala Brindavanam”. was released on 26 January 1966. T. M. Ramachandran of wrote, “Though, up to the interval, it contains the usual quota of songs, dances, romantic chases of the young lovers and comedy […] it grips the audience with a clever and logical twist in the story.” The film was commercially successful, running for over 100 days in theatres.</p>