Nathayil Muthu

<p>Madhu, the foreign-educated son of a lawyer Varadhachari and his wife, falls in love with Chelakannu, an impoverished woman who looks after their cows. While bathing, Chelakannu’s sari is washed away and Madhu lends her his clothes. The slum dwellers misconstrue the situation and force Madhu to marry Chelakannu right away, which he willingly does, going to live with her in the slums. However, Chelakannu realises the unfairness of inflicting such discomfort on her husband while his mother schemes to break up the marriage by suggesting Chelakannu is unfaithful to him. Events culminate in a which judges in Chelakannu’s favour, but when the Panchayat leaders try to abuse Madhu’s sister, Chelakannu saves her and this act of generosity persuades Madhu’s family that their son’s wife is a worthy member of the group. was directed by , who also produced and wrote it under the banner Chitra Productions. It was publicised as ‘s 100th film as an actress, and cinematography was handled by P. Ramaswamy. The soundtrack was composed by , while the lyrics were written by . was released on 25 October 1973. Playing on the title, Kanthan of said the film had the “nathai” (snail) but no “muthu” (pearl).</p>