Padagotti

<p>Manickam is the leader of a fishing community named (Turbot fisherman). In the same area lives Alaiyappan, the leader of the opposing fishing community (Shark fishermen). While Manickam is honest, compassionate and principled, Alaiyappan is the opposite, driven mainly by greed. Manickam’s father wishes to see the enmity between the two groups end, and he persuades them to be friends. The refuse, and beat him to death. Manickam promises to fulfill his father’s wish, and works hard to end the enmity. The person responsible for fuelling this enmity is the village Neelamagam, who stands to gain the most from it all. Alaiyappan’s blind allegiance is to Neelamagam. Manickam falls in love with Alaiyappan’s daughter Muthazhagi, and she reciprocates. However, their romance is disapproved of by their communities. When Manickam goes to to seek peace, he is beaten to his apparent death. Because of this, his men nearly kill Alaiyappan, who is then saved by a mysterious old man. Thankful to the old man, Alaiyappan allows him to stay for the night at his home. Muthazhagi later realises the old man is actually Manickam in disguise, but conceals it from everyone. Even when there is a boat race between the two communities, the disguised Manickam chooses to go with , and they win. However, his cover is blown soon after, and an enraged Alaiyappan forces him to leave Muthazhagi. Neelamagam wants to marry Muthazhagi, and Alaiyappan reluctantly agrees due to lack of funds, but Muthazhagi is unwilling. She is kept at Neelamagam’s mansion and is unable to escape, as even Manickam (in a new disguise) fails to save her. Neelamagam’s wife Meenvizhi secretly helps Muthazhagi out of the mansion. For doing so, she is killed by Neelamagam. He begins to chase Muthazhagi, but is cornered by Manickam and a fight ensues between the duo. Shortly after, the local police arrive and arrest Neelamagam for murdering his wife. With both the communities reconciling, Alaiyappan agrees for Muthazhagi and Manickam to be married. was directed by , and produced by G. N. Velumani under the banner of Saravana Films. It was the company’s first colour film, being colourised through . The screenplay was written by , based on an original story by Nannu, and cinematography was handled by P. L. Roy, while C. P. Jambulingam was chosen as editor. While and were cast as the lead pair, was cast as Ponvandu, a comical character who beats people whenever a gramophone plays a certain music. This subplot was adapted from an episode of . Most of the film was shot on actual locations near the seashore, including , . It was poet who chose the title for this film. is a that deals with groupism among fishermen, the problems of fishermen in general, and moneylenders bleeding the poor. journalist D. B. S. Jeyaraj wrote that Ramachandran portrayed different roles in his films “so that different segments of the population could relate to and identify with him”, citing his role of a in , an agriculturist in (1967), and a puller in (1971) as examples. S. Rajanayagam, author of the book , felt the title , like the titles of many other Ramachandran films, was “sober, occupation-oriented and positive”. The soundtrack was composed by the duo of , while the lyrics were written by Vaali. The song “Thottal Poo Malarum” is set in the known as , and according to singer , this song “changed the outlook of this raga in films”. It was later re-tuned by for the 2004 film . The song “Tharaimel Pirakka” was composed in , a . The song “Koduthadellam Koduthan” was originally written by Vaali for (1960) which was rejected by the director of that film and later it was used in this film. Velumani felt the song “nicely captured MGR’s characteristics” through the lyrics “Koduthadellam koduthan, Avan yaarukaaga koduthaan, Orutharukka koduthaan illai oorukaaga koduthaan” which translate to “He gave all that he gave, to whom did he give? Did he give for just one? No, he gave for everyone”. The song “Naanoru Kuzhandhai” is based on raga. “Thottal Poo Malarum” was included by in their list . was released on 3 November 1964, during that year’s . Despite facing competition from other Diwali releases such as and , it became commercially successful, running for over 100 days in theatres. wrote on 14 November 1964, “A bright piece of acting by Ramadas and P. L. Rai’s excellent outdoor photography which bares the bountiful beauty of the backwaters of Kerala are the only two redeeming features of the film. But they are as much a consolation as having enjoyed the cool breeze during a day-long futile angling.” Writing for , N. Ramakrishna gave the film a mixed review, calling the photography one of its few redeeming features.</p>