Aayirathil Oruvan (1965 film)

Aayirathil Oruvan
Directed by B. R. Panthulu
Produced by B. R. Panthulu
Written by R. K. Shanmugam
Screenplay by K. J. Mahadevan
Starring M. G. Ramachandran
Jayalalithaa
Music by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy
Cinematography V. Ramamoorthy
Edited by R. Devarajan
Production
company
Padmini Pictures
Distributed by Padmini Pictures
Release dates
 9 July 1965[1]
Running time
 167 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil

Aayirathil Oruvan (English: One man in a Thousand) is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. Starring M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa in the lead roles, the film also stars M. N. Nambiar, R. S. Manohar, Nagesh and Madhavi Krishnan. It was a critical and a commercial success, and ran for more than 100 days in Chennai theatres and other cities. A digitised version of the film was released in 2014 and ran for 190 days.

Plot

Manimaran (M. G. Ramachandran), is a doctor living in the country of Neidhal Naadu with his sidekick Azhaga (Nagesh). He helps cure the illness of one of the rebels against the dictator (Manohar) of Neidhal Naadu. The ruler's guards arrest the rebels, along with Manimaran for helping them. Manimaran and the rebels are sold as slaves by the ruler to the nearby island called Kanni Theevu (Tamil for Virgin Islands), ruled by Sengappan. Manimaran leads the slaves, and fights for their rights.

Poongodi (Jayalalithaa), the princess of Kanni Theevu and niece of Sengappan who is the guardian of the orphaned princess, falls in love with Manimaran at first sight. Simultaneously, her servant Thenmozhi (Madhavi Krishnan) falls for Azhagan, after initial arguments. Despite the differences between Poongodi and Manimaran, Poongodi tries to woo him on many occasions. She even offers freedom from slavery only to him, who rejects the offer demanding freedom for all of the slaves. Meanwhile, the island is attacked by pirates headed by a leader (M. N. Nambiar). As Sengappan's troops are out of the island on another assignment, Sengappan pleads with Manimaran and the other slaves to help him. Manimaran demands freedom slavery in return for fighting the pirates, only to be betrayed later.

The slaves make an escape plan of their own and successfully take over the pirate ship, with whom they fought earlier. Manimaran explains to the pirate captain/leader, about their plight and asks him to help them reach Neidhal Naadu. The captain, apparently agrees, while actually taking them to his pirate island and holds them captive. He coerces them to work for him as pirates or Manimaran will see all of his other men die before him. With no option in place, Manimaran agrees to work as a pirate to escape the situation. In one of his pirate hunts, he finds Sengappan and Poongodi. He brings Poongodi to the pirate island, and tries to hide her from the pirate leader. Nanjappan, the right hand of the pirate leader, finds out tells the leader about Poongodi. As per the policy of the island, any treasure pirated must be auctioned and so Poongodi is also auctioned. After a tight bidding, Manimaran bids the highest, buys her and keeps her with him.

After few dramatic events, Manimaran gets married to Poongodi and as per the pirate island's laws the pirate leader cannot attempt to separate a married couple. The pirate leader attempts to take Poongodi by force, gets defeated by Manimaran in a sword fight and reforms into a good man. He accompanies the slaves led by Manimaran, to achieve their goal of freeing Neidhal Naadu from the clutches of its cruel dictator. In the ensuing war, the dictator is defeated but tricks into arresting them instead. However, in his court the dictator begs Manimaran to take over the throne. Everyone else also supports the idea. However, Manimaran politely rejects the offer and further states that he wants to continue his noble work as a doctor, serving the people. He then takes leave from the royal court and walks away with his wife and his medical kit.

Cast

Production

Aayirathil Oruvan was M. G. Ramachandran's first film with director B. R. Panthulu. It was also the first film which featured him alongside the-then newcomer Jayalalithaa, who was previously seen in her debut film Vennira Aadai; she was 14 years old when Ramachandran brought her to act, in 1962. The duo subsequently starred together frequently in later films.[2][3] Panthulu, who faced losses from his previous Karnan, compensated for it through this film.[4] Aayirathil Oruvan is said to be inspired from the 1935 swashbuckling Errol Flynn starrer, Captain Blood,[5] and also from Burt Lancaster's The Crimson Pirate, which itself was inspired by the 1926 film The Black Pirate.[6]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film has been composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. It is the final film where the duo worked together, they subsequently composed for later films individually.[7][8] The song "Atho Andha Paravai" remains one of the successful songs from the film. The song was featured in self-titled 2010 film of same name.[9] The song was remixed by D. Imman with different vocals, tune and instrumentations in Madrasi (2006).[10] The song "Naanamo" was remixed as "Roseberry" in Pallikoodam (2007).[11] In Unnai Thedi (1999), Malavika's family will be seen watching "Naanamo".[12] One of the songs has inspired a film's title "Unnai Naan Sandhithen". In Inidhu Inidhu Kaadhal Inidhu (2003), Vadivelu who is in female disguise imitates Jayalalitha's mannerisms and dances for "Aadamal Aadugiren'.[13]

No. Song Singers Length Lyrics
1 "Adamal Adukiran" P. Susheela 03:54 Vaali
2 "Adho Andha Paravai Pola" T.M. Soundararajan 05:03 Kannadasan
3 "Naanamo Innum Naanamo" T.M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela 04:45 Kannadasan
4 "Odum Maegangalae" T.M. Soundararajan 04:31 Kannadasan
5 "Paruvam Enathu Paadal" P. Susheela 04:26 Vaali
6 "Unnai Naan Santhithaen" P. Susheela 03:27 Vaali
7 "Yaen Indra Kaelvi" T.M. Soundararajan 03:46 Vaali

Reception

Aayirathil Oruvan was very well received by critics. Ramachandran's performance as a kind, noble, and brave leader later helped him build a massive reputation in his political career. IndiaGlitz stated that, "Revolutionary Leader MGR's flawless performance, Nambiar's odious crimes, Jaylalitha's lovable attitude, Nagesh's tummy tickling fun and M.S.Viswanathan's Music made the movie a unforgettable one and paved way for MGR's Political career."[14]

Re-release

A comparison between the original (above) and digitised versions.

Forty-nine years after the original theatrical release, the film was digitally enhanced for a planned re-release in January 2014. Apart from scope conversion from 35 mm to digital scope, the film also had a completely re-recorded background music played out by an assistant of M. S. Viswananthan. The digital conversion was done by Prasad EFX, Chennai, who had previously restored Karnan and Paasa Malar. Since the negatives were entirely damaged, the entire running length was converted. The film was distributed by Divya Films which had earlier released Karnan in digital format.[15] The digitised version of Aayirathil Oruvan was released on 14 March 2014, earning ₹26.9 lakh (US$40,000) in the first weekend at Chennai;[16] it eventually had a theatrical run of 190 days in Chennai.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Find Tamil Movie Aayirathil Oruvan - 1965, Aayirathil Oruvan - 1965 Reviews, Expert Review and Casts". Jointscene.com. 9 July 1965. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Malathi Rangarajan (2 February 2012). "Arts / Cinema : A 100 goes unsung". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "starring: MGR & Jayalalitha!". The Sunday Indian. 22 February 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "MGR again takes the cake after clash with Sivaji at the box-office". Kollytalk.com. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "The Legends (MSV-TKR songs) cassetee [sic] release by HMV". Tfmpage.com. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Guy, Randor (17 March 2011). "A trailblazer". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  7. ↑ MALATHI RANGARAJAN. "Ninety, and bowing away!". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Why did Viswanathan and Ramamurthy break-up their". Tfmpage.com. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Selva on Aayirathil Oruvan". Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Behindwoods : Madrasi from Mumbai". Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Pallikoodam Music Review songs lyrics". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Unnaithedi (DVD)
  13. ↑ Inidhu Inidhu Kaadhal Inidhu
  14. ↑ "End of the world movies:". Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Karthik Subramanian (7 December 2013). "Aayirathil Oruvan gets digitally enhanced". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  16. ↑ "Box Office: 'Nimirnthu Nil', 'Thegidi', 'Vallinam' , 'IKK' Collections". International Business Times, India Edition. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  17. ↑ Karthik Subramanian. "Aayirathil Oruvan celebrates silver jubilee". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

Sources

External links

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