Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan Part 11

Item girl Sathyapriya is a true revelation. For people like us who know Sathyapriya only for her role in Basha, this is a wonderful insight into her early career, acting side by side with NT.

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Originally Posted by shankarbharath

"Padithal Mattum Podhuma" - 1962

I wish to state my views and experiences in watching this movie Padithal Mattum Podhuma. This was one of the famous black-and-white movies of NT which I watched for the first time when I was 9 years old. What I distinctly remembered in this film for a long time were a few childish things - NT had a very different hair style in this film (he had dyed it brown in real life) and two superb songs which were male duets (Pon ondru Kanden and Vallavan enakku naane vallavan). I never understood the depth of the film until 2002, when I watched it with intense concentration and a renewed outlook to NT films. It is important to mention that I watched the NT-Bhimsingh films in chronological order.

At first, it looked like any normal film, in fact a lot like the TV serials, but then I realized that this family sentiment movie came in 1962. No TV then, no mega serials, and the general outlook to life and familial values were far different then. It is in such a social context that the Bhimsingh "Pa series" made such immense impact. So I first felt it was a normal film, because I was born in 1980.

But one has to understand the context of films - the era, the technological advances available at that time, the kind of characterizations that actors got, the kind of movies that people made, etc. With such thought, I applied a lot of thought to many situations that I felt illogical. For instance, I could not accept the violent and barbaric behavior of Gopal to Meena in the film. I felt it was way too cinematic. But as usual, this was my first opinion - mind you I was watching this film after I had watched zillions of films that had released well after PMP.

I spent nearly 2 full nights trying to rewrite the story and give it my own version. I failed miserably because each one of my 10 attempts were not possible in 1962! In those years, people went by public opinion / general perception, people were very difficult to convince once they formed an opinion, uneducated people had lot of frustrations in them (even though they may be from well to do families) and definitely, marriages happened only with very strong endorsements from mutually known well wishers.

All these were very vital behavioral traits for the core story of PMP. (For instance, Gopal is barbaric because, very simply, he is uneducated. He does not know how to treat a woman, leave alone an educated one). The fact that people strongly went by perception is evident in the song which NT sings "Naan kavignanum illai". He sings "Iravu neram pirarai pola ennai kollum - thunai irundhum illai endru ponaal oor enna sollum?"

The body language exhibited by NT was simply remarkable. In the first part of the film, he is a carefree young man who is barbaric yet has a heart of gold. When he gets married, he shows the enthusiasm and thrill (Enakkum kalyanam nu onnu aaidcha? Haiyaa!!). In the segment where Raju's evil antics make Gopal the scapegoat, he oscillates between abject sorrow, assertive defence and anger. Being uneducated, he gets angry quickly, but he still thinks about every situation. And by the time we reach the court scene in the end, he is just a walking corpse - till Seetha (annai ku inaiyaana anni) defends Gopal and gives him a tonic. The facial expressions shown by NT in the court clearly sum his predicament.

I feel we can never see such movies again. It is worth revisiting these old classics - even small expressions, side characters and one line dialogues have huge significance later the story. And no one better than NT to display on screen.

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imvho, Gemini ganesan (who was presumably the first choice and he declined) or SSR in place of Balaji would have spiced up this film... Sivaji - Balaji combo were good in many other films including Bale pandiya etc., but in this particular film I thought otherwise.........

//கோபால் சார்,
நீங்கள் அளித்த பட்டத்துக்கு நன்றி. (இருந்தாலும் 'ஐட்டம் கார்த்திக்' என்பது ஏதோ ப்ரோக்கர் போல தொனிக்கவில்லை?. நான் அளித்த டாக்டர் பட்டத்துக்கு பிரதிபலனா இது?)...// :) அதானே..

வடிவழகி வட்டமுகம் வாகாய் உடலும்
நடிகர் திலகமுடன் நாயகியாய் நின்றவரை
வார்த்தையிலே கட்டி வசப்படவும்* வைத்துவிட்ட
கார்த்திக் இவரன்றோ காண்..

*அதாவது படிப்பவரை- உங்கள் எழுத்துக்களால்னு பொருள் கொள்ளணும்..

Mr rsubras, I fully understand where your thoughts are coming from regarding Gemini.

But to be fair, the character of Raju needed someone who can turn into shades of grey. He had to be a guy next door, but he also had to develop a scheming plan for getting the girl he likes. Kadhal Mannan Gemini would not have fit into such a role at least at that stage in his career. He could fit into the role of Pasamalar as a man who did not know things happening behind his back, but he would not have fit in PMP where the negative shade is due to his own insecurity.

This is my humble opinion and I respect your views, though I have a different view to it.

Dear chinnakkannan sir,thanks for your expression.

Dear Ramachandran Sir,nice remembrance of the ninaivu naal for NT in Trichy.

Dear rsubras sir,i have seen the movie PMP many times and i could enjoy it everytime.What I understood is though both NT and Savithri(seetha)were uneducated,NT pardoned Balaji for his selfishness and Seetha pardoned NT inspite of losing her husband.Both the uneducated for magnanimous and both the educated were selfish,which i could feel in real life when our grand(mother,father) people are not selfish,but the educated generation calculates what they will get for everything what they do.
The movie also remembered by my son studying in 5th std as "SEETHAA PALAM MOVIE",since Balaji says to savithri that he likes "seetha"palam,because of the movie.

Dear Vasudevan sir,excellent photoes of Irumalargal.Sir one more request.27.10.13 Dhinakaran newaspaper supplement varamalar is having 2 pages of article about PARASAKTHI.If u can load in hub,everyone will enjoy it.Please sir.Thank you

Dear Saraswathi Madam,excellent postings of NT.
Regarding THIRISOOLAM movie,when that movie was released,i was in my 6th or 7th std.We lived in Musiri,about 40kms enroute to salem.We were to attend my cousin"s marriage in Trichy.Including my parents,self,younger sister all were NT fans(or made NT fans),my parents have included the thirisoolam movie in their schedule.So as planned,we saw the movie in Prabhaat theatre and it was the first movie for me outside MUSIRI where only touring theatres were only available.THe entrance with NTphotoes,Screen size,the roof,colour lights,the reception of fans for NT'S performance,the bright happy faces of people around and many more,are still evergreen in my mind.Few scenes which are still in my mind as STILLS are,the entry of GURU with white and white dress to VKR's house,the dialogue of NT in firstnight scene with Sripriya'after catching the apple,"GAVASKAR GULLYILAE PUDUCHA MAADHIRI",irandu kaigal naangaanaal song with Guru sitting over the shoulder of Shankar and many many.I was very happy to hear that time,the house shown in the opening scene was "ANNAI ILLAM".Though I have written this still i feel it is incomplete in words.

அமெரிக்க பயணத்தின்போது டிஸ்னி லேண்டில் - நடிகர் திலகம்

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