''Naan'' () is 1967 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

-language

masala film Masala films of Indian cinema mix multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. They also tend to be ...

, directed by

T. R. Ramanna Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Ramachandran (T.R.Ramanna) (1923–1997) was an Indian film director and producer. Film career Ramanna started his life as a sound recordist in a city studio and then made his way to film direction. He started the prod ...

and written by

T. N. Balu T. N. Balu (died 1981) was an Indian writer, director and producer who worked in Tamil cinema. He was active in the second half of the 1900s, and shared a close association with the former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi. Film caree ...

. The soundtrack was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy. The film stars

Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include: * Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011) * Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971) * N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad * N. Ravichandran, ...

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

, Muthuraman and

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 fi ...

. It focuses on a

raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested ...

's failed attempt to find his lost son, and three men who claim to be the lost son, seeking rights to the raja's properties. ''Naan'' was released on 1 November 1967, and ran for over 175 days in theatres. It was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

as ''

Nenante Nene ''Nenante Nene'' () is a 1968 Indian Telugu-language masala film directed by V. Ramachandra Rao and produced by P. N. Babji. A remake of the 1967 Tamil film ''Naan'', it stars Krishna, Kanchana, Krishnam Raju and Nagabhushanam. The film foc ...

'' (1968) and in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

as '' Waris'' (1969).

Plot

's son gets lost at a young age while trying to escape his father's enemy. His father futilely searches for his son for a few years and dies. Years later, three people visit the palace claiming to be the prince and seek rights to all properties. All three unanimously have the identities of the lost son and answer all questions related to the family history. The palace management are left with no choice but to accommodate all three men unless they find the true heir. The story takes a complete turn when it is revealed that none of them are the true heir and there is a fourth person who is the real prince, whose whereabouts are unknown. The only way to reach the real prince is via these three people who know his whereabouts.

Cast

as Sekar/Chinnaraja *

as Geetha * Muthuraman as Kumar/Chinnaraja *

Vijayasri Vijayasri was an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema in the 1970s. She acted in many movies opposite Prem Nazir and have also worked in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Biography Her first appearance onscree ...

as Parimalam * Sriranjani as Kamakshi *

Manohar Manohar is a surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: ;given name * Manohar Ajgaonkar, Indian politician * Manohar Das, 17th century Indian Hindu painter * Manohar Joshi, politician * Manohar Lal Chibber, soldier * Manohar L ...

as Singaram * Ashokan as Lal *

as Sundaram * Manorama as Mohini *

Suruli Rajan Suruli Rajan was a Tamil film comedian/character artiste. He was a recipient of Tamil Nadu State Government's Best Comedian Award for the year 1981–82. Biography Suruli Rajan was born in 1938 in Periyakulam, near Theni. His father ''Ponna ...

as Sundaralingam * Ennathe Kannaiah as Uthandaraman *

Samikannu Samikannu (15 April 1923 – 3 June 2017) was an Indian actor who had acted in over 400 Tamil-language films in supporting and comedy roles. He is capable of doing whatever role is best. He is notable movie acted Character as 'Payapulla' in Mullu ...

as Velu/Vels *

Muthulakshmi Muthulakshmi is the widow of Veerappan, sandalwood smuggler who was killed by Special Task Force police in 2004. She lived in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. She was born in Neruppore village, Dharmapuri District to a farming family. Wife of Veerappan ...

as Rajamma * Baby Padmini as Ammu/Baby *

B. V. Radha Bengaluru Vijaya Radha (15 August 1948 – 10 September 2017), commonly known as B. V. Radha, was an Indian actress and film producer. She began her career in the 1964 Kannada film '' Navakoti Narayana''. She went on to play mostly supporti ...

as Sheela * Madhavi as Bora

Production

''Naan'' was colourised using

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

. While portraying his character, Nagesh wore new glasses without removing the price label tag; although Ramanna wanted it removed, Nagesh decided to keep the tag for comic effect.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy and lyrics were written by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

and Vaali. The song "Vaandhal Ennodu Ingey" is based on the title track from the American film, ''

Come September ''Come September'' is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. Plot Wealthy American businessman Robert Talbot owns a villa on the Ligurian coast, ...

'' (1961).

Release and reception

''Naan'' was released on 1 November 1967,

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

day and ran for 175 days in theatres. ''Kalki'' appreciated the film for Ramanna's direction and the innovative story.

References

External links

* {{T. R. Ramanna 1960s Tamil-language films 1967 films Films directed by T. R. Ramanna 1960s masala films Tamil films remade in other languages