''Arivaali'' () is a 1963 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of P ...

film written, produced and directed by

A. T. Krishnaswamy A. T. Krishnaswamy (1905–1987) was an Indian director best known for the film ''Sabapathy''. Career Krishnaswamy joined the A. V. Meiyappan unit as an assistant during the mid-1930s and worked on all AVM projects. He made his directorial d ...

. It is based on the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

''. The film stars

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

and P. Bhanumathi. The film had musical score by S. V. Venkatraman and was released on 1 March 1963.

Plot

Aalavanthan is a graduate who works hard for the poor farmers in his village and opposes the Zamindar Azhagu Singam's rule. Aalavanthan is aided by his close friend Muthuvel, a social activist-journalist. In turn, Muthu's father Nallamuthu Naicker is an land agent who supports the Zamindar. Muthuvel loves an uneducated village belle Thangalakshmi, marries her and moves out as he does not like his father's bad deeds. There will be many occasions where her illiteracy is the highlight comedy of this movie. Thandapani Pillai is a wealthy man who wishes to get his arrogant and spoiled daughter Manorama married and is willing to give away Rs. 1 lakhs and 60 acres of land to the groom who is willing to wed her. Aalavanthan learns regarding this from his friend Tom Kumar and wishes to marry her as the dowry could be able to help the poor farmers. Tom Kumar is in love with Manorama's younger sister India. Manorama has the habit of doing the opposite action of what Aalavanthan wishes or says. Aalavanthan uses this as an advantage to marry Manorama. Tom Kumar and India are married at the same time. Aalavanthan starts his plan to tame Manorama by creating all kinds of discomforts to her. In turn, Manorama realises her mistakes, repents and becomes a good wife till to extent of becoming Aalavanthan's advisor. Aalavanthan meets with the Zamindar to discuss about the land issue, where Aalavanthan meets Mohini, who is his college mate and also Zamindar's fiancée. Upon Mohini's persuasion the Zamindar agrees, he and Aalavanthan become friends and arrange to start up a cooperative farm in their village. Upon learning this, Nallamuthu Naicker hatches a plan by making up story about Aalavanthan and Mohini's affair with the help of Thandapani Pillai's servant, Kandhasami. Manorama does not believe this, but the Zamindar does and injures Aalavanthan. The village people learn of this incident and assemble to attack the Zamindar. Muthuvel and Manorama learn the truth from Kandhasami about Nallamuthu Naicker's wicked plan and force Nallamuthu Naicker to confess and admit to the village people of his wrongdoings. The Zamindar apologises to Aalvanthan and donates his 1000 acres of the land to the villagers' aid. All goes well and Alavanthan succeeds in starting a cooperative farm in their village. Aalavanthan and Manorama become a loving husband and wife.

Cast

as Aalavanthan * P. Bhanumathi as Manorama *

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fiel ...

as Nallamuthu Nayakar * K. A. Thangavelu as Muthuvel * K. Sarangapani as Sandamarutham Dhandapani Pillai * T. R. Ramachandran as Eklove *

S. V. Ramadas S. V. Ramadas (1921-2004) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films, most often as a villain. He acted in more than 700 films in a career spanning over four decades. Film career Among popular movies, he acted in Aayirathil Or ...

as Zamindar Azhagu Singam *

M. Saroja M. Saroja was an Indian actress and comedian who worked in Tamil cinema. She was frequently paired alongside K. A. Thangavelu. Career Director K. Subramaniam introduced Saroja to the film industry, when she was 14 years old. She played the role ...

as India * T. P. Muthulakshmi as Thangalakshmi * ''Gemini'' Chandra as Mohini *

Ennatha Kannaiya Ennathe Kannaiah (1925 - 7 August 2012) was a comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. In the Ravichandran-Jayalalita starrer Naan, as he spoke his dialogues, he frequently used the word Ennathe and this became his nickname. Decades later, ...

as Kanthasamy ;Dance * Sayee Subbulakshmi

Production

''Arivaali'' is based on the

play ''

''. It was planned by A. T. Krishnaswamy in 1953 with

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

starring. Despite some progress, Ramachandran later backed out and

was cast instead. However, production was delayed for almost a decade.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman. The lyrics were written by

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema ...

and

A. Maruthakasi A. Maruthakasi (13 February 1920 – 29 November 1989) was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He penned more than 4000 lyrics in more than 250 Tamil films. Early life Born in Melakudikadu in Tiruchirappal ...

Reception

Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' criticised virtually every aspect of the film. He felt Sarangapani was underutilised, and Gemini Chandra's dialogues were hard to understand.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1960s Tamil-language films 1963 films Films based on The Taming of the Shrew Films scored by S. V. Venkatraman