''Paadha Kaanikkai'' () is a 1962

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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

K. Shankar Kannan Shankar (17 March 1926 - 5 March 2006) was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well as in Hindi. Film career Shank ...

and written by M. S. Solamalai. The film stars

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

and Savitri, with

C. R. Vijayakumari C. R. Vijayakumari is an Indian actress in the Tamil film industry from 1953 to 2003. Film career Vijayakumari is known for her ability to convincingly transform herself into the characters she portrays. She is noted for her Tamil diction an ...

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

and

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

in supporting roles. It was released on 14 July 1962.

Cast

as Sekar * Savitri as Malathi *

as Chitra *

as Veerasamy Pillai * J. P. Chandrababu as Veerasamy Pillai's son *

as Ravi * S. V. Subbaiah as Sekar's father *

S. A. Ashokan S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelled Asokan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles but was also a successful character actor. Early life Ashokan was bo ...

as Manickam * M. V. Rajamma as Parvathi *

C. K. Saraswathi C. K. Saraswathi (died 1998) was an Indian actress who featured mainly in Tamil films. She was active in the field from 1945 till 1998. During the early days she featured in character roles and in comedy tracks. Later she became famous for her a ...

as Eshwari *

Karikol Raju Karikol Raju was a Tamil film veteran actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He acted in more than 500 films in a career spanning over five decades. He had started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a charact ...

as Villager *S. Rama Rao as Pardeshi *D. Balasubramaniam * Padmini Priyadarshini * K. R. Indira Devi

Production

''Paadha Kaanikkai'' was produced by G. N. Velumani, directed and edited by

, written by M. S. Solamalai.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy wo ...

, with lyrics 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 ...

Release and reception

''Paadha Kaanikkai'' was released on 14 July 1962. ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' stated on 10 August, "In Saravana Films' 'Paatha Kaanikai''... one gets to know what boredom is ... A meaning or purpose is difficult to deduce from this shoddy yarn." The reviewer noted that the characters were "poorly drawn" and criticised the direction by K. Shankar, but noted that the actors "make the best of a bad job". ''

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 ...

'' negatively reviewed the film, but praised the performances of certain actors. According to historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of the ...

, the film failed commercially, mainly due to "its predictable storyline and theatrical look."

References

External links

* {{K. Shankar 1960s Tamil-language films 1962 drama films 1962 films Films directed by K. Shankar Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films