''Thiruvarutchelvar'' is a 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, nativ ...

-language

Hindu mythological film This is a list of genres of literature and entertainment ( film, television, music, and video games), excluding genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of a ...

, directed and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. 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 ...

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 ...

, Savitri and Padmini. The film had musical score by K. V. Mahadevan. It was released on 28 July 1967 and ran for 100 days successfully in theatres. This film is also the on-screen debut of

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), also known as Sreevidya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, ...

as a child artiste.

Plot

Cast

as King,

Sekkizhar Sēkkilān Mādēvadigal Rāmadēva (12th century CE), known popularly by his family name as Sekkizhar, was a saint and a contemporary of Kulottunga Chola II. He compiled and wrote the ''Periya Puranam'' (Great Story or Narrative) in 4253 vers ...

, Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar, Sundaramoorthy Nayanar, Thirunavukarasar (

Appar Appar, also referred to as ( ta, திருநாவுக்கரசர்) or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Śaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Śaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is ...

) *

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

* Savitri as Arulmozhi *

R. Muthuraman Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...

as Apputhi Adigal * Padmini as the dancer who corrects and diverts the King into Spiritual world * K. R. Vijaya as Suguna Paravai Nachiyar *

as Sivashakthi Nadanam (credited as Vidhya Moorthy) *

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 fil ...

as Ponnan * Manorama as Ponnan's wife *

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

E. R. Sahadevan E. R. Sahadevan was a Tamil veteran villain actor. He acted as the villain along with M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He made his debut film Rajasekaran Emantha Sonagiri, rele ...

as Chola king * G. Sakunthala as *

Kutty Padmini Kutty Padmini is an Indian actress who mainly works in Tamil cinema. She was a child star in her debut movie ''Ambala Anjulam'' (1959). She has also acted in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. She made her debut in Tamil cinema at ...

* K. Sarangapani *

P. D. Sambandam P. D. Sambandam was a comic actor who has performed many supporting and minor roles in Tamil films. Filmography References

Male actors in Tamil cinema Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Li ...

* V. Gopalakrishnan as

Kulothunga Chola II Kulothunga Chola II was a Chola Emperor from 1133 CE to 1150 CE. He succeeded Vikrama Chola to the throne in 1135 CE. Vikrama Chola made Kulothunga his heir apparent and coregent in 1133 CE, so the inscriptions of Kulothunga II count his reign ...

(Sekkizhar Head of King) *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor) Senthamarai was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil cinema and theatre. Career Senthamarai was born on 13 April 1935 at Kancheepuram. His family included his father Thiruvenkadam, his mother Vedamm ...

Production

Srividya, who went on to become a popular actress made her debut in this film. Her name was shown as Vidhya Moorthy in the introductory credits. Sivaji Ganesan's performance as

was inspired by Kanchi Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.

Soundtrack

The soundtracks were composed by K. V. Mahadevan and lyrics were 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 ...

. The song "Nadarmudi" is based on

Punnagavarali Punnagavarali, a raga in Carnatic Music, is a derived scale from Hanumatodi, which is the 8th melakarta Raga in the 72 melakarta system. Punnagavarali raga is associated with karuna rasa and snakes (''naga'' means snake). Snake charmers play ...

raga. The song "Mannavan Vanthanadi" is based on Kalyani raga. P. Susheela who sang the song recalled that she was initially nervous to sing this song because of Sivaji Ganesan's presence at the studio. Noticing it, Ganesan walked out of the studio and Susheela recorded the song.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1960s Tamil-language films 1967 films Films directed by A. P. Nagarajan Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Hindu devotional films Hindu mythological films