''Town Bus'' is a 1955 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

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by K. Somu and produced by M. A. Venu. The film was written by

A. P. Nagarajan Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan (24 February 1928 – 5 April 1977) was an Indian film director, producer, actor and writer who set a trend in film making in Tamil cinema from 1965 to 1977. Film career Nagarajan started his own drama c ...

, and the soundtrack was composed by

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. He is best known for his contributi ...

. The film stars

N. N. Kannappa N. N. Kannappa was an Indian stage and film artiste. He worked mainly in Tamil plays and films. He had his own troupe ''Navasakthi'' that staged several plays. N. N. Kannappa featured in the following Tamil language films. # Devaki (1951) - 1s ...

and

Anjali Devi Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer in Telugu and Tamil films. She was well known for her role as the Devi Sita in '' Lava Kusa'' as well as for the titular roles in movies like Chench ...

, with V. K. Ramasamy, A. Karunanidhi,

T. K. Ramachandran T. K. Ramachandran (died October 1993), was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Tamil cinema. He was a popular villain and character actor in many movies in 50's and also acted as hero in initial years. In 1966 he produced the movi ...

M. N. Rajam ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of res ...

and

T. P. Muthulakshmi T. P. Muthulakshmi (Native name: தமிழ்: டி. பி. முத்துலட்சுமி) was an Indian actress who was active from the 1950 to 1969. She was a prominent lead comedy actress during the early 1950s in Tamil film ...

in supporting roles. The plot of the film was built around a bus transport company based in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbat ...

. The film, released on 13 November 1955, performed well at the box office.

Plot

Velu, an unemployed youth, meets a

bus conductor Bus conductors (also referred to as conductors, or clippies) were a common feature of many bus services across Europe until the late 1970s and early 1980s. The main reason two-person crews were needed was that most towns and cities used doubl ...

Amutha by circumstance, joins the transporter company as driver and gradually gets close to her. The owner's daughter falls in love with him, but her father wants her to marry Ramu, a relative who is the manager of the company. He is only after money and also a womaniser. Velu's friend Mannaru falls in love with another conductor Poongavam. The manager dismisses the two drivers, after which Velu becomes an

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...

driver. Soon he sets up his own company and experiences success in a short span of time. He marries Amutha and has a child through her. As he becomes more successful, his lifestyle changes and he falls in love with another woman, a dancer Pankajam. Amutha learns about her husband's affair with Pankajam and more complications follow. She eventually learns that Pankajam is her long-lost sister. Ramu locks up Velu in a room with the intention of killing him. The two women and the bus owner's daughter, who remains single, team up to save Velu. In the process, Ramu shoots Pankajam and is arrested. Velu, Amutha and their child unite and live happily.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Velu * V. K. Ramasamy as Ayya Kannu * A. Karunanidhi as Mannaru *

as Ramu *

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 ...

as Vaiyapuri * P. S. Venkatachalam as Thayanidhipillai * Kallapart Natarajan as Satagopan * R. Pakkirisamy as Murugan ;Female cast *

as Amutha *

as Pankajam *

as Poongavanam * K. S. Angamuthu as Meenakshi *

Tambaram Lalitha Tambaram Lalitha (also known as Thambaram Lalitha, Tambaram N. Lalitha) was an Indian stage and film actress who acted in about 100 films as heroine and in supporting roles. She died in 1983. Partial filmography # '' Town Bus'' (1955) # ''Koki ...

as Vimala * Baby Kanchana as Mani

Production

''Town Bus'' was directed by K. Somu and produced by M. A. Venu for ''M. A. V. Pictures''. The film was written by

. V. K. Gopal was the cinematographer. Shooting took place mainly in

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

, with lyrics by Ka. Mu. Sheriff. Songs such as "Chittukkuruvi Chittukuruvi" (picturised on Anjali Devi) and the dance number "Leda Lady Aruginil Vaada Aadi Paadalam" became popular.

Release and reception

''Town Bus'' was released on 13 November 1955. ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "Anjali Devi appears to game for any kind of role and she makes a truly striking figure as a bus conductress". 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 was commercially successful mainly because of the music.

References

External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1950s road comedy-drama films 1950s romantic comedy-drama films 1950s Tamil-language films 1955 films Films about buses Films about women in India Films directed by K. Somu Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Films set in 1955 Films shot in Coimbatore Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Indian black-and-white films Indian road comedy-drama films Indian romantic comedy-drama films