''Adutha Veettu Penn'' () is a 1960 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, nati ...

-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

Vedantam Raghavayya Vedantam Raghavayya ( te, వేదాంతం రాఘవయ్య) (8 June 1919 – 1971) was an Indian film director, dance choreographer, Kuchipudi exponent, actor, producer, and musician known for his works in Telugu cinema, Telugu theat ...

and written by

Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass (1914-1965) was an Indian poet and script writer who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He wrote more than 500 lyrics for Tamil films. Early life Born to Narayanasamy and Pappu at Manampoochavadi in Thanjavur district, h ...

. The film stars

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 Chen ...

(who co-produced the film with her husband, composer

P. Adinarayana Rao Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao (21 August 1915 – 19 August 1991) was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil. Late ...

T. R. Ramachandran Thirukampuliyur Ranga Ramachandran (9 January 1917 – 30 November 1990) was an Indian actor and comedian who acted mainly in Tamil films. He was cast mostly in lead or supportive roles, especially in comical parts, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kn ...

and

K. A. Thangavelu Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu (15 January 1917 – 28 September 1994) popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporarie ...

. It is a remake of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

film ''

Pasher Bari ''Pasher Bari'' () is a 1952 Indian Bengali-language romantic comedy film directed by Sudhir Mukherjee based on the short story of the same name by Arun Chowdhury. This film was released on 7 March 1952 under the banner of Production Syndicate. Th ...

'' (1952), itself based on the namesake short story by Arun Chowdhury. In ''Adutha Veettu Penn'', a simple man wants to impress a woman he loves by singing, but since he cannot, his friend, a singer, sings in secret while the simple man merely

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

s, and wins the woman's love. The film was released on 11 February 1960, and became a success.

Plot

Mannaru, a simple man, falls in love with his wealthy neighbour Leela, who sings and dances well. He wants to impress her by singing, but he cannot sing. So he seeks the help of his friend, a singer who agrees. While the friend sings in secret, Mannaru merely

s. Leela is charmed by what she thinks is Mannaru singing and falls in love with him. Soon the truth comes out, and the rest of the film deals with how the tangle between the lovers is solved.

Cast

Adapted from the film's songbook and opening credits: ;Male cast *

as Mannaru *

as the singer *

K. Sarangapani Kumbakonam Sarangapani (1904-1984) was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. Though primarily a comedian, he occasionally played roles of hero and villain. Family Sarangapani was born in 1904 in Kumbakonam, Tanjore district. His ...

as Mannaru's uncle *

M. R. Santhanam Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...

* Pakkirisami * L. Narayana Rao as Saroja's father *

A. Karunanidhi A. Karunanidhi ( Tamil : கருணாநிதி) was an Indian actor and comedian who featured mainly in Tamil-language films. He was active in the field from 1948 till 1978. Though he was a comedian, the roles he played in some of the film ...

as friend *

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) L ...

as the marriage broker * Friend Ramsami as friend * S. Venkataraman as friend * K. Ramu, K. Chetty, P. Ramachandra Rao ;Female cast *

as Leela * C. T. Rajakantham as Leela's mother * M. Saroja as Leela's friend * Balakumari * T. P. Muthulakshmi as Saroja * Madhuri, Ranjitham, Radharani, Rita

Production

''Adutha Veettu Penn'' is a remake of the

film ''

'' (1952), itself based on the namesake short story by Arun Chowdhury. The film was produced by

(who also starred as the female lead) and her husband

, who also composed the music. Anjali Devi reprised her role from ''Pasher Bari''s

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 S ...

adaptation ''

Pakka Inti Ammayi ''Pakka Inti Ammayi'' is a 1953 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by C. Pullayya. The film featured Anjali Devi as the beautiful neighbour girl. Famous comedian Relangi acted as her lover Subbarayudu and veteran South Indian ...

'' (1953). The film's animated opening credits were created by Dayabhai Patel. The screenplay was written by

, cinematography was handled by C. Nageswara Rao, and the editing by N. S. Prakasam. While primarily in black and white, the film was partly coloured using

Gevacolor Gevacolor is a color motion picture process. It was introduced in 1947 by Gevaert in Belgium, and an affiliate of Agfacolor. The process and company flourished in the 1950s as it was suitable for on location shooting. Both the companies merged in ...

. Its final length was .

Influences

Although the opening credits of ''Adutha Veettu Penn'' acknowledge the source film ''Pasher Bari'', Saritha Rao Rayachoti (writing for

Scroll.in ''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...

) opines that it has some similarities with

Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with t ...

's play ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th c ...

'', in which the male lead Cyrano loves his cousin Roxane but feels he is not worthy of her due to his large nose; so he romances her by proxy, i.e. he writes her love letters which another man, Christian de Neuvillette, claims to be the writer of, at Cyrano's request. According to Rayachoti, the film eschewed the play's

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

elements in favour of

overtones.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was composed by P. Adinarayana Rao, with lyrics were by

. The song "Vanitha Maniye" is set in the

Hamsadhvani Hamsadhvani (meaning "the cry of the swan"), is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of Carnatic tradition of Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāga of the ...

raga, while "Kannale Pesi Pesi Kolladhe" is set in

Keeravani Keeravani (pronounced ) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 21st '' Melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. The 21st '' melakarta'' rāgam as per Muthuswam ...

, and "Kangalum Kavi Paaduthe" is set in

Hindolam Hindōḷaṃ is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a '' janya'' rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the se ...

. The album was a major breakthrough for

P. B. Sreenivas Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. Sreenivas was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Boll ...

, who sang five of the film's songs. According to '' The Hindu''s B. Kolappan, the film "proved beyond doubt that Sreenivas was going to secure an established place in Tamil film music."

Release and reception

''Adutha Veettu Penn'' was released on 11 February 1960. A review from the magazine ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 ...

'', dated 27 March 1960, called the film a must-watch for the comedy and dance sequences which were in colour. 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 exis ...

'' said no one could have done the role of Mannaru better than Ramachandran. 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 ...

, it was a major commercial success primarily because of its full-length situational comedy, then a rarity in Indian cinema and more so in Tamil.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Vedantam Raghavayya 1960 films 1960 romantic comedy films 1960s Tamil-language films Films about fraud Films based on adaptations Films directed by Vedantam Raghavayya Films scored by P. Adinarayana Rao Indian romantic comedy films Tamil remakes of Bengali films