''Arivaali'' () is a 1963 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

film written, produced and directed by A. T. Krishnaswamy. It is based on his play ''Penn Paduthum Paadu'', in turn based on the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 drunke ...

''. The film stars

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

and P. Bhanumathi. It 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 a 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 as Nallamuthu Nayakar * K. A. Thangavelu as Muthuvel * K. Sarangapani as Sandamarutham Dhandapani Pillai * T. R. Ramachandran as Eklove * S. V. Ramadas as Zamindar Azhagu Singam * M. Saroja 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 ...

as Kanthasamy ;Dance *

Sayee–Subbulakshmi Sayee and Subbulakshmi, popularly known as Sayee–Subbulakshmi, were two Indian female Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet ...

Production

''Arivaali'' is based on the play ''Penn Paduthum Paadu'' which itself based on the

play ''

''. A. T Krishnasamy who wrote and directed the play also directed the film adaptation. It was planned by Krishnaswamy in 1953 with

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

as lead actor. 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 a ...

and A. Maruthakasi.

Reception

Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' criticised virtually every aspect of the film. He felt Sarangapani was underutilised, and Gemini Chandra's dialogues were hard to understand. '' Kumudham'' wrote Bhanumathi's outspoken demonstration and Ganesan's contained self-confidence are a good match for Banumathi's excitement born of hatred and Shivaji's intrigue born of love. A single 'Arivali' can compensate for the damage done to art by three action films.

References

External links

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