''Doctor Savithri'' is a 1955 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language

legal thriller The legal thriller genre is a type of crime fiction genre that focuses on the proceedings of the Criminal investigation, investigation, with particular reference to the impacts on courtroom proceedings and the lives of characters. The genre came ...

film directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy and written by Acharya. A contemporary adaptation of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

story of

Savitri and Satyavan ''Savitri and Satyavan'', also called ''Sāvitrī-Upākhyāna'' and ''Pativrata-mahatmya Parva'', is an episode from the Indian epic '' Mahabharata'', appearing in the ''Vana Parva'' (The Book of the Forest). It tells the story of Princess Savitr ...

, 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 title roles in movies like Chenchu ...

, S. Balachander,

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Tamil cinema, renowned for his portrayals of villainous characters. With a career spanning over eight decades, he became a notable fig ...

and B. R. Panthulu. It revolves around the title character's (Anjali Devi) efforts to clear the name of her wrongfully convicted husband (Panthulu). The film was released on 25 November 1955 and became a success.

Plot

Savithri is a doctor who treats the poor for free. When she discovers that Vanaja, a young wealthy woman in their community is being harassed by Nagalingam, a crooked lawyer, she and her husband Somasundaram endeavour to help Vanaja. Later, Nagalingam is murdered by an unknown assailant and Somasundaram is wrongfully convicted of the crime. Savithri investigates the murder and identifies the true killer as Jagath Singh, a doctor who had been blackmailed by Nagalingam.

Cast

;Female cast *

as Doctor Savithri * T. A. Mathuram as Aandal * M. N. Rajam as Vanaja * Chellam as the lawyer's wife * (Baby) Kanchana as Vimala ;Male cast * S. Balachander Doctor Jagath Singh *

as Krishnamoorthi * B. R. Panthulu as Somasundaram * D. Balasubramaniam as Lawyer Nagalingam *

Serukalathur Sama Swaminathan Vaidyanathan (26 June 1904—11 January 1963), known by his stage name Serukulathur Sama, was an Indian stage and film actor who was primarily known for playing the role of the Hindu god Krishna in Tamil language Hindu mythological ...

as Sambandam Pillai * N. S. Krishnan as Muniyan * S. D. R. Chandran as Judge * G. V. Sharma as Public Prosecutor * Ramaraj as Defense Lawyer * Ashokan as Commissioner * C. P. Kittan as Monkey Performer * Sethuraman as Paranoid and Greedy Person * Sobharaj as Inspector *

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

as Guest artist ;Dance * Sayee, Subbulakshmi

Production

In 1941, a Tamil language film based on the

story of

, titled '' Savithri'' was released. More than a decade later, T. G. Raghavachari (Acharya) sought to create a new adaptation of the story but with a modern setting. Titled ''Doctor Savithri'', the film's story and screenplay was written by Acharya and it was directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy and produced by M. Radhakrishnan under the banner Aruna Films. Krishnaswamy also served as the cinematographer, while Raghavan was the art director, and R. M. Venugopal was the editor. Acharya wrote the dialogues, along with A. K. Velan and Elangovan. Roy Chowdary, Muthuswamy Pillai (Sayee Subbulakshmi) and Gopalakrishnan were in charge of the choreography. The film was processed at

AVM Studios AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

Soundtrack

Music was composed by G. Ramanathan.

Release and reception

''Doctor Savithri'' was released on 25 November 1955, delayed from

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

. On the same day ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' wrote, "The atmosphere of mystery and suspense is well maintained to the last though the all-too-brief finale is a bit all-too-tame". The film emerged a commercial success; this assisted in establishing Aruna Films as a leading production company in the 1950s Tamil film industry.

References

External links

* {{Savitri and Satyavan 1950s Indian films 1950s legal thriller films 1950s Tamil-language films 1955 films Films about miscarriage of justice Films about Savitri and Satyavan Films set in 1955 Indian black-and-white films Indian legal thriller films Tamil-language Indian films