''Enga Veettu Penn'' () is a 1965 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Tapi Chanakya Tapi Chanakya (1925–1973), professionally known as Chanakya, was an Indian film director and writer. He is son of the famous writer Tapi Dharma Rao Naidu. He has worked as Radio Telegraphist for the Indian Army. Filmography # Palletoori Pilla ...

and produced by

Nagi Reddi Bommireddy Nagi Reddi (2 December 1912 – 25 February 2004) was an Indian film producer and director mainly in Telugu cinema. He set up Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Chennai, which was then Asia's biggest film studio. As his elder brother (who was ...

and Chakrapani of Vijaya Combines Productions. A remake of the company's own

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 ...

film ''

Shavukaru ''Shavukaru'' () is a 1950 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by L. V. Prasad. The film was produced by Nagireddy and Chakrapani under the Vijaya Productions banner as their maiden production. It stars N. T. Rama Rao in his first lea ...

'' (1950), it features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...

that consists of

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

S. V. Subbaiah S. V. Subbaiah (1920-1980) was an Indian actor who featured mainly in Tamil-language plays and films. He featured mostly in character roles that communicated emotional feelings. Early life Subbaiah hails from Sengottai in Tirunelveli distri ...

A. V. M. Rajan Shanmugasundaram, known by his stage name A.V.M. Rajan, (26 July 1935) is a former Indian actor in Tamil cinema who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Pudukottai, Shanmugasundaram was very eager to join cinema though he held a bachel ...

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

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 ...

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 Cine ...

, V. Nagayya, O. A. K. Thevar and Nirmala, who became known as

Vijaya Nirmala Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning over s ...

after its release. The film was released on 23 October 1965.

Plot

Cast

;Male cast *

as Nagalingam *

as Ramaiya *

as Chandran *

as Narayanan *

as Thanakodi *

as Karunaimalai * V. Nagayya as the blind ascetic * O. A. K. Thevar as Rangan * Kottapuli Jayaraman as Aadiyapadham *

Usilai Mani Usilai Mani (உசிலை மணி) was an Indian film actor. He worked predominantly in Tamil movie industry. He has acted over 1000 films and stage plays. His popular movies include ''Enga ooru Kavalkaran'' and ''Ayul Kaithi''. His dialo ...

as Vellimalai *

K. K. Soundar K.K. Soundar (1925-2003) was a Tamil film actor. He has done character roles in many Tamil movies from the 1950s till the 1990s. Filmography ''This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.'' 1930s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 199 ...

as Lawyer ;Female cast * Nirmala as Lakshmi * C. Vasantha as Santha * Manorama as Raami * Madhavi as Bakkiam * N. Seethalakshmi as Anjalai

Production

''Enga Veetu Penn'' was directed by

and produced by

and Chakrapani of Vijaya Combines Productions. It was remade from the company's own

production ''

'' (1950), and co-producer Chakrapani doubled as screenwriter, making the film more modern than the Telugu original. Cinematography was handled by

Marcus Bartley Marcus Bartley (22 April 1917 14 March 1993) was an Anglo-Indian cinematographer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil films. He was the cinematographer of all time classics like ''Shavu ...

, editing by C. P. Jambulingam, and art direction by S. Krishna Rao and Kaladhar.

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history o ...

, originally part of the cast, criticised the casting of Nirmala as the female lead, feeling she looked "too frail" to play her character, and ordered the producers to replace her. Reddi cancelled shooting for the day. The next day, Nirmala was called back to the studio, and realised that Ranga Rao was replaced by

. The final length of the film was .

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan, while

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 ...

and

Alangudi Somu Alangudi Somu (12 December 1932 − 6 June 1997) was an Indian Tamil film lyricist who wrote many popular songs in several films. He was active in the field from 1960 till late 1990s. About Alangudi Somu born on 12 December 1932 in Alangudi vil ...

were the lyricists.

Release and reception

''Enga Veetu Penn'' was released on 23 October 1965,

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It i ...

day. Writing in ''

Sport and Pastime ''Sport and Pastime'' was a weekly sports magazine published by The Hindu Group from 1947 to 1968. Founded by S. K. Gurunathan S. K. Gurunathan (1 August 1908 – 5 May 1966) was a sports journalist and one of the pioneers of cricket statistic ...

'', T. M. Ramachandran called it a "damp squib", saying that "the picture attempts to sustain the interest of the viewers with its heartwarming story but the audience cannot but see a ring of familiarity around the whole theme." He applauded the performances of the cast, particularly Jaishankar and Rajan, but criticised the abundance of songs, saying that "holds up the story many a time". After the film's release, Nirmala prefixed Vijaya, the studio's name, to her screen name.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Tapi Chanakya 1960s Tamil-language films 1965 drama films 1965 films Films directed by Tapi Chanakya Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Indian drama films Tamil remakes of Telugu films