''Maanavan'' () is a 1970 Indian

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-language

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by M. A. Thirumugam and produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar under Dhandayudhapani Films. The scripts were written by Balamurugan. The film starred Jaishankar and Muthuraman with

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born 12 December 1931), widely known as Sowcar Janaki, is an Indian actress known for her works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. In a career spanning over seven decades, Janaki has appeared in nearly 390 fil ...

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and

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in supporting roles.

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appears only for a dance sequence along with

Kutty Padmini Kutty Padmini is an Indian actress who mainly works in Tamil cinema. She was a child star in her debut movie ''Abalai Anjugam'' (1959). She has also acted in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. She made her debut in Tamil cinema at ...

. Hassan returns to Cinema as a teen actor after a seven-year hiatus. The film also marks the debut of many character actors and comedians like Pandu,

Kathadi Ramamurthy Sundaresan Ramamurthy (born April 30, 1938) better known as Kathadi Ramamurthy, is an Indian actor, director, writer and dubbing artiste. He is primarily known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil film, theatre and television. Early life B ...

among others.

Plot

Kathiresan is the son of Parvathi, a maid at the Panchayat president's (O.A.K.Thevar) house and her husband (S.A.Ashokan) is a cattle herder. In a fight about gambling debts, his father kills a man and runs away with the police on his tail. He is later found and sent to jail for life imprisonment. Ravi, the son of Panchayat president of Salaiyur village in Chengapattu District, is Kathiresan's classmate. Ravi bullies Kathiresan and is not good in studies, while Kathiresan excels in it. Being jealous of this, the Panchayat president wants Kathiresan to quite studies and be a cattle herder. But Parvathi is intent on Kathiresan being educated and relocates to Madras. She becomes a maid in a school and a worker in a rice mill. With great difficulty Kathiresan studies well and get admitted to a college. To help pay his fees, he works as a Cycle Rickshaw puller on the side. Ravi, who grew up to be a playboy, is enrolled in the same college as Kathiresan. Kathiresan and Shanthi, who is the college-going daughter of Judge Satyamurthy, fall in love with each other. He passes his M.A in distinction and gets a job as a lecturer in the same college while preparing for his IAS entrance exams, which Ravi dislikes. Ravi finally gets dismissed from college due to his bad behavior. In revenge, he kills a student, Mani, and frames it on Kathiresan. Ravi is ultimately found responsible for the murder and sent to the same jail as Kathiresan's father for life imprisonment. Kathiresan becomes an IAS officer and ends up coming to the same jail for inspection. Kathiresan's father is released from jail and learns that his son is now an IAS officer. Ravi's father tries to assassinate Kathiresan with a bomb at a village function but is saved by Kathiresan. They are all reunited. The comedy track is provided by Ramu (a rickshaw puller turned car driver) and his lover.

Cast

Soundtrack

Music was by

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu movies for around 50 years. They also directed one movie '' Jagathalaprathapan'' in 1990 Personal life Shankar was the younger brother of ...

. The song "Chinna Chinna Pappa" urges people not to be slow or stubborn, also not to sleep in the day or forget their service to society.

Release and reception

''Maanavan'' was released on 10 July 1970. ''

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 ...

'' called it "obviously an attempt to educate the students to be on their best behaviour". The reviewer praised the performances of the actors, saying Sowcar Janaki "stands out amongst the cast" while Muthuraman "puts in a breezy performance".

References

External links

* 1970 films 1970s coming-of-age drama films 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films Films about educators Films about the education system in India Films directed by M. A. Thirumugam Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh Films set in Chennai Films set in schools Indian black-and-white films Indian coming-of-age drama films Tamil-language Indian films {{Improve categories, date=April 2024