''Macha Rekai'' is a 1950 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 film directed by P. Pullaiah and produced by T. R. Mahalingam. It is based on Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass' play of the same name. The film stars Mahalingam,

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

Santha Kumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

, B. R. Panthulu,

Kumari Kamala Kumari Kamala (born 16 June 1934) is an Indian dancer and actress (also known as Kamala Lakshman). Initially featured as a child dancer, Kamala appeared in almost 100 Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films throughout her career. In the 1970s, sh ...

and C. T. Rajakantham. It is also the feature film debut of

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 ...

, who portrays the younger version of Mahalingam's character.

Plot

Cast

* T. R. Mahalingam as Macharaju **

as young Macharaju *

* B. R. Panthulu *

* C. T. Rajakantham

Production

''Macha Rekai'' was a play written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. Upon seeing the play, actor T. R. Mahalingam decided to produce and star in its film adaptation. The adaptation, also titled ''Macha Rekai'', was directed by P. Pullaiah and produced by Mahalingam under the banner Sukumar Productions. Mahalingam portrayed the male lead Macharaju, and Nirmala (who later became known as

) portrayed the character's younger self, thereby making her acting debut. The original lead female was

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 left after filming a few scenes, and was replaced by

. The film's story and dialogues were written by Ramaiah Dass. Cinematography was handled by Jithan Banerjee and G. Vittal Rao, and editing by T. M. Lal.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by C. R. Subburaman, while Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass was lyricist. Singers are T. R. Mahalingam &

Playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

P. Leela Porayathu Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, ...

A. G. Rathnamala A. G. Rathnamala ( ta, ஏ. ஜி. ரத்தினமாலா) (1931 – 3 July 2007) was an Indian stage drama artist and playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Career life ...

and

A. P. Komala Arkadu Parthasarathy Komala (born 28 August 1934), commonly known as A. P. Komala, is an Indian playback singer. She has sung songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages. Career life She was a much sought after playback singer from t ...

Release

''Macha Rekai'' was released on 11 August 1950. The film was distributed by Kumaravel Pictures in North Arcot, South Arcot, Chengelpet and Chittoor; and Dhanalakshmi Films in Salem. It was a moderate success.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0256164 Films directed by P. Pullayya Films scored by C. R. Subbaraman Indian films based on plays