''Manamagan Thevai'' () is a 1957 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

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film produced and directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao. 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

Bhanumathi Bhānumati or Bhanumathi is an Indian name. It may refer to: * Bhanumati (Yadava princess), a Yadava princess in the scripture, Harivamsha * Bhanumati (wife of Duryodhana), wife of Duryodhana, the antagonist of the Indian epic Mahabharata * P. Bh ...

. Based on the American film ''

The Fabulous Senorita ''The Fabulous Senorita'' is a 1952 American musical film, musical comedy film directed by R. G. Springsteen and starring Estelita Rodriguez, Robert Clarke and Nestor Paiva. The film came at the tail-end of a cycle of Latin American-themed films, ...

'' (1952), it was simultaneously produced in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

as ''Varudu Kaavaali'', with

Jaggayya Kongara Jaggayya (31 December 1926 – 5 March 2004) was an Indian actor, littérateur, journalist, lyricist, dubbing artist and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He was known as ''Kanchu Kantam Ja ...

replacing Ganesan. ''Manamagan Thevai'' was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

Plot

Bhanumathi, the daughter of a wealthy man, desires to marry a shy professor named Vijayakumar instead of the wealthy suitor her father chose. To escape from trouble, she creates the fake identity of a twin sister, and in the hodgepodge that ensues, ends up in bigger trouble.

Cast

Tamil version

The uncredited cast includes T. N Sivathanu as Karadipatti Zamindar Ananda Rangam and K. D. Santhanam as Ponnambalam.

Telugu version

Production

''Manamagan Thevai'' was based on the American film ''

'' (1952). It was produced by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao and his wife

under their company

Bharani Pictures Bharani Pictures is a film production company in Chennai, India. It was established by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao and Bhanumathi Ramakrishna in 1947. They later established Bharani Studios in 1950. It is named after their son Bharani. Dr. Bharani Pal ...

. Rao also served as director, while Bhanumathi played the female lead. The film was produced as a

bilingual (the Telugu version titled as ''Varudu Kaavaali''), with

playing the male lead in Tamil, and

replacing him in Telugu.

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi; 25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu along with a few Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. She was one of the popular lead actresse ...

was cast on Bhanumathi's recommendation, and was credited as Premila.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan. A carnatic

Kriti Kriti may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kriti (music), a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music * ''Kriti'' (film), a 2016 Indian Hindi-language short film * Kriti TV, Greek TV station People with the name * Kriti Bhar ...

composed by Ghanam Krishna Iyer in the raga

Bhairavi Bhairavi () is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahāvidyas, the ten avatars of the mother goddess. She is the consort of Bhairava ( a form of Shiva). Etymology The name ''Bhairavi'' means "terrifying" or "awe-inspiring". Iconogra ...

was used in the film, sung by Bhanumathi. The song "Pambara Kannale" belongs to

Baila Baila may refer to: Music * Baila music, a Sri Lankan music genre * "Baïla", a 1996 single by the French boy band Alliage from their album ''Alliage l'album'' * " Bailá Bailá", a 2021 song by Swedish singer Alvaro Estrella * " Baila Baila B ...

, a Sri Lankan musical genre. It was later sampled in the song "En Peru Meenakumari", composed by

Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...

for ''

Kanthaswamy ''Kanthaswamy'' is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film directed and written by Susi Ganesan. The film stars Vikram as the titular character, with Prabhu, Shriya Saran, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Krishna and Vadivelu app ...

'' (2009).

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 the film for its screenplay and felt the characters were unenjoyable. Despite this, ''Manamagan Thevai'' was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 1950s Indian films 1957 multilingual films 1950s Tamil-language films 1950s Telugu-language films 1957 films 1957 romantic comedy films Films directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao Films scored by G. Ramanathan Indian multilingual films Indian remakes of American films Indian romantic comedy films Tamil-language Indian films Tamil-language romantic comedy films