''Manam Pola Mangalyam'' () is a 1953 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by P. Pullaiah. The film stars

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred as Kaadhal Mannan (King of Romance) for his romantic roles in films. G ...

(then R. Ganesh) and

Savitri Savitri or Savithri may refer to: In Hinduism * Savitri, with all vowels short, a Roman-phonetic spelling of the Rigvedic solar deity Savitr *Sāvitrī, a name of the ''Gayatri Mantra'' dedicated to Savitṛ *Savitri (goddess), the consort of Br ...

in the lead roles. It was released on 5 November 1953. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Plot

The film is a comedy of mistaken identity of two look-alikes, one of whom is an inmate of a lunatic asylum who escapes. By a twist of fate, Gemini Ganesan and Savithri fell in love. Besides the situation comedy that is full of twists and turns, Sarangapani, who played an elderly man wanting to marry the heroine, topping it creates some problem and prevents them from getting married. Meanwhile the other Gemini Ganesan who is mistakenly locked in the asylum falls in love with the nurse played by Surabhi Balasaraswathi. After Sarangapani discovers him, he uses it to his advantage to fool Savitri into thinking that Gemini Ganesan is not loyal to her and us only after her for her money. In the end, Gemini Ganesan foils Sarangapani's plans and the movie ends with the four if them getting married

Cast

Credits adapted from ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'': ;Male cast * R. Ganesh * K. Sarangapani * Friend Ramasami * T. N. Sivathanu * T. N. Meenakshi * K. Natarajan * C. Rajarathnam * S. Peer Mohammed * T. K. Kalyanam * G. V. Sharma * V. P. Balaraman * Gundu Mani * Loose Arumugam * Kottapuli Jayaraman ;Female cast *Savitri as Kalyani * Surabhi Balasaraswathi * M. R. Santhanalakshmi

Production

''Manam Pola Mangalyam'' was directed by P. Pullaiah and produced by Narayanan and Company. The storyline was written by Telugu screenwriter Vempati Sadhasivabramham, the Tamil script by Umachandran and K. V. Srinivasan. All three men received credit onscreen for the story and screenplay. Gemini Ganesan (then known as R. Ganesh) was cast as the male lead. He appeared in a dual role, one of his characters being an asylum escapee. The final length of the film was .

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Addepalli Rama Rao, with lyrics by Kanaka Surabhi. One of the soundtrack's hit numbers was "Maappillai Doi", performed by

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah (1929–1989), was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Ramapuram village, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father die ...

and P. Leela.

Reception

The film became a major commercial success, and a breakthrough in the careers of both Savitri and Ganesan. The duo would subsequently act in many films together which became successful. Film historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (; 8 November 1937 – 23 April 2023), better known by his pen name Randor Guy (), was an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He was also the of ...

praised the fact that Ganesan "did not indulge in fisticuffs every fifth scene, nor did he deliver jaw-breaking, alliterative and seemingly endless passages of dialogue." He said the film would be "Remembered for the excellent performances of the new hero in a double role, Gemini Ganesh, Savithri and Sarangapani and the melodious tunes of Rama Rao which are still fondly remembered by old-timers."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title 1950s Indian films 1950s lost films 1950s Tamil-language films 1953 comedy films Films about lookalikes Films directed by P. Pullayya Films scored by A. M. Rajah Films scored by Addepalli Rama Rao Indian comedy films Lost comedy films Lost Indian films Tamil-language comedy films Tamil-language Indian films