''Or Iravu'' () is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. Neelakantan and co-written by him and C. N. Annadurai. Produced by

AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

, it is based on Annadurai's play of the same name. The film stars K. R. Ramasamy, reprising his role from the play. It was released on 11 April 1951 and received well by critics, but failed commercially.

Plot

A thief breaks into a rich man's house without knowing that the man is his father who had abandoned him and his mother long ago.

Cast

;Male cast * K. R. Ramasamy as Rathnam *

T. K. Shanmugam Thiruvananthapuram Kannuswamy Shanmugam (1912–1973; also known as "Avvai" T. K. Shanmugam) was a Tamil theatre and film artist. He acquired the prefix "Avvai" after portraying saint-poet Avvaiyar (Sangam poet), Avvaiyar in a play. Early life T ...

as Karunakarathevar * T. S. Balaiah as Jagaveeran * A. Nageswara Rao as Dr. Sekhar * T. S. Durairaj as Compounder 'Eman' *'Friend' Ramasami as Agarathi *S. Venkatraman as Rioter *N. S. Narayana Pillai as Kanaka Pillai *Duraisami as Thatha *T. S. Dakshinamurthy as Public Prosecutor ;Female cast * Lalitha as Susheela * B. S. Saroja as Swarnam * Muthulakshmi as Bhavani *Angamuthu as Maid *Sukumari (debut film) ;Dance * Lalitha- Padmini * Kumari Kamala *Lakshmikantham ;Choreographers * Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai *B. Hiralal

Production

''Or Iravu'' was a stage play written by C. N. Annadurai. It was originally written for K. R. Ramasamy's Krishnan memorial drama company by Annadurai. A. V. Meiyappan of

decided to make a film based on the play. Annadurai was paid 10,000 for writing the screenplay. Annadurai went to AVM studios and wrote the entire script and dialogues totalling 300 pages in a single night. The screenplay was later modified by the director and the producer of the film. This was the third film to be made based on Annadurai's plays after '' Velaikari'' (1949) and '' Nallathambi'' (1949). P. Neelakantan, who had begun working for AVM in the 1947 film '' Naam Iruvar'' as assistant director, made his directorial debut with this film. Per Annadurai's recommendation, Ramasamy was hired to play the hero, reprising his role from the play. The play depicted events that happen in a single night, and older incidents were depicted using flashbacks, but in the film version, flashbacks were replaced with a linear narration. The completed film was 14,980 feet in length.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by R. Sudarsanam ("Thunbam Nergaiyil Yaazhedutthu" is based on a composition by Dandapani Desikar). The song "Ayya Saami Aaoji Saami" is based on "Chico Chico from Puerto Rico" from the 1945 American film '' Doll Face''. Songs list

Release and reception

''Or Iravu'' was released on 11 April 1951. The film was a box office failure, but was received well by critics and contemporary writers of Annadurai. Meiyappan theorised that the film failed either due to the modifications made to the original script or the changes the director did to adapt it for the big screen.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{AVM Productions 1950s Indian films 1950s Tamil-language films 1951 directorial debut films 1951 films AVM Productions films Films directed by P. Neelakantan Films scored by R. Sudarsanam Films with screenplays by C. N. Annadurai Indian films based on plays Tamil-language Indian films