''Palum Pazhamum'' ( ) is a 1961 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 film directed by A. Bhimsingh. 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

B. Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films over seven decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" ( Saraswathi of ...

. It was released on 9 September 1961. The film was remade in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as ''

Beratha Jeeva ''Beratha Jeeva'' ( ) is a 1965 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by K. R. Seetharama Sastry and produced by K. R. Seetharama Sastry and Shivaram. The film stars Kalyan Kumar Kalyan Kumar (7 June 1928 – 1 August 1999) was an Indian ac ...

'', and in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as '' Saathi,'' the latter was remade in Turkish as ' (1970).

Plot

Ravi is a doctor searching for a

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

cure. Shanthi is Ravi's nurse who assists him in his research. Ravi offers to marry her after her father's death. After putting in enormous efforts, Ravi emerges successful in formulating a new drug but Shanthi is diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Ravi begins to neglect his duties as a doctor, focusing on Shanthi's health. Shanthi flees on a train as she does not wish to divert him from his research. The train crashes and Shanthi is believed to be dead. Ravi is heartbroken but vows to complete his research. Ravi's family forces him to marry Nalini, but they do not have a happy home life, as he is more oriented towards his research than his family. Nalini and Ravi fight, and in one of these fights Ravi loses his eyesight. Meanwhile, Shanthi escapes the train crash and goes to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

to cure her tuberculosis. Shanthi returns from Switzerland to find that her husband has lost his eyesight. She offers to nurse Ravi; Ravi finds her voice familiar but does not recognise her, and confides in her that he is still fond of his ex-wife. Nalini overhears this, and complains to her parents. Shanthi faces criticism from the womenfolk of the house for her intimacy with Ravi. Ravi's brother Sekar grows fond of Shanthi and tells Ravi so. Ravi suggests they marry. Shanthi is upset and reveals her identity to Ravi's family. Ravi's sight is restored by an operation. He recognises Shanti and rushes to the marriage hall to find that Shanthi's sister is married to his brother. Ravi reunites with Shanti while Nalini joins the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

and flies to Switzerland. The movie ends with Ravi and Shanthi working together to benefit mankind.

Cast

as Dr. Ravi *

as Shanthi & Neela *

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 ...

as Nalini * M. R. Radha as Mama * T. S. Balaiah as Chinnavar * S. V. Subbaiah as Periyavar *

M. S. Sundari Bai Madurai Saurashtra Sundari Bai (2 March 1923 – 12 March 2006) was an Indian actress, singer and dancer who worked mainly in Tamil cinema from the 1940s to the 1970s. Sundari Bai was the wife of writer and director Kothamangalam Subbu. Her most ...

as Gomathi * A. Karunanidhi as Sanjeevi * Manorama as Mayilvahanam * C. T. Rajakantham as Maruthayee *K. Sairam as Devangu *S. A. Kannan as Shanthi Ungel *T. Thangaraj *

V. Nagayya Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma (28 March 1904 – 30 December 1973), popularly known as Chittoor Nagayya, was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. Nagayya wa ...

as Doctor (Guest Appearance) *

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

as Sekar * K. D. Santhanam as Bai

Production

The song "Thendral Varum" which was picturised on Sowcar Janaki was removed from the film due to length issues.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy w ...

(a duo consisting of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy) with lyrics by

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

. The song "Ennai Yaarendru" is based on Sindhu Bhairavi raga, "Indha Nadagam" is based on Shubhapantuvarali, "Kadhal Siragai" is based on

Kapi Kapi, Kapı, or KAPI may refer to: Places * Kapi, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Kapı, Karataş, a village in Turkey * a possible old volcanic eruption site near Krakatoa People * Mari Kapi (1950–2009), Papua New Guinean judge * Mustaf ...

, and "Paalum Pazhamum" is based on

Natabhairavi Naṭabhairavi is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 20th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. It corresponds to the Natural minor scale (alias Aeolian mode) of western mus ...

. The song "Naan Pesa Ninaippathellam" was written by Kannadasan to showcase his friendship with Viswanathan.

Release and reception

''Palum Pazhamum'' was released on 9 September 1961, and distributed by Sivaji Films. ''

Kumudam ''Kumudam'' is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1948 by S.A.P. Annamalai, and his close friend and confidant P.V. Parthasarathy. Now the magazine is published under the Kumudam Group, which also publishes o ...

'' praised the film for Saroja Devi's performance. 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 title's lack of relevance to the story, but called the film an entertainer. The film ran for over 100 days in theatres.

In popular culture

The film's title also became the name for a collection of silk saris.

References

External links

* * {{A. Bhimsingh 1960s Indian films 1960s musical drama films 1960s romantic musical films 1960s Tamil-language films 1961 films 1961 romantic drama films Films about adultery in India Films about blind people in India Films about marriage Films about nurses Films about scientists Films about surgeons Films about tuberculosis Films directed by A. Bhimsingh Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Films set in hospitals Films set in Switzerland Indian Council of Medical Research in fiction Indian films about cancer Indian musical drama films Indian romantic drama films Indian romantic musical films Rail transport films Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films Tamil-language romantic drama films