''Parakkum Pavai'' (; ) is a 1966 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

, directed by T. R. Ramanna, starring

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

, B. Saroja Devi and Kanchana.The film was released on 11 November 1966 and averagely grossed, having run in theatres for 80 days.

Plot

Jeeva, the son of a businessman, promises a dying man Vedhachalam, that he will take care of his daughter Kala. To do so, he obtains employment as a

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

artist in the National Circus.

Cast

as Jeeva * B. Saroja Devi as Kala *

J. P. Chandrababu Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, director, singer and dancer, whose Chaplinesque-style on-screen movements and singing style made him popular from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. He had ...

as Rubber * R. S. Manohar as Kabali *

K. A. Thangavelu Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu (15 January 1917 – 28 September 1994) popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporarie ...

as The director of The National Circus *

S. V. Ramadas S. V. Ramadas (1921-2004) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films, most often as a villain. He acted in more than 700 films in a career spanning over four decades. Film career Among popular movies, he acted in Aayirathil Or ...

as Veeramuthu * V. Nagayya as Vedhachalam * O. A. K. Thevar as Balasubramaniyam * M. N. Nambiar as Rangasamy *

S. A. Ashokan S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelled Asokan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles but was also a successful character actor. Early life Ashokan was b ...

as Vijayan * N. S. Natarajan as Dhandapani * Sadan as the leader of the group of the men in "Nilavenna Aadi" *

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

as Sarasu * Kanchana as Shantha * G. Sakunthala as Kannamma * S. D. Subbulakshmi as Amaniyamma * Manorama as Dilruba * Madhavi as Rita

Production

''Parakkum Paavai'' was produced and directed by T. R. Ramanna under R. R. Pictures, and written by

Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy (1913-1987) was a veteran Tamil drama author, celebrated screenwriter and lyricist in Tamil films from the 1950s through the 1970s. He mostly wrote stories, screenplay and dialogue for films starring M. G. Ramachandran a ...

. Cinematography was handled by M. A. Rehman. The film was prominently shot in an actual circus location.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

, with lyrics by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

Release and reception

''Parakkum Pavai'' was released on 11 November 1966. ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...

'' wrote, "Spectacular thrills, spills, breathtaking serial feats and a dazzling display of acrobatics highlight R. R. Pictures ''Parakkum Pavai'' ..a social drama set against an exciting panorama of circus life." ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exis ...

'' also lauded the film for the circus scenes. Despite this, according to historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper '' The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of ...

, the film was not a major success as it ran for only 80 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{T. R. Ramanna 1960s Tamil-language films 1966 drama films 1966 films Circus films Films directed by T. R. Ramanna Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Indian drama films