''Pookkari'' ( ) is a 1973 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

Krishnan–Panju R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi. Early life R. Krishnan was born on 18 ...

and produced by Anjugam Pictures. The film stars M. K. Muthu,

Manjula Manjula (Sanskrit: मंजुला) is a Hindu and Sanskrit female given name, which means, "melodious". Notable people named Manjula * Manjula (Kannada actress) (1954–1986), Indian actress * Manjula Chellur (born 1955), Indian doctor an ...

and Nirmala, with

Jayachitra Jayachitra (born 5 September 1957) is an Indian actress films who works mostly in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Early life Her father Mahea was a veterinary doctor, who had earlier worked as a lawyer. Her mother Ammaji (a.k.a. Jayasree) ...

Jayakumari Jayakumari is an Indian actress in South Indian films. She was born in 1952 and was a prominent lead actress during the 1960s and 1970s in Tamil and Malayalam films. She was noted for her glamorous roles. She has acted around 50 Malayalam movie ...

, V. K. Ramasamy, S. V. Subbaiah and

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted ...

(credited as Amarnath) in supporting roles. It was released on 25 October 1973, and failed commercially. Despite this, in 1978 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 ''Halli Haida'' directed by Amirtham, cinematographer of the original with Ambareesh reprising his role.

Plot

Valli is a flower seller and her brother Murugesan is a

real estate broker Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

. One day, Valli meets Kanthan and they fall in love. Meanwhile, there is a wealthy man with a daughter, Shyamala. He has a nephew Ravi who is a womaniser. Although Ravi has a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

, he is also after Muthu's sister, Dhanam, who he eventually rapes. Traumatised by the incident, she loses her voice. Ravi and Kanthan fight frequently, but during one such incident, Dhanam pleads with Kanthan to spare Ravi. During that incident, she also regains her voice and Ravi agrees to marry her. Upon realising this, Ravi's mistress plans to go to the wedding hall in disguise, with a hidden gun, and shoot Ravi dead. Shyamala learns of the mistress' plans and rushes to save Ravi, but Valli takes the bullet instead. Before dying, she manages to unite Shyamala and Kanthan. Ravi and Dhanam marry.

Cast

As per the opening credits:

Production

''Pookkari'' was directed by the duo

, and produced under the banner Anjugam Pictures. Panju edited the film under the pseudonym "Panjabi". It was photographed by Amritham, a relative of politician and screenwriter M. Karunanidhi. The story and dialogue were written by T. N. Balu.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. The song "Kaadhalin Pon Veedhiyil", written by

Panchu Arunachalam Panchanathan Arunachalam (22 March 1941 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in the Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a lyricist in the Tami ...

and sung by T. M. Soundararajan and

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely referred to as Janaki Amma and Nightingale of India(nightingale of South) . She is one of the greatest playback singers in the history ...

, attained popularity.

Release and reception

''Pookkari'' was released on 25 October 1973, and failed commercially. ''

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 being anti-progressive towards Tamil cinema but praised some of the cast performances.

References

External links

* 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films 1973 films Films directed by Krishnan–Panju Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films {{Improve categories, date=March 2024