''Poomalai'' ( ) is 1965 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

woman's film The woman's film is a film genre that includes women-centered narratives, female protagonists and is designed to appeal to a female audience. Woman's films usually portray stereotypical women's concerns such as domestic life, family, motherhood, s ...

, directed by P. Neelakantan and written by M. Karunanidhi. The film was produced by

Murasoli Maran Murasoli Maran (17 August 1934, Thirukkuvalai – 23 November 2003) was an Indian politician and leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, which was headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament fo ...

under Karunanidhi's production company Meghala Pictures, which also distributed the film. It stars

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, film director, film producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. He often referred as Latchiya ...

, C. R. Vijayakumari and

Anjali Devi Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer in Telugu and Tamil films. She was well known for her role as the Devi Sita in '' Lava Kusa'' as well as for the title roles in movies like Chenchu ...

, with S. A. Ashokan,

Nagesh Nageshwaran Rao (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor and comedian mostly remembered for his comic roles in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in ov ...

and Manorama in supporting roles. The film focuses on the title character, a happy-go-lucky girl whose life changes for the worse when she is raped. It was released on 23 October 1965.

Plot

Poomalai is a happy-go-lucky girl living with her father and elder brother. Her life changes for the worse when she is raped.

Cast

Production

''Poomalai'' was directed by P. Neelakantan, written by M. Karunanidhi and produced by

under Meghala Pictures. Art direction was handled by B. Nagarajan, cinematography by Amirtham and editing by R. Devarajan. Karunanidhi appeared as himself onscreen, giving the film's opening monologue. Although Karunanidhi was the owner of Meghala Pictures, he was not credited as the film's producer.

Themes

Historian R. Kannan said that Karunanidhi used to ingeniously weave contemporary politics into the dialogues he wrote for films, and named a dialogue in ''Poomalai'' where the sister speaks highly of her brother and threatens to shoot anyone speaking ill of him as an example.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by R. Sudarsanam.

Release

''Poomalai'' was released on 23 October 1965, during that year's

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

day. Meghala Pictures distributed the film themselves in Madras, while other distributors did so in other districts of Tamil Nadu. According to historian Vamanan, the film landed Karunanidhi in deep debt.

Reception

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' wrote on 30 October, "An otherwise loose screenplay is propped up by the beautiful dialogues by M. Karunanidhi and fine portrayals by Rajendran (the hero), R. Vijayakumari (the heroine), veteran Anjali Devi (the widowed sister of the hero) and comedian Nagesh. Neelakantan's direction is nothing to write home about, but with the material at his disposal, he has made it into a good tear-jerker, appealing to family audiences, especially women". Writing in ''

Sport and Pastime ''Sport and Pastime'' was a weekly sports magazine published by The Hindu Group from 1947 to 1968. Founded by S. K. Gurunathan, the magazine was eventually stopped in 1968. It was replaced with ''Sportstar'' in 1978. References

1947 establi ...

'', T. M. Ramachandran lauded the performances of Rajendran, Vijayakumari and appreciated the performances of Nagesh, Anjali Devi, Manorama, Ravi, Asokan, Muthiah and Rajsri. He added that Karunanidhi's screenplay and dialogues were the film's "saving graces", but criticised Neelakantan's direction for succumbing to "trivialities and box-office considerations". ''

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 ...

'' praised the film for Vijayakumari's performance and Neelakanta's direction.

References

External links

* {{P. Neelakantan 1960s feminist films 1960s Indian films 1960s Tamil-language films 1965 drama films 1965 films Films about rape in India Films about women in India Films with screenplays by M. Karunanidhi Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films Indian feminist films Tamil-language Indian films