''Rangoon Radha'' is a 1956 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 film directed by A. Kasilingam. The film stars

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...

and

P. Bhanumathi P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

. Based on the 1944 American film ''

Gaslight Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

'', It is about a man trying to steal his wife's fortune. The film was released on 1 November 1956.

Plot

Kottaiyur Dharmalinga Mudaliyar is a cunning man who appears noble to the outside world. Rangam is his virtuous and long-suffering wife. Dharmalinga Mudaliyaar also has an eye on his sister-in-law Thangam. In order to marry Thangam and get control of the abundant wealth of the sisters, Dharamlingam ensures that everyone believes that Rangam is possessed by some evil spirit and is slowly becoming insane.

Cast

as Dharmalingam Mudaliar *

as Rangam *

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

as Nagasundaram *

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 Radha *

M. N. Rajam ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respec ...

as Thangam * N. S. Krishnan as Naidu Vaidhiyar * T. A. Mathuram *

Rajagopal Rajagopal or Raja Gopal is a common name in India. Notable persons with that name include: *Chandran Rajagopal (1974–2001), Indian foreign worker and murderer executed in Singapore * Rajagopal (professor and researcher), Indian business and mar ...

as Naidu's assistant ;Support cast *Nambirajan *Dhakshinamoorthy *Damodharan *P. S. Gnanam *Mohana *Lakshmi Ammal

Production

The screenplay of ''Rangoon Radha'' was written by

M. Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Ar ...

from a story by

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the f ...

. The main plot was inspired by the 1944 American film ''

''.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

T. R. Pappa Thiruthuraipoondi Radhakrishnan Sivasankaran (T. R. Pappa) (3 July 1922 – 15 October 2004) was an Indian music director of Tamil, Telugu and Sinhalese films. He was born in 1923 at Thiruthuraipoondi, Madras Presidency, British India. Early ...

. Lyrics were by Mahakavi Bharathiyar,

Bharathidasan Bharathidasan Birth name: K. Subburathinam, the person's given name: Subburathinam, father's given name: Kanagasabai. (K. Subburathinam by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subburathinam Kanag ...

Udumalai Narayana Kavi [https://idhatri.com/udumalai-narayana-kavi/ Udumalai Narayana KavUdumalai Narayana Kavi Udumalai Narayana Kavi (25 September 1899 – 23 May 1981) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his work in Tamil films. Early life Udumalai Narayana w ...

, M. K. Athmanathan, N. S. Krishnan and Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram. Kalyanasundaram was paid 1000 per song.

Release and reception

''Rangoon Radha'' was released on 1 November 1956. 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 ...

noted, "In spite of the formidable writing credits, excellent cast and outstanding performances, ''Rangoon Radha'' did not do well as one had expected. Perhaps the negative role of Sivaji Ganesan had contributed to its not-so-warm welcome".

was besotted by the histrionics that Bhanumathi displayed in the film, and conferred upon her the title ''Nadippukku Ilakkanam'' (grammar for acting).

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0326046 1950s Tamil-language films 1956 films Films scored by T. R. Pappa Films with screenplays by M. Karunanidhi Indian remakes of American films Indian black-and-white films