''Samanthipoo'' () is a 1980 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 written and directed by K. S. Mathangan, starring

Sivakumar Palaniswamy Gounder (born 27 October 1941), better known by his stage name Sivakumar, is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has appeared in Tamil cinema and television. He made his acting debut in '' Kaakum Karangal'' (1965) and has ...

and

Shoba Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her ro ...

. The film was released on 11 July 1980.

Plot

Cast

as Chidambaram *

as Sakthi *

Suruli Rajan Suruli Rajan (January 14, 1938 - December 5, 1980) was as an Indian actor and comedian who worked primarily in Tamil cinema. Posthumously, he was awarded with the Best Comedian Award by the state Government of Tamil Nadu in 1981. Early and ...

*Kumari Raji as Chidambaram's niece *

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), known professionally as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, film producer, film director and a media personality who appears predominantly in Tamil films. He also appears in works in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam ...

as Sakthi's elder brother * A. R. Srinivasan *

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

as Prakash

Production

The film was eighty percent complete when lead actress

died by suicide. While the film's producer Rathnam was worried that his money was in vain, the film's editor, A. Mohan, helped to ensure the film was completed. A woman who looked like Shoba was used and long shots showed her only from the backside. Although the story was originally written with her character marrying her lover, played by

, the story was changed to make her consume poison due to her unfulfilled love. Footage of Shoba's real funeral was shown in the film as her character's funeral.

, early in his career, appeared in a small role and had to provide the costumes for the role himself.

, also early in his career, appeared in a small role as Viji's bridegroom for two scenes. The song sequences of Sivakumar and Shoba were picturised at a garden of a bungalow belonging to the manager of a tea estate at

Coonoor Coonoor (), is a taluk and a municipal town of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 45,494. The town sits at the south-east corner of the Nilgiri plateau, and at the head of the Coonoo ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan (15 June 1944 – 20 February 2011), popularly known as Malaysia Vasudevan, was a prolific Tamil playback singer and actor. Born in the town of Kuala Selangor in the Federated Malay States (present day Malaysia), he moved to Che ...

. It is his first film as composer.

Release and reception

The film was released two months after Shoba's demise and also released a week later after another Shoba starrer '' Ponnagaram''. 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 ...

'' appreciated Suruli Rajan's comedy, Selvaraj's cinematography and Vasudevan's music.

References

External links

* 1980 films 1980s Indian films 1980s Tamil-language films Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in Tamil Nadu Tamil-language Indian films {{Improve categories, date=March 2025