''Shanti Nilayam'' ( ) is a 1969 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

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

, directed by G. S. Mani in his debut. The film stars

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred as Kaadhal Mannan (King of Romance) for his romantic roles in films. G ...

and Kanchana, with

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 ...

, Vijaya Lalitha,

Pandari Bai Pandari Bai (18 September 1928 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted ...

, K. Balaji and V. S. Raghavan in supporting roles. It is based on the English novel ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' (1847) by

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

and the American film ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). ''Shanti Nilayam'' was released on 23 May 1969, and ran for over 100 days in theatres.

Marcus Bartley Marcus Bartley (22 April 1917 14 March 1993) was an Anglo-Indian cinematographer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil films. He was the cinematographer of all time classics like '' Shav ...

won the

National Film Award for Best Cinematography The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (S ...

, and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. The film was remade in Telugu under the same title in 1972.

Plot

Malathi, after losing her parents, lives with her aunt who tortures and treats her like a servant. One day she is dumped in a waste materials facility and she falls sick. Doctor Vijayan, who comes to treat her, sympathises and admits her in a private school-cum-hostel for orphans. Malathi grows up into a young lady and becomes a teacher in the same school. Baskar, a rich estate owner, lives in Shanthi Nilayam with his older brother Sekar's children (four daughters and a son) and is finding it difficult to bring them up as they are very naughty and the hired governess runs away every time. His cousin Ramu and his mother live in the estate too. Baskar conveys his need to Dr. Vijayan who convinces Malathi to accept the governess job. Initially, the children do not accept Malathi, but her understanding and matured nature soon wins them over. Baskar appreciates her work. Strange things happen in the house: Pappamma, the servant maid laughs and walks at midnight with a candle, Balu visits Baskar regularly for money. Malathi suspects something wrong in the house. She learns that one of the children, Geetha, an innocent loves Ramu. One night Baskar's coat catches fire and Malathi douses it. She demands to know why Baskar looks like he has lost something, but he does not reply. Balu comes again and Baskar gives him money and tells him that he will not give him any more. Baskar's family friend, Parvatham arrives with her husband and daughter Sheela. Parvatham suggests the marriage of Baskar and Sheela and Malathi is upset hearing this. Malathi's aunt, with her daughters Saradha and Sumathi, arrives there after having fallen in their lives. Ramu's mother accepts them and they stay with Malathi. Sheela and her mother treat Malathi and her relatives badly. They spread rumours about Malathi, and Baskar shouts at Malathi to behave properly like an educated person. Malathi feels that even Baskar is treating her like a servant and decides to leave the house. However, Ramu stops her and states the children's needs and she stays back. Baskar understands Malathi's commitment to the family and expresses his love for her. Sheela overhears this and shouts at Malathi for snatching away Baskar. Baskar asks Sheela and her family to leave. The children are happy about Malathi and Baskar uniting. Baskar schedules their wedding for the following Friday. One day, Malathi sees Balu with bloodstains and demands an explanation from Baskar who promises to reveal everything soon. During the marriage proceeding, Balu arrives and states that Baskar has already married his sister. Baskar accepts and reveals that he indeed married Janaki, a mad woman and explains the circumstances of the marriage. Baskar's father in an altercation, hit Singaram, Balu's father, leading to his death. Balu blackmails Baskar's father to marry his sister to Bhaskar and give a part of the wealth to her. Baskar's father refuses, but Baskar, to save the family's prestige, agrees and marries Janaki, but finds her totally mad. He gives her the best medical treatment, but there is no improvement in Janaki. Pappamma cares for her. Baskar's brother Sekar was killed in a fire lit by Janaki. Ramu's mother confirms the facts and Malathi is shocked and leaves home. The children cry for her to stay and Kavitha, one of them, follows her. Kavitha falls down unconscious and Malathi stops and returns home along with Dr. Vijayan, who arrives there. Meanwhile, Balu demands Baskar to transfer the wealth belonging to Janaki to him and threatens to kill him otherwise. Baskar takes him on and beats him. At the same time, Janaki comes out of her room and puts the house on fire. Balu, Janaki and Pappamma die in the fire. Malathi, Ramu and Dr. Vijayan arrive and save everybody. Baskar and Malathi marry.

Cast

Production

Producer S. S. Vasan's son-in-law G. S. Mani sought to remake the American film ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' (1965) in Tamil and asked Chithralaya Gopu to write the screenplay for the Tamil version, then present it to Vasan as a surprise. Although Vasan liked the screenplay, he felt that the film would not cater to rural audiences, so it was rewritten to be closer to the

novel ''

'' (1847). The film was Mani's directorial debut. Cinematography was handled by

, and editing by Umanath. Gopu's recommendation of Kanchana for the lead role was agreed upon by Mani. The film was entirely shot at

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

and Mohana Kumari was in charge of the art direction. Camera techniques were used in the song "Bhoomiyil Iruppadhu" to show that a helium balloon was flying, while in reality it was not.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

. S. P. Balasubrahmanyam made his debut in Tamil cinema with this film by singing the song "Iyarkai Ennum", even though '' Adimai Penn'' (which he signed after ''Shanti Nilayam'') was released first. Balasubrahmanyam's remuneration for the song was .

Release and reception

''Shanti Nilayam'' was released on 23 May 1969. ''

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 ...

'' said the film "succeeds extraordinarily in so far as it adapts (or copies) ''The Sound of Music''. But it fails miserably in other parts". The critic lauded

's cinematography, particularly the outdoor shots, but felt the indoor shots "do not go with the story", and though the sets were well designed, "nothing more than a few sofa sets are used". They also praised the music and said Ganesan was "very stiff" in romantic scenes and Kanchana was "ravishing" despite her role not being well written. The film ran for over 100 days in theatres, and Bartley won the

, while Balasubrahmanyam won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Jane Eyre 1960s Indian films 1960s musical drama films 1960s Tamil-language films 1969 directorial debut films 1969 films Films about families Films based on Jane Eyre Films based on works by Charlotte Brontë Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films scored by R. Govardhanam Films shot in Ooty Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography National Film Award Films with screenplays by Chithralaya Gopu Indian musical drama films Indian remakes of American films Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films 1969 musical films