Simla Special is a 1982 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

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Muktha Srinivasan Muktha Srinivasan (1929 – 2018) was an Indian film director and producer. Personal life V. Srinivasan was born in Malapuram on 31 October 1929 in a Tamil Brahmin family. His parents were Venkatachariar and Chellamma. He followed all Brahmi ...

, starring

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

in the lead role.

S. V. Shekher Sattanathapuram Venkataraman Shekher (born 26 December 1950) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, politician and a playwright of Tamil-language plays. In 2006, he was elected as an MLA for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AI ...

Sripriya Sripriya is an Indian actress, film director and politician from Tamil Nadu. She has acted in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages. She has also directed films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages, includi ...

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coconut-seller in t ...

Y. G. Mahendran Y G Mahendran (born 9 January 1950) is an Indian Actor, dramatist, actor, singer, playwright and comedian from the state of Tamil Nadu. He has acted in a number of plays and films. He is the son of Y. G. Parthasarathy, one of the pioneers of mo ...

, Manorama are other major stars appearing in this comedy.

Plot

Gopu is a budding drama artist. He and his good friend Babu own a popular troupe that performs low-budget comedies. To help Babu pay for his sister's wedding, they accept a commission to perform a set of plays for Tamilians in Simla. One of the plays is titled ''Simla Special'' and is written by Mahalakshmi. While Kamal is in Simla, Babu receives a telegram intended for Gopu informing him of Gopu's mom being seriously ill. Fearing the loss of the money if they renege on the Simla commission, Babu keeps the information from Gopu. Gopu subsequently finds out about his mother's illness when a friend calls to tell him that her situation has worsened. However, for the sake of his friend's sister, he decides to continue acting. He also keeps the information to himself, thinking that if Babu knew, he'd insist that Gopu go back to be by his mother's side. On the last day of their engagement, Gopu finds the telegram in Babu's coat pocket and realizes his friend's deception. He breaks off his friendship with Babu — but is forced to stay for one last encore before he leaves. While he is performing, Babu receives a call that Gopu's mom has recovered. All is forgiven and the friends reunite.

Cast

as Gopu *

as Babu *

as Mahalakshmi *

as Mahalakshmi's Father *

Vennira Aadai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

as Sabha Secretary * Manorama as Roja Devi *

Shanthi Krishna Shanthi Krishna is an Indian actress known for her leading roles in Malayalam and Tamil films. As a star in the 1980s and 1990s, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sharadammini in '' Chakoram'' (1994), ...

as Uma, Babu's sister *

as Vasu * Vanitha as Sri Sri *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nat ...

as Sundaram *

Kamala Kamesh Kamala Kamesh is an Indian actress in Tamil movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actress in late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in Tamil movies. She has acted nearly 480 movies in Tamil. She is often seen in all of Visu's movies. Biography ...

as Babu's Mother *

Pushpalatha Pushpalatha is an Indian actress, who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam language films. She has acted as heroine and character roles in more than 100 films. Her debut film was ''Sengottai Singam'', released in 1958. When P ...

as Gopu's Mother *

Sivachandran Narayanan, better known by his stage name Sivachandran, is an Indian actor, director, and writer who was active in Tamil cinema mostly in the 1980s. Career Sivachandran was originally offered to act in ''Kizhakke Pogum Rail'' (1978), but decli ...

as Thief * V. Gopalakrishnan as Rtd Judge R. Bhaskar's Father *

Kathadi Ramamurthy Sundaresan Ramamurthy (born February 2, 1938) better known as Kathadi Ramamurthy, is an Indian actor, director, writer and dubbing artiste. He is primarily known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil film, theatre and television. Early life ...

as Gurbani * Hanumanthu as Simla Tamil Sangam Wise President *

Typist Gopu Gopalarathnam, known by his stage name Typist Gopu, was an Indian actor known for comedy and supporting roles. He acted in over 600 stage plays and 400 films. Career A native of Manakkal, Lalgudi in Trichy district, Gopalarathnam was active ...

as Arthanaari * Ayya Theriyadhaiah S. Ramarao * Aisary Velan as Rikshaw Driver *

Gundu Kalyanam Gundu Kalyanam is an Indian actor and director in Tamil film industry and active and hardcore member at AIADMK party. He entered cine field in the year 1967 and his first movie was Mazhalai Pattalam in 1979. He also had his hands on direction ...

Usilai Mani Usilai Mani (உசிலை மணி) was an Indian film actor. He worked predominantly in Tamil movie industry. He has acted over 1000 films and stage plays. His popular movies include ''Enga ooru Kavalkaran'' and ''Ayul Kaithi''. His dialo ...

as prospective bridegroom's father *

Loose Mohan Arumugam Mohanasundaram (8 February 1928 – 16 September 2012), popularly known as Loose Mohan and Raja Gopalakrishnan, was an Indian actor who had acted as a comedian in over 1000 Tamil films. He is credited with popularizing Madras Bas ...

as prospective bridegroom for Uma *

Oru Viral Krishna Rao Oru Viral Krishna Rao was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani award, Rao got the nickname '' Oru Viral'' (one finger) for his first Tamil film in 1965. He acted in ...

Ganthimathi Ganthimathi (30 August 1940 – 9 September 2011) was a Tamil stage and film actress. She acted in over 500 films. Early life Kanthimathi was born in Manamadurai in the then Ramanathapuram district of India. She started acting in dramas an ...

* Vairam Krishnamoorthy * G. K. * A. Sahul Hameed * Ramji * R. Bhaskar as V. Gopalakrishnan's Son * S. Rajani * Jhansi Rani * R. Mala * G. Dhanapal

Production

Kamal Haasan, besides acting as the male lead, also choreographed one song in the film: "Unakenna Mele Ninraai".

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

, with lyrics by Vaali. The song "Unakenna Mele" was well received and is set in Sindhu Bairavi raga.

Reception

''Kalki'' gave the film a mixed review, criticising the story.

References

External links

* {{Muktha Srinivasan 1980s Tamil-language films 1982 films Films directed by Muktha Srinivasan Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films shot in Himachal Pradesh Films with screenplays by Visu Indian comedy films