''Sorgam'' () is a 1970 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 directed by T. R. Ramanna, starring

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

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki, better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya, is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than six decades in South Indian cinema. ...

Rajasree Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telugu movies opposite N. ...

, R. Muthuraman and

K. Balaji Krishnamachari Balaji (24 June 19342 May 2009) was an Indian film producer and actor. He was a prominent actor in the 1960s and 1970s, playing lead, supporting and antagonist roles. He appeared in many films featuring Sivaji Ganesan. Early l ...

. The film was released on 29 October 1970 and became a major success, running for over 100 days at the box office.

Plot

Three graduates, Kannan, Sampath and Shankar have different values and experience completely different things in life. Shankar wants to get rich with that being his only motivation while Kannan stays honest. Sampath however is a crook and has no qualms about ruining anyone to get what he wants. Shankar still has goodness in him which attracts Vimala as they get married. However, once Shankar starts to work and grow rich, she sees the goodness in him slowly erode. The other two also work with him but situations put them at loggerheads. In the end, Shankar relents to see that he has lost himself in his quest to become rich, changes his mind and helps the cops catch the culprits with help from Kannan and reformed Sampath.

Cast

Special Appearance *

Vijayalalitha Vijayalalitha or Vijaya Lalitha was an Indian actress who appeared in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known for her appearances in ''Rani Mera Naam'' (1972), ...

as (Dancer) *

Shabnam Jharna Basak (born 17 August 1946), known by her stage name Shabnam, is a Bangladeshi–Pakistani stage and film actress. Actor Waheed Murad introduced her to the Pakistani film industry by offering her a lead role in his film '' Samundar'' in ...

as (Dancer)

Themes

The film features a play based on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' where

Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

murders the title character, which Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, writing for ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'', feels is symbolic of Balaji's character betraying Ganesan's character.

Soundtrack

The 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. Popularly known by the sobriquet "Mellisai Mannar" (), he ...

. The song "Ponmagal Vandhaal" was parodied in ''

Pithamagan ''Pithamagan'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action film, action crime drama film written and directed by Bala (director), Bala. The film stars Vikram (actor), Vikram, Suriya, Laila (actress), Laila and Sangeetha Krish, San ...

'' (2003), and remixed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

in ''

Azhagiya Tamil Magan ''Azhagiya Tamil Magan'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action film directed by Bharathan (Tamil director), Bharathan, written by S. K. Jeeva and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The film stars Vijay (actor), Vijay in th ...

'' (2007). The song's title was also used for a 2020 film.

Release and reception

''Sorgam'' was released on 29 October 1970,

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. It was the first film to be released at Devi theatre, which was inaugurated on 23 May 1970. ''

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 "There are some films which try to go off the beaten track, and just when the viewer begins to say hurrah, they return to familiarity. ..You are at a loss to discover whether the director is brave or just cunning." Despite being released alongside another Ganesan film ''

Engirundho Vandhaal ''Engirundho Vandhaal'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar and produced by K. Balaji. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa, with K. Balaji, M. Bhanumathi, Nagesh, Sundarrajan and Raja in suppor ...

'', the film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{Improve categories, date=April 2024 1970 films 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films Films directed by T. R. Ramanna Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Tamil-language Indian films