''Sorgam'' () is a 1970 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 starring
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 ...
,
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 five decades in South Indian cine ...
,
Rajasree
Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), 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 Telug ...
,
R. Muthuraman
Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...
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 70s, playing lead, supporting and antagonist roles. He appeared in many Sivaji Ganesan films.
Early life
Balaji was ...
. The film was directed by
T. R. Ramanna
Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Ramachandran (T.R.Ramanna) (1923–1997) was an Indian film director and producer.
Film career
Ramanna started his life as a sound recordist in a city studio and then made his way to film direction. He started the prod ...
. It was released on 29 October 1970 and became a major success, running for over 100 days at the box office.
Plot
Three graduates have different values and experience completely different things in life.
Cast
*
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 ...
as Shankar
*
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 five decades in South Indian cine ...
as Vimala
*
Rajasree
Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), 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 Telug ...
as Anjana
*
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 70s, playing lead, supporting and antagonist roles. He appeared in many Sivaji Ganesan films.
Early life
Balaji was ...
as Sampath
*
R. Muthuraman
Muthuraman Radhakrishnan (4 July 1929 – 16 October 1981) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as ''Navarasa Thilagam''. He had paired w ...
as Kannan
*
R. S. Manohar
Rasipuram Subramaniyan Iyer Manohar was an Indian actor who performed roles ranging from hero to villain to comedic characters. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He acted in over 200 films. He is known for his versatility and dominating personal ...
as Dharmalingam/Arun
*
M. R. R. Vasu
Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Vasudevan was an Indian actor who was active in Tamil cinema and theatre during the latter half of the 20th century. He was known for playing negative roles, but he was also a successful character actor. He acted ...
as Mathrubootham/Bond/Ippi/Thevaram
*
Nagesh
Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 Cine ...
as Gajendran/Gajini
*
Sachu
Saraswathi Sundaresan Iyer, professionally known as Kumari Sachu (born 7 January 1948) is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 films in five different languages and a few television serials. She is a character actress/comedienne who ...
as Savithri/Jothi/Puppy
*
Kanakadurga
Kanakadurga is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She hails from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. She debuted in the Malayalam movie ''Nellu'' as Kurumatti. She has acted in a few Tamil, Kannada and Telugu movies as we ...
as Lakshmi
*
V. Nagayya
V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...
as Judge
*
O. A. K. Thevar as Advocate
*
Senthamarai as Police Inspector
*
Ennatha Kannaiya
Ennathe Kannaiah (1925 - 7 August 2012) was a comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. In the Ravichandran-Jayalalita starrer Naan, as he spoke his dialogues, he frequently used the word Ennathe and this became his nickname. Decades later, ...
as Harikrishnan
*
M. Bhanumathi
M. Bhanumathi (1946 – 4 February 2013) was an Indian actress, who was active in Tamil cinema during the latter 20th Century. She was well known playing negative and supporting roles. She acted in more than 100 films in Tamil, Malayalam and K ...
as Manju
*Veeraraghavan as Headmaster
*
Kallapetti Singaram
Kallapetti Singaram was an Indian actor who acted in over 100 Tamil films from the 1966 to 1990. He primarily played comedic characters, mostly in minor roles in films directed by K. Bhagyaraj. His most notable movies include ''Suvarilladha Chitht ...
as Snake Charmer
*
Karikol Raju
Karikol Raju was a Tamil film veteran actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He acted in more than 500 films in a career spanning over five decades. He had started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a characte ...
as Bayilvan
*
Karuppu Subbiah
Karuppu Subbiah was an Indian actor who had acted over 300 Tamil language films in comedy roles and minor roles. He also has another name 'Mottai' Subbiah. He is notable for his comedian roles along with actor Goundamani. And also he acted alon ...
as Taxi Owner
*I.S.R as Adiyapatham (office Stafe)
*Gemini Mali as Gopi (office Stafe)
*
Samikannu
Samikannu (15 April 1923 – 3 June 2017) was an Indian actor who had acted in over 400 Tamil-language films in supporting and comedy roles. He is capable of doing whatever role is best. He is notable movie acted Character as 'Payapulla' in Mull ...
as Ayyakannu (Office Stafe)
*
Sadan as Shankar Car Driver
*S. A. Kannan as Drama Stage Actor
*Periyar Rajavel as Drama stage Actor
*Comedy Shanmugam as (Office clerk)
*Master Ramu as Muthu (Shankar Son)
Special Appearance
*
Vijayalalitha
Vijayalalitha or Vijaya Lalitha was an Indian actress who appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known for her appearances in ''Rani Mera Naam'' (1972), ''Baazigar'' (1972) and '' Saaks ...
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 ( 26 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 natio ...
's ''
Julius Caesar'' where
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, 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 Ser ...
murders
the title character, which Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, writing for ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, 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, t ...
'', 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. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...
. The song "Ponmagal Vandhaal" was parodied in ''
Pithamagan
''Pithamagan'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Bala. The film stars Vikram, Suriya, Laila and Sangeetha. Based on Jayakanthan's short story ''Nandhavanathil Oru Aandi'', it revolves around a man wh ...
'' (2003), and remixed by
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in in ...
in ''
Azhagiya Tamil Magan
''Azhagiya Tamil Magan'' ( Adorable Tamil son) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film written and directed by Bharathan, written by S. K. Jeeva and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The film stars actor Vijay in a ...
'' (2007).
Release and reception
''Sorgam'' was released on 29 October 1970,
Diwali
Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It i ...
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. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...
'' 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'', the film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.
References
External links
*
{{T. R. Ramanna
1970 films
1970s Tamil-language films
Films directed by T. R. Ramanna
Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan