''Thiruvarul'' () is a 1975 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

devotional film This is a list of genres of literature and entertainment ( film, television, music, and video games), excluding genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of a ...

starring

A. V. M. Rajan Shanmugasundaram, known by his stage name A.V.M. Rajan, (26 July 1935) is a former Indian actor in Tamil cinema who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Pudukottai, Shanmugasundaram was very eager to join cinema though he held a bachel ...

, Jaya ,

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 ...

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

and

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 ...

. The film was directed by R. Thiagarajan and produced by

Dhandayuthapani Films "'' Sandow''" Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Thevar (28 June 1915 – 8 September 1978) was a producer of Tamil films in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his films featuring animals, and has produced nu ...

. Music was by

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother ...

and lyrics were by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

Kirupanandha Variyar Thirumuruga Kirupanandha Variyar (1906–1993) was a Shaivite spiritual teacher from India. He was a Murugan devotee who helped rebuild and complete the works on many of the temples across the state. He is known for his discourses on various ...

did a cameo in the film as himself.

Plot

Kumara Devan and Ponnan are best friends. Kumara Devan is an ardent devotee of Muruga to the extent where he believes he was born to be a devotee of Muruga. Ponnan is a practical man and also a devotee. Ponnan's life was saved by Kumara Devan during an accident and they are as close and inseparable as brothers. Life goes on with Ponnan getting Kumara Devan one job after another which he keeps losing thanks to him forgetting everything when he hears or sees Muruga. Finally, he joins the job of breaking stones in temple building activity. He sees corruption there when the contractor/caretaker, shortchanges the workers. He is also ostracized when he objects to keeping the lord waiting for the caretaker to come and start the pooja on time. One thing leads to another and he is expelled from the city. He goes to kill himself on

marudhamalai Marudhamalai, also Maruthamalai or Marudamalai, is a suburb of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located along the Western Ghats, from Coimbatore. It is currently part of 17th ward of Coimbatore Corporation. It was part of Periyanaicke ...

. A peacock blocks his jump and makes him fall near a tree. The roots of the tree pour out water over his face and he wakes up to see Lord Muruga's statue. He stays there and starts worshiping him day and night singing songs. The songs are overheard by a record company owner. He offers him a job as a singer. Devan becomes a successful and famous singer and starts building the temple for his god. Thengai Sreenivasan is a contractor building the temple who cheats Devan which gets caught by Ponnan who takes over as Devan's manager. During a chance meeting, he meets Valliammai who once saved his respect by loaning him a quarter of a rupee. He offers to marry her learning that she is a die hard fan of him. Trouble starts in the form of her mother. She first blocks the temple pooja saying that her son-in-law built the temple and they have to wait for him. When Devan learns of this, he loses his temper and later, they meet Major Sundarrajan, now as a pauper. Valliammai's mother, having experienced poverty thanks to her husband being an ardent devotee who gave his all to God, tries to control Devan through her daughter. She interferes in his program booking which he does free if it is a temple by charging exorbitant amount without Devan's knowledge. She steals a couple of gold blocks Devan had bought to make armor for his god. She steals half the diamonds Devan has bought to make

vel Vel ( ta, வேல், lit=Vēl) is a divine javelin or spear associated with Murugan, the Hindu god of war. Significance According to Shaiva tradition, the goddess Parvati presented the Vel to her son Murugan, as an embodiment of her shakti, ...

for Muruga. Ponnan saves her hide by taking the blame but she eventually gets caught. When she justifies that they were ruined thanks to similar nature of her husband, Devan points out that they are leading a rich and luxurious life thanks to God's grace attained by her husband's selfless service. Things escalate when Kirupananda Variyar comes to ask for donation but is forced to return empty handed by Valliammai and her mother. They come to a point where Devan goes to hit Valliammai and she swears on Muruga that he should never touch her. He leaves her with the property saying she chose the property over him and she can have it instead of him. He also says it was his god who elevated him from someone who did not have a quarter of a rupee to someone who can do temple services for 4 lakhs. He also challenges that his god will elevate him to someone who would do service for 40 lakhs. He leaves the house. Valliammai realizes her mistake and goes to the temple. She gives off all her jewels and money to the temple and prays to the God for return of her marital bliss. The Vel that devan had donated falls over her when a peacock flies in. Devan saves her by removing her from the path without realizing it is his wife. When he does, he goes on to attempt to kill himself for having broken a promise made in the lord's name. Kirupananda Variyar interferes and makes Devan see that it was God's intention that he should rejoin with his wife and live together as the place he touched her was a temple and the reason he touched her can be attributed to peacock & Vel, both God's attributes. Right then, Gopalakrishnan comes and gives him an amount of 5 lakhs as an advance for an overseas contract worth 40 lakhs for his songs. Valliammai truly realizes the power of Devan's devotion, faith and drops the money at the lord's feet and joins Devan in his devotional work.

Cast

as Kumara Devan * Jaya as Valliammai *

Major Sundararajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

as former caretaker of temple *

as Fraudulent Contractor *

as Ponnan, Kumara Devan's dearest friend * Sukumari as Valliammai's mother * Kirupananda Variyar as himself * Sandow M.M.A Chinnappa Devar as Variyar's assistant * Udayppa Devar as

Pambatti Siddhar Pambatti siddhar was one of the 18 siddhars, a lineage of monks or sages who lived at various time periods in India, mainly southern India. Some of his poems, roughly around 600 lines of text are available today. His poems are written in Tamil and ...

* V. Gopalakrishnan as Gramaphone company owner

Songs

Soundtrack was composed by

and the lyrics were by

*1. Engum Thirinthu –

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films ...

*2. Kandhan Kaaladiyai – T. M. Soundararajan *3. Kandukondain – T. M. Soundararajan *4. Maalai Vanna Maalai –

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

*5. Malaigalil Sirantha –

Sirkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day May ...

*6. Marudha Malai – P. Susheela, T. M. Soundararajan *7. Maruthamalaikku – T. M. Soundararajan *8. Thangam Perithendru – P. Susheela *9. Ulagangal Yaavum – T. M. Soundararajan

Reception

Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exis ...

'' praised the performances of actors, cinematography and music.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, thiruvarul 1970s Tamil-language films Films directed by R. Thyagarajan (director) Hindu devotional films