''Thiruvarutchelvar'' is a 1967 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 Hindu mythological film, directed and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars

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 ...

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 ...

, Savitri and Padmini. It was released on 28 July 1967, and ran for 100 days successfully in theatres.

Plot

This movie chronicles the various "

adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

" of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

where he played with his devotees, especially, the key Nayanmars of

Appar Appar (), also referred to as Tirunavukkaracar () or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Shaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Shaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is generally placed sometime betwe ...

Sundarar Sundarar (), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one of the most prominent Nayanars, ...

Thirugnanasambandhar Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர், romanized: ''Campantar''), also referred to as Thirugnana Sambandar (Tamil: திருஞானசம்பந்தர், romanized: ''Tiruñāṉacampantar''), was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tami ...

, Tiru Kurippu Thondar and

Sekkizhar Sēkkilān Mādēvadigal Rāmadēva (12th century CE), known popularly by his family name as Sekkizhar, was a saint and a contemporary of Kulottunga Chola II. He compiled and wrote the ''Periya Puranam'' (Great Story or Narrative) in 4253 vers ...

woven into a intricate narration. Taken largely from

Periya Puranam The ''Periya‌ Purāṇa‌m'' (Tamil: பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), that is, the ''great purana'' or epic, sometimes called ''Tiruttontarpuranam'' ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poet ...

, the movie is episodic and includes tales of how Sekkizhar works to compose it as he narrates the tale of how the Lord tested Tiru Kurippu Thondar, stopped the marriage of Sundarar while showing the world the power of verses of Appar and Sambandar by making them open the gates of temples, that had been locked for centuries, through their songs while also guide Appar to revive a dead child through his songs.

Cast

Production

Srividya, who went on to become a popular actress made her debut in this film. Her name was shown as Vidhya Moorthy in the introductory credits. Sivaji Ganesan's performance as

was inspired by Kanchi Paramacharya of

Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, also called the Sri Kanchi Matham or the Moolamnaya Sarvagnya Peetham, is a Hindu religious center of Vedic learning, located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is located near the Kamakshi Amman Temple of the Shaktism ...

Soundtrack

The soundtracks were composed by K. V. Mahadevan and lyrics were 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 ...

. The song "Nadarmudi" is set in Punnagavarali raga, and "Mannavan Vanthanadi" is set in Kalyani. P. Susheela who sang the song recalled that she was initially nervous to sing this song because of Ganesan's presence at the studio. Noticing it, Ganesan walked out of the studio and Susheela recorded the song.

Reception

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1960s Indian films 1960s Tamil-language films 1967 films Films directed by A. P. Nagarajan Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Hindu devotional films Hindu mythological films Tamil-language Indian films