''Thozhilali'' () is a 1964 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 M. A. Thirumugam and produced by

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

who also wrote the story. Inspired by Thevar's early life as a milk supplier before he became a wealthy film producer, it stars

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

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. ...

and newcomer Rathna. The film was released on 25 September 1964 and became a box-office success.

Plot

Raju, a relentless worker, is the only son of a widow of peasant origin, which in spite of the economic difficulties, makes a success, in parallel, of brilliant of high studies. We see him climbing, not without happiness and problems, the social scale, via diverse jobs, arousing in the passage, the jealousy of his rich neighbours. But his effort will be rewarded in the measure for hard sound labour, in the person of beautiful and intelligent Vijaya. Raju joins a bus company and earns the respect of boss Murugappan. Murugappan's daughter Meena falls for Raju but he refuses to marry her and is thrown out of the company.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Raju *

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Tamil cinema, renowned for his portrayals of villainous characters. With a career spanning over eight decades, he became a notable fig ...

as Velu * S. A. Ashokan as M. Murugappa *

Nagesh Nageshwaran Rao (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor and comedian mostly remembered for his comic roles in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in ov ...

as Kithan ;Female cast *

as Meena * Rathna as Vijaya * Manorama as Chandira * S. N. Lakshmi as Raju's mother

Production

''Thozhilali'' marked the acting debut of Rathna. The film was inspired by

's early life as a milk supplier before he became a wealthy film producer in a

rags to riches Rags to riches (also rags-to-riches) refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype i ...

manner. While Thevar himself wrote the story,

Aaroor Dass S. Yesudas (10 September 1931 – 20 November 2022) known by his stage name Aaroor Dass, was an Indian stage, film and television Screenwriter who was active in Tamil cinema during the latter part of the 20th century. Aaroor Dass has written th ...

wrote the dialogues.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician who won the inaugural National Film Award for Best Music Direction in (1967) for '' Kandan Karunai''. ...

Release and reception

''Thozhilali'' was released on 25 September 1964. Writing for ''

Sport and Pastime ''Sport and Pastime'' was a weekly sports magazine published by The Hindu Group from 1947 to 1968. Founded by S. K. Gurunathan, the magazine was eventually stopped in 1968. It was replaced with ''Sportstar'' in 1978. References

1947 establi ...

'', T. M. Ramachandran praised M. A. Thirumugam's direction, saying he has "shown much improvement in skill and ability as a box-office wizard" and also praised N. S. Varma's cinematography and performances of the artistes. The film became a box-office success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar 1960s Indian films 1960s Tamil-language films 1964 films Films directed by M. A. Thirumugam Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Tamil-language Indian films