''Vayasu Ponnu'' () is a 1978 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 and edited by

K. Shankar Kannan Shankar (17 March 1926 - 5 March 2006) was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu language, Telugu and Kannada as well ...

, and written by R. K. Shanmugham. It is based on ''Love Birds'', a novel by Manian serialised in ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not publishe ...

''. The film stars

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 known as Navarasa Thilagam. He paired with all the lead ...

Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh (1946 – 12 February 2001) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil plays and films. He had supporting roles in the films '' Aval Oru Thodar Kathai'' and '' Aattukara Alamelu'', among others. His most popular roles have been as a ...

, Latha, and

Roja Ramani Roja Ramani (also known as Chemparathy Shobana) is an Indian actress and dubbing artist who predominantly worked in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil films. She was a child actor and her debut movie was '' Bhakta Prahlada'' (1967) for which she r ...

. It was released on 2 September 1978, and failed commercially.

Plot

The heroine is brought up by her elder sister but gets attracted to

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

culture. Her elder sister's friend gives her a mini skirt and revealing top and she starts to get stalked. She is saved by a rich, kind and middle-aged man whose only vice is call girls. She leaves his house and job though he has been decent and kind to her. She rejects the proposal of her new house owner who is a devout

Murugan Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...

devotee and moves on. She gets gang raped one night and her life is in shambles. The kind man, her elder sister, hippie friend and the devotee back her up unquestioningly with the devotee wanting to marry her. He gets killed in a brawl while she is in altar. She gets her elder sister and hippie friend married and goes to live off with the kind man in an unnamed relationship which is hinted to be platonic.

Cast

Production

''Vayasu Ponnu'' was directed and edited by

. It was produced by K. N. Kunjappan under R. G. M. Productions. The screenplay was written by R. K. Shanmugham, based on ''Love Birds'', a novel by Manian serialised in ''

''.

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 "Kaanchi Pattuduththi" is set in the

Carnatic raga A Carnatic raga refers to ''ragas'' used in Carnatic music. It has several components: a primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system (''swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka''), and important tones. Origins and history Carnati ...

known as

Kalyanavasantam Kalyanavasantam (also written as kalyanavasantham) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale) from the 21st ''melakarta'' scale ''Keeravani''. It is a ''janya'' scal ...

Release and reception

''Vayasu Ponnu'' was released on 2 September 1978, and failed commercially. However, Muthulingam won the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of India References {{Tamil Nadu St ...

for "Kaanchi Pattuduththi". ''Anna'' praised Shanmugam's dialogues, Shankar's direction, Viswanathan's music and performances of cast.

References

External links

* {{Improve categories, date=April 2024 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films 1978 films Films based on Tamil novels Films directed by K. Shankar Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Tamil-language Indian films