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Pasamalar
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Wikipedia article
'Pasamalar' is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Savitri Ganesan, with K. A. Thangavelu M. N. Nambiar and M. N. Rajam in supporting roles. It revolves around Rajasekhar and his bonding with his younger sister Radha. Radha falls in love with her brother's friend, and Rajasekhar eventually arranges for their marriage. Problems they face form the story.
The story of 'Pasamalar' was written by K. P. Kottakara, which Bhimsingh expanded into a screenplay, with Aaroor Dass writing the dialogues. The film was predominantly shot in Neptune Studios. The film was produced by M. R. Santhanam and K. Mohan under Rajamani Pictures. The film's original soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.
'Pasamalar' was released on 27 May 1961 and received critical acclaim with Ganesan and Savitri's performances being widely lauded. The film was also a commercial success, with a theatrical run of over 26 weeks, thereby becoming a silver jubilee film. The film won the Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature film at the 9th National Film Awards. It became a trendsetter resulting in similar themes about brother sister relationship and was remade in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Sinhala languages. A digitally restored version of 'Pasamalar' was released on 15 August 2013 and was also well received.
Plot
Rajasekharan alias Raju becomes the guardian to his younger sister Radha after their parents' death. When the factory where Raju works is closed due to a labour problem and he is depressed, Radha gives him 1000 which she had earned and saved by making toys. She advises him to use this money as seed capital and commence his own toy business. Raju assents, and in a short time, becomes rich. Anand, a former colleague of Raju, is jobless and approaches Raju for work. Raju appoints him in his concern and over a period of time, Anand and Radha fall in love. Raju, who is very possessive of his sister, gets angry with Anand as he feels betrayed. However, knowing how intensely Radha loves Anand, he arranges their wedding.
After the marriage, Anand, along with his aunt and cousin, move into Raju's house. Raju marries Malathy, a doctor, on Radha's suggestion. All of them continue to live under the same roof and several misunderstandings arise. Anand's aunt uses every opportunity to widen the rift between Malathy and Radha and Radha and Anand. Unable to witness Radha's troubles, Raju moves out of the house with his wife. Through Radha, Anand's aunt serves a legal notice to Raju, demanding a share in the property for Radha. Malathy files a counter petition and the property is attached by the court, pending resolution. Unable to see Radha's sufferings, Raju withdraws the case. Still the families do not unite.
Radha delivers a girl and Malathy delivers a boy. After her child's birth, Malathy goes abroad for further studies, leaving the child with Raju. Unable to cope with the separation from his sister and to have peace of mind, Raju goes on a pilgrimage for several months. He returns on Diwali day and goes to meet Radha, but is denied entry by Anand's aunt. While going back, he saves a little girl from getting burnt by firecrackers and in the process, loses his eyesight. He is hospitalised and Radha rushes to the hospital to see her brother. Raju learns that the girl he saved is none other than his niece. Unable to cope with his inability to see them, he dies; Radha too dies holding his hand. Anand comes after and feels bad for Raju and Radha, and on their behalf, Anand takes care of Radha's daughter and Raju's son.
Cast
*Sivaji Ganesan as Rajasekharan "Raju"
*Gemini Ganesan as Anand
*Savitri Ganesan as Radha
;Supporting actors
*K. A. Thangavelu
*M. N. Nambiar as Rathnam
*M. R. Santhanam
*K. D. Santhanam
*S. A. Kannan
;Supporting actresses
*M. N. Rajam as Malathy
*M. Saroja
*P. S. Gnanam as Anand's aunt
*Sukumari as (Song Dancing Role)
*R. Bharathi
*'Baby' Kanchana
*Baby Malathi
Production
K. P. Kottakara, a Malayalam film producer and story writer, wrote a story about the everlasting relationship between a brother and sister, with the intention of making it a film. He approached A. Bhimsingh, a director who gained a reputation for making successful family drama films, and narrated the story to him. After listening to the story, Bhimsingh agreed to make it as the film that would become 'Pasamalar'. Actor Sivaji Ganesan also liked the story, got to play the lead character of the brother Raju, and got his friends M. R. Santhanam and K. Mohan to produce the film on behalf of Rajamani Pictures. At the suggestion of Savitri, who was cast as the sister Radha, Aaroor Dass was hired to the dialogues.
Principal photography began at Neptune Studios on Christmas Day. Few scenes were shot at Sivaji's home in T. Nagar. A dialogue in the film that Raju tells Anand (Gemini Ganesan, not related to Sivaji) which translates to "You may switch off the electric lights here. But a small oil lamp will still be burning, and in that light, one man will toil. That man is this Raju" was inspired by a line Dass earlier told Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar as a refusal to write for one of his films: "Even if it is only a small lamp, let it be exclusively mine. I will use it to light my life". On the day the climax with the highly emotional dialogue, "Kai Veesamma Kai Veesu" was being filmed, during the break, Sivaji refused to have lunch as he want to starve the whole day to get the perfect emotion and diction for the scene.
Themes
According to Soorian Kasi Pandian, author of the 1996 book 'India, That Is, Sidd', 'Pasamalar' means "Flower of Love". The term "Pasa" refers to brotherly love which involves sacrifices for his loved sister.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by ViswanathanRamamoorthy, with lyrics by Kannadasan. "Vaarayen Thozhi Vaarayo" attained popularity, and has been played at many Tamil weddings. It was composed in Abheri, a carnatic raga. The song provided major breakthrough for its playback singer L. R. Eswari.
Release and reception
'Pasamalar' was released on 27 May 1961. The film was a commercial success, running for over 26 weeks, thereby becoming a silver jubilee film. The Tamil magazine 'Ananda Vikatan' called it a milestone film and mentioned that though films may come and go, this one would stay forever in the hearts of those who had a chance to see it.The film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film in 1962.It was included alongside various Sivaji-starrers in a compilation DVD 'Yettavathu Ulaga Athisayam Sivaji' (Sivaji Ganesan: Eighth Wonder of the World), which was released in May 2012.
Remakes
'Pasamalar' has been remade in number of languages, including Sinhala (as 'Suhada Sohoyuro' in 1963). The first Hindi remake, 'Rakhi' (1962) was directed by Bhimsingh, the director of the original. It was again remade in Hindi in 1986 as 'Aisa Pyaar Kahan'. It was remade in Telugu as 'Rakta Sambandham' (1962) with Savitri reprising her role, and in Kannada as 'Vathsalya' (1965).
Legacy
The film became a trendsetter and inspired similar films of brother-sister relationships like 'Mullum Malarum' (1978). In July 2007, S. R. Ashok Kumar of 'The Hindu' asked eight Tamil film directors to list their all-time favourite Tamil films; four of them K. Balachander, Balu Mahendra, Mani Ratnam, K. S. Ravikumar named 'Pasamalar' as one of the favourite films in Tamil. Ravikumar said "As a kid I saw 'Pasamalar' and cried. As an adult, each time I have seen it I was moved to tears. That is the power of the script and the performance of lead players". Playback singer Asha Bhosle noted that 'Pasamalar' was the first Tamil film she had watched. Samy remarked that his directorial 'Kangaroo' (2015) was a "modern day 'Pasamalar'". Actor Sivakumar stated, "You can't reproduce movies like 'Parasakthi', 'Pasamalar', 'Devadas', 'Veerapandiya Kattabomman' or 'Ratha Kanneer' [...] By remaking such films, you are lowering yourself, while it enhances the original artists' image". A film titled 'Vaaraai En Thozhi', after the song from the film, was launched by director V. C. Guhanathan in 2000 starring J. Livingston, Suvaluxmi and Roja. The film eventually did not have a theatrical release.
In popular culture
Footage of 'Pasamalar' is featured in the 2011 Tamil film 'Velayudham'. Footage of the song "Malarnthu Malaratha" is featured in the opening scene of 'Jigarthanda' (2014). It is also used in the 2019 film 'Petta' and 2022 film 'Saani Kaayidham'. Dialogues in 'Pasamalar' were also used in the song "Yenga Annan" in 'Namma Veettu Pillai' (2019). In the same year (1961), Sivaji and Savithri acted as the lead pair in 'Ellam Unakkaga'. The film failed as audiences could not digest Sivaji and Savitri as lovers after seeing them as siblings in 'Pasamalar'.
Re-release
A digitally restored version of 'Pasamalar' was released on 15 August 2013, during India's Independence Day. The digital conversion was done by Prasad EFX, Chennai. M. Suganth of 'The Times of India' rated it 5 out of 5, saying "The restoration, cinemascope and audio conversion are pretty good while the trimming (by veteran editor Lenin, Bhimsingh's son) manages to retain the continuity to a large extent."
References
Bibliography
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