Aayirathil Oruvan (1965 film)

Aayirathil Oruvan (transl. One Man in a Thousand) is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, with M. N. Nambiar, Manohar, Nagesh and Madhavi Krishnan in supporting roles. It revolves around a doctor who is sold into slavery for fighting against the dictator of his nation, and later forced into a life of piracy.

Aayirathil Oruvan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byB. R. Panthulu
Produced byB. R. Panthulu
Screenplay byK. J. Mahadevan
StarringM. G. Ramachandran
Jayalalithaa
Music byViswanathan–Ramamoorthy
CinematographyV. Ramamoorthy
Edited byR. Devarajan
Production
company
Padmini Pictures
Release date
  • 9 July 1965 (1965-07-09)
Running time
167 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Aayirathil Oruvan was inspired by many pirate films, particularly Captain Blood (1935). It was the first of many collaborations between Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, and was shot primarily in Karwar.

Aayirathil Oruvan was released on 9 July 1965. The film emerged a critical and a commercial success, and ran for more than 100 days in theatres. It was a milestone for both Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, cementing the former's image as a "do-gooder" among the general public, and helping the latter enter politics. A digitised version of the film was released in 2014 and ran for over 175 days.

Plot

Manimaran, is a doctor living in the country of Neidhal Naadu with his sidekick Azhaga. He helps cure the illness of one of the rebels against the dictator of Neidhal Naadu. The ruler's guards arrest the rebels, along with Manimaran for helping them. Manimaran and the rebels are sold as slaves by the ruler to the nearby island called Kanni Theevu (Tamil for Virgin Islands), ruled by Sengappan. Manimaran leads the slaves, and fights for their rights.

Poongodi, the princess of Kanni Theevu and niece of Sengappan, the guardian of the orphaned princess, falls in love with Manimaran at first sight. Simultaneously, her servant Thenmozhi falls for Azhaga, after initial arguments. Despite the differences between Poongodi and Manimaran, Poongodi tries to woo him on many occasions. She even offers freedom from slavery only to him, who rejects the offer demanding freedom for all of the slaves. Meanwhile, the island is attacked by pirates headed by a captain. As Sengappan's troops are out of the island on another assignment, Sengappan pleads with Manimaran and the other slaves to help him. Manimaran demands freedom slavery in return for fighting the pirates, only to be betrayed later.

The slaves make an escape plan of their own and successfully take over the pirate ship, with whom they fought earlier. Manimaran tells the pirate captain about their plight and asks him to help them reach Neidhal Naadu. The captain seemingly agrees, while actually taking them to his pirate island and holds them captive. He coerces them to work for him as pirates or Manimaran will see all of his other men die. With no other option, Manimaran assents for the safety of his men.

During one of his pirate hunts, Manimaran finds Sengappan and Poongodi. He brings Poongodi to the pirate island, and tries to hide her from the pirate captain, but the pirate captain soon finds out. As per the policy of the island, any treasure pirated must be auctioned and so Poongodi is also auctioned. After a tight bidding, Manimaran bids the highest, buys her and keeps her with him.

After few dramatic events, Manimaran marries Poongodi and as per the pirate island's laws, the pirate captain cannot attempt to separate a married couple. He attempts to take Poongodi by force, gets defeated by Manimaran in a sword fight and reforms. He accompanies the slaves led by Manimaran, to achieve their goal of freeing Neidhal Naadu from its dictator. In the ensuing war, the dictator is defeated but tricks into arresting them instead. However, in his court the dictator begs Manimaran to take over the throne. Everyone else also supports the idea. However, Manimaran politely rejects the offer, citing his intention to continue his noble work as a doctor, serving the people.

Cast
Male cast
Female cast

Production

After producing and directing films like Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Kappalottiya Thamizhan and Karnan, B. R. Panthulu was in debt since they did not perform well or recover their costs.[4][5] He later made Aayirathil Oruvan, which was inspired by the 1935 film Captain Blood,[1] and also by The Crimson Pirate (1952), which itself was inspired by the 1926 film The Black Pirate.[6] The film was M. G. Ramachandran's first with Panthulu, and the-then newcomer Jayalalithaa, who was previously seen in her debut Vennira Aadai (1965).[7] Ramachandran was paid ₹23,500 for acting in the film.[8] Shooting for some fight scenes and ship transportation scenes took place in Karwar.[9]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy.[10] It was the last film where they worked together until Engirundho Vandhan (1995).[11] The song "Atho Andha Paravai" remains one of the most popular songs from the film. It was remixed and featured in the 2010 film Aayirathil Oruvan, unrelated to its 1965 namesake.[12][13] The song was remixed by D. Imman with different vocals, tune and instrumentations in Madrasi (2006).[14] The song "Naanamo" was remixed by Bharadwaj as "Rosemary" in Pallikoodam (2007).[15]

No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."Adamal Adukiran"VaaliP. Susheela3:54
2."Adho Andha Paravai Pola"KannadasanT. M. Soundararajan5:03
3."Naanamo Innum Naanamo"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela4:45
4."Odum Maegangalae"KannadasanT. M. Soundararajan4:31
5."Paruvam Enathu Paadal"VaaliP. Susheela4:26
6."Unnai Naan Santhithaen"VaaliP. Susheela3:27
7."Yaen Endra Kaelvi"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan3:46

Release and reception

Aayirathil Oruvan was released on 9 July 1965.[16] T. M. Ramachandran wrote for Sport and Pastime, "Although some of the scenes in the film have a familiar ring, the picture, on the whole, sustains the interest of the audience on account of some clever treatment by the director".[17] On 1 August 1965, Munusamy and Manikkam jointly reviewed the film for Ananda Vikatan. Munusamy liked the fact that there was no onscreen death; Manikkam concurred, saying that despite so many villains and fight scenes, there was not even a single death seen, and felt the title Aayirathil Oruvan rightly reflected Ramachandran's status as one good man in the midst of a thousand villains.[18] Though the film was released only in three theatres,[19] it emerged a critical and commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres,[20][21] and the losses Panthulu incurred in Karnan (1964) were compensated by this film's earnings.[22]

Legacy

Aayirathil Oruvan was a milestone for both Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa,[23] who went on to co-star in more than 20 films; the latter considered the film "paved the way for [her] entry into politics".[21] On Ramachandran's centenary in January 2017, Nivedita Mishra of Hindustan Times included his performance in Aayirathil Oruvan in her list compiling "some of his most memorable performances".[24] The film was instrumental in cementing Ramachandran's image as a "do-gooder" among the general public,[25] and his performnce as a "kind, noble, and brave leader" would later help him build a massive reputation in his political career.[26]

Re-release
A comparison between the original (above) and digitised versions.

Forty-nine years after the original theatrical release, the film was digitally enhanced for a planned re-release in January 2014. Apart from scope conversion from 35 mm to digital scope, the film also had a completely re-recorded background music played out by an assistant of M. S. Viswananthan. The digital conversion was done by Prasad EFX, Chennai, who had previously restored Karnan and Pasamalar. Since the negatives were entirely damaged, the entire running length was converted. The film was distributed by Divya Films which had earlier released Karnan in digital format.[27] The digitised version of Aayirathil Oruvan was released on 14 March 2014,[28] and had a theatrical run of 175 days, becoming a silver jubilee hit.[29]

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References
  1. Rangan, Baradwaj (15 March 2014). "Aayirathil Oruvan: Old rush". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. Suganth, M. "Ayirathil Oruvan Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  3. ராம்ஜி, வி. (9 July 2019). "ஆயிரத்தில் ஒருவன்'... எம்ஜிஆர், ஜெயலலிதா இணைந்த முதல் படம்! - 54 வருடங்கள்... 'ஆயிரத்தில் ஒருவன்' வெளியான நாள் இன்று!". The Hindu Tamil. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  4. "மறக்க முடியுமா? - ஆயிரத்தில் ஒருவன்". Dinamalar (in Tamil). 29 February 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. Sri Kantha, Sachi (29 October 2015). "MGR Remembered – Part 31". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  6. Guy, Randor (17 March 2011). "A trailblazer". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  7. Rangarajan, Malathi (2 February 2012). "A 100 goes unsung". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  8. Kannan 2017, p. 134.
  9. Kantha, Sachi Sri (18 July 2016). "MGR Remembered – Part 36 – Ilankai Tamil Sangam". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  10. Saregama Tamil (3 February 2015). "Aayirathil Oruvan | Tamil Movie Audio Jukebox | MGR, Jayalalitha". YouTube. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  11. Rangarajan, Malathi (8 November 2012). "Ninety, and bowing away!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  12. "Selva on Aayirathil Oruvan". Sify. 15 December 2007. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  13. "இனி ரீ-மிக்ஸ் வேண்டாம்! ஜி.வி.பிரகாஷ் சபதம்!!" [No more remixes! GV Prakash's vow!!]. Dinamalar (in Tamil). 17 September 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  14. "Madrasi from Mumbai". Behindwoods. 23 June 2005. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  15. Karthik (29 April 2007). "Pallikoodam (Tamil – Bharadwaj)". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  16. "Table: Chronological List of MGR's Movies released between 1960 and 1967" (PDF). Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  17. Ramachandran, T. M. (31 July 1965). "A Good Entertainer". Sport and Pastime. Vol. 19. p. 52.
  18. முனுசாமி; மாணிக்கம் (1 August 1965). "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: ஆயிரத்தில் ஒருவன்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  19. Kannan, Ramya; Narasimhan, T. A.; Subramanian, Karthik (14 March 2014). "Movie makers think out of the first-aid box". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  20. "RIP Amma: Five best films of MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa". India Today. slide 2. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  21. Kolappan, B. (2 September 2014). "Aayirathil Oruvan paved the way for entry into politics: Jayalalithaa". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  22. நரசிம்மன், டி.ஏ. (10 January 2017). "என்னருமை தோழி..! -8: அந்த மூன்று சபதங்கள்!". The Hindu (Tamil). Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  23. "Tamil Nadu CM congratulates Chokkalingam for his digitizing efforts of Aayirathil Oruvan". Behindwoods. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  24. Mishra, Nivedita (17 January 2017). "MGR's centenary: The man who dominated Tamil films for 3 decades". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  25. Babu Jayakumar, G (15 March 2014). "Ardent Fans Continue to Follow 'Ayirathil Oruvan'". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  26. Sadik, Jafar. Ammu to Amma: The Life and Times of Jayalalithaa. Educreation Publishing. p. 41. ISBN 9781545712276.
  27. Subramanian, Karthik (7 December 2013). "Aayirathil Oruvan gets digitally enhanced". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 August 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  28. Seshagiri, Sangeetha (17 March 2014). "Box Office: 'Nimirnthu Nil', 'Thegidi', 'Vallinam' , 'IKK' Collections". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  29. Subramanian, Karthik (29 August 2014). "Aayirathil Oruvan celebrates silver jubilee". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

Bibliography
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