Adimai Penn

Adimai Penn (transl. Slave Woman) is a 1969 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by K. Shankar and co-produced by M. G. Ramachandran. The film features Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa in the lead roles with Ashokan, Pandari Bai, Rajasree, Manohar, Chandrababu and Cho in supporting roles. It revolves around the efforts of a deceased king's son to free the enslaved people from their tyrant king.

Adimai Penn
Theatrical release poster
Directed byK. Shankar
Produced by
Story by
  • R. M. Veerappan
  • S. Lakshmanan
  • S. K. T. Samy
Starring
Music byK. V. Mahadevan
CinematographyV. Ramamoorthy
Edited byK. Narayanan
Production
company
Emgeeyaar Pictures
Release date
  • 1 May 1969 (1969-05-01)
Running time
180 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Ramachandran had the desire to make Adimai Penn as early as 1963. The project entered production in 1968 with him directing and starring, B. Saroja Devi and K. R. Vijaya co-starring and P. N. Sundaram as cinematographer, but the project was dropped after some progress. When revived with a new story, it had a largely new cast and crew while Ramachandran remained as the star.

Adimai Penn was released on 1 May 1969 and became a box office success, running for over 100 days in many theatres. It won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil, and three awards at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards: Best Film (First Prize), Best Character Artiste (Female) for Pandari Bai and Best Music Director for K. V. Mahadevan.

Plot

Abhirami Mangamma, a princess, is desired by Sengodan, a king. Several years later, Sengodan sees Abhirami (now a queen and married) out hunting. He declares his love, but Abhirami says that she is a mother. Sengodan tries to kill her son, prince Vengaiyan and Abhirami severes Sengodan's leg with an axe. The king Vengaiyan from the Vengaiya Mount Kingdom goes to Sengodan's country (Soorukathu Kingdom) seeking justice, and Sengodan agrees to a duel. The duel takes place over a net with spears below it; whoever falls on the net will die. The dueller will lose if he loses his weapon or falls from the net, and his country will be enslaved by the winner. Since Sengodan has only one leg, king Vengaiyan binds his own leg and they begin the duel. Vengaiyan wins, but then Sengodan kills him.

Sengodan orders his men to seize the country and summon the queen and her son. One of the king's aides escapes and saves the queen, but Vengaiyan is taken prisoner. All women in the country are enslaved. The queen stays in hiding for many years. The king's aide is imprisoned and sees Vengaiyan, who has been forced to live in a two-foot-high cell. Vengaiyan has not learnt how to talk or eat with his hands, and the aide is horrified by his condition. They escape from the prison by the river. The aide dies in his granddaughter Jeeva's arms after she promises to heal Vengaiyan and help abolish slavery in their country. Jeeva takes Vengaiyan to her hut, teaches him to speak, write and fight. Vengaiya begins to understand that he is a prince, but is a hunchback because of his confinement.

Vengaiya saves a girl from two warriors. When he is helping the girl (who is bound between two heavy wooden planks, like a pillory), his spine straightens, allowing him to stand normally. Jeeva tells the prince what he must do, and shows him his mother. When he sees his mother's condition, Vengaiyan vows that he will release the country from Sengodan's enslavement. The prince, with help from Jeeva and others, attacks a group of soldiers and begins freeing people from slavery. During one assault, he meets Magudapathy, the leader of a neighbouring nation (Pavala Kingdom) who is related to Sengodan. The commander Magudapathy is astonished to see Jeeva because of her resemblance to his queen, Pavalavalli. He conspires to replace the queen with Jeeva and take over the country, which separates Vengaiyan and Jeeva from their followers. The commander, claiming the prince is a spy, hides Jeeva.

Pavalavalli, who is actually Jeeva's sister, presides over the prince's trial. She is attracted to him, and orders that he be released and posted as her bodyguard. The commander plans to kill both the queen and the prince at a party with a poisoned drink, but it is moved by one of the prince's aides, a magician. The commander orders the arrest of the prince and the queen. Jeeva impersonates the queen so she and Vengaiya can be freed and allowed to return to their country. Pavalavalli is dressed in Jeeva's clothes and kept in captivity, to be killed later. The commander goes to the prison and admits his plan; Vengaiyan kills him and escapes with Pavalavalli, thinking she is Jeeva.

Vengaiyan finally reaches his country, which has changed during his long absence. His house has been gutted by fire, his farms plundered and his men oppose him. Vengaiyan tells them his story, coercing them to rejoin the army. Pavalavalli joins Sengodan's side, awaiting revenge. Abhirami Mangamma is captured by Sengodan's men, who threaten to execute her. Vengaiyan and his men sneak into the palace and fight Sengodan; he kills Sengodan, releases his mother and frees his kingdom.

Cast

Production

M. G. Ramachandran had the desire to make Adimai Penn as early as 1963.[7] In 1968,[8] as director, producer and lead actor, he launched the film with B. Saroja Devi and K. R. Vijaya as the lead actresses and P. N. Sundaram as cinematographer. Some scenes were filmed, but the project was dropped. When relaunched with a new story, Ramachandran remained in his positions (except directing, which was given to K. Shankar) and Jayalalithaa was cast as the female lead, while V. Ramamoorthy was hired as the new cinematographer,[9] and K. Narayanan as the editor.[10] This was J. P. Chandrababu's last film with Ramachandran.[11] Filming was completed within 100 working days.[12] During the filming, Ramachandran was given a white fur cap to shield him from the desert sun; this would later become his signature look.[13]

Themes

According to Ramachandran, Adimai Penn is neither a historical nor a social, or a "story with exciting, cinematic effects", but it focuses "on some fundamental issues in the society, which makes the human spirit to suffer and weaken."[14]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by K. V. Mahadevan.[15] It marked Jayalalithaa's debut as a playback singer;[16] on the sets of Kannan En Kadhalan (1968), Ramachandran saw her perform a Meera bhajan. Impressed, her offered her to sing "Amma Endral Anbu" for Adimai Penn.[17] Although the first Tamil film signed by playback singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was Shanti Nilayam,[18] Adimai Penn (in which he sang "Aayiram Nilave Vaa") ended up releasing earlier.[19] T. M. Soundararajan was chosen to sing "Thaai Illamal" as it needed "more zeal".[9]

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Aayiram Nilave Vaa"PulamaipithanS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela4.56
2."Amma Endral"VaaliJayalalithaa4.59
3."Kaalathai Vendravan"Avinashi ManiP. Susheela , S. Janaki6.14
4."Thaai Illamal"Alangudi SomuT. M. Soundararajan3.36
5."Unnai Paarthu"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan5.14
6."Yemmattraathe"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan4.37
7."Amma Endral (Not in the movie, not held)"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan2.35
8."Thaai Illamal (Not in the movie, not held)"Alangudi SomuS. P. Balasubrahmanyam3.36
Total length:28.16

Release

Adimai Penn was released on 1 May 1969.[20] The film was a commercial success, grossing ₹3 crore (equivalent to ₹125 crore or US$18 million in 2019) against a budget of ₹50 lakh (equivalent to ₹21 crore or US$2.9 million in 2019) according to a 2019 estimate by Dinamalar.[12] It ran for 175 days at the Chintamani Theatre in Madurai, for 100 days in theatres in Madras, Trichy, Kovai and Salem, and 120 days at the Central Theatre in Nellai.[21]

Critical reception

The Indian Express wrote on 10 May, "Some movies are made for the passion of making them. Some are made for regretting later. Some are made to entertain. When entertainment is the prime factor everything that is possible is brought in to please the masses. One such movie is Emgeeyar films Adimai Penn". The reviewer praised V. Ramamurthy's cinematography, but felt the music was "not up to the other achievements of the film".[22] On 1 June, Ananda Vikatan called it a new type of film, saying no such film was made in Tamil so far, and compared it favourably to American films like Ben-Hur (1959) and Samson and Delilah (1949).[5]

Accolades

Adimai Penn won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil,[23] and three awards at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards: Best Film (First Prize),[21] Best Character Artiste (Female) for Pandari Bai,[7] and Best Music Director for Mahadevan.[24]

One scene in the film involving the magician changing the various glasses of juices kept while narrating a story to Magudapathy, by which Magudapathy's glass with poison gets mixed up, was re-enacted in Andaz Apna Apna (1994).[25]

Re-release

Adimai Penn was digitally restored and re-released on 14 July 2017.[2][26]

References
  1. Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 398.
  2. Rangan, Baradwaj (20 July 2017). "Southern Lights: Adimai Penn". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  3. "எம்.ஜி.ஆருடன் நடித்த போது... ஜெயலலிதா!". Dinamani (in Tamil). 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  4. Vamanan (12 September 2016). "பால்யத்திலிருந்து பாட்டியாகும் வரை ஆடிக்கொண்டிருந்த ஜோதிலட்சுமி!". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Nellai. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: அடிமைப் பெண்". Ananda Vikatan. 1 June 1969. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. "'என் ஆதரவு ஓ.பன்னீர்செல்வத்துக்கே! - கொந்தளிக்கிறார் ராகுல் தாத்தா". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 7 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  7. "175 நாட்கள் ஓடி வெள்ளி விழா கண்ட அடிமைப் பெண்! 50-வது ஆண்டு!". Dinamani. 29 July 2019. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  8. Asokan, N. (22 February 2009). "Starring: MGR & Jayalalitha!". The Sunday Indian. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  9. Raman, Mohan V. (2 May 2019). "Adimai Penn: The film that made icons". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  10. Dhananjayan 2011, p. 244.
  11. "Adimai Penn gets the digital treatment". Cinema Express. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  12. "பிளாஷ்பேக் : பொன்விழா ஆண்டில் அடிமைப்பெண்" [Flashback: Adimai Penn in its 50th year]. Dinamalar (in Tamil). 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  13. Kannan 2017, p. 147.
  14. Kantha, Sachi Sri (6 August 2018). "MGR Remembered – Part 46". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  15. "Adimai Penn (1969)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  16. "MGR – J Jayalalithaa's Adimai Penn digitalised". Deccan Chronicle. 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  17. Sundaram, Vaasanthi (8 April 2020). The Lone Empress: A Portrait of Jayalalithaa. India: Penguin Random House.
  18. நவ்ஷத் (6 January 2017). "எஸ்பிபி 50 ஆண்டுகள்: 'எனக்கு இசைதான் தாய்மொழி'" [SPB 50 years: Music is my mother tongue]. Hindu Tamil Thisai. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  19. "MSV: Master of melodies". Manorama Online. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  20. "Adimai Penn". The Indian Express. 1 May 1969. p. 12.
  21. "கே.ஆர்.விஜயாவுக்கு பதிலாக nஜயலலிதா நடித்த படம்". Thinakaran. 1 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  22. "Outdoors exploited". The Indian Express. 10 May 1969. p. 5.
  23. The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who. Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. 1970. p. 296.
  24. "கருணாநிதி மறந்த 'மந்திர சக்தி!'". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Nellai. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  25. "Hindi cinema copied his scenes". DTNext. 8 December 2016. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  26. "Nine films to open on July 14!". Sify. 10 July 2017. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.

Bibliography
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