Adutha Veettu Penn

Adutha Veettu Penn (transl. The Girl Next Door) is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film,[1] directed by Vedantam Raghavaiah and written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. The film stars Anjali Devi (who co-produced the film with her husband, music director P. Adinarayana Rao), T. R. Ramachandran and K. A. Thangavelu. It is a remake of the Bengali film Pasher Bari (1952), itself based on the namesake short story by Arun Chowdhury. In Adutha Veettu Penn, a simple man wants to impress a woman he loves by singing, but since he cannot, his friend, a singer, sings in secret while the simple man merely lip syncs, and wins the woman's love. The film was released on 11 February 1960, and became a success.

Adutha Veettu Penn
Film poster
Directed byVedantam Raghavaiah
Produced byAdi Narayana Rao
Screenplay byThanjai Ramaiah Dass
Based onPasher Badi
by Arun Chowdhury
StarringAnjali Devi
T. R. Ramachandran
K. A. Thangavelu
Music byAdi Narayana Rao
CinematographyC. Nageswara Rao
Edited byN. S. Prakasam
Production
company
Release date
  • 11 February 1960 (1960-02-11)
Running time
145 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Mannaru, a simple man, falls in love with his wealthy neighbour Leela, who sings and dances well. He wants to impress her by singing, but he cannot sing. So he seeks the help of his friend, a singer who agrees. While the friend sings in secret, Mannaru merely lip syncs. Leela is charmed by what she thinks is Mannaru singing and falls in love with him. Soon the truth comes out, and the rest of the film deals with how the tangle between the lovers is solved.

Cast

Adapted from the film's songbook and opening credits:[2][3]

Production

Adutha Veettu Penn was remade from the Bengali film Pasher Bari (1952), itself based on the namesake short story by Arun Chowdhury. It was produced by Anjali Devi (who also starred as the female lead) and her husband P. Adinarayana Rao, who also composed the music.[4] Anjali Devi reprised her role from Pasher Bari's Telugu adaptation Pakka Inti Ammayi (1953).[5] The film's animated opening credits were created by Dayabhai Patel.[4] The screenplay was written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass, cinematography was handled by C. Nageswara Rao, and the editing by N. S. Prakasam.[3] While primarily in black and white, the film was partly coloured using Gevacolor.[6] Its final length was 16,887 feet (5,147 m).[7]

Influences

Although the opening credits of Adutha Veettu Penn acknowledge the source film Pasher Bari,[3] Saritha Rao Rayachoti (writing for Scroll.in) opines that it has some similarities with Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, in which the male lead Cyrano loves his cousin Roxane but feels he is not worthy of her due to his large nose; so he romances her by proxy, i.e. he writes her love letters which another man, Christian de Neuvillette, claims to be the writer of, at Cyrano's request. According to Rayachoti, the film eschewed the play's tragedy elements in favour of romantic comedy overtones.[8]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was composed by P. Adinarayana Rao,[2] with lyrics were by Thanjai Ramaiah Dass[9] Playback singers are Sirkazhi Govindarajan, P. B. Sreenivas, Thiruchi Loganathan, Krishnan, S. Raghavan, Susheela, T. V. Rathnam and Janaki. The song "Vanitha Maniye" is set in the Hamsadhvani raga,[10][11] while "Kannale Pesi Pesi Kolladhe" is set in Keeravani,[12] and "Kangalum Kavi Paaduthe" is set in Hindolam.[13][14] The album was a major breakthrough for P. B. Sreenivas,[15] who sang five of the film's songs.[16] According to The Hindu's B. Kolappan, the film "proved beyond doubt that Sreenivas was going to secure an established place in Tamil film music."[17]

No.SongSingersLyricsLength
1"Maalaiyil Malar Solaiyil"P. B. SreenivasThanjai N. Ramaiah Dass03:30
2"Mannava Vaa"P. Susheela04:30
3"Sayonaaraa Tokyo"P. B. Sreenivas, S. Janaki03:18
4"Katraar Niraindha Sangamidhu"A. L. Raghavan03:32
5"Kannale Pesi Pesi Kolladhe"P. B. Sreenivas03:27
6"Kangalum Kavi Paadudhe"Sirkazhi Govindarajan, Thiruchi Loganathan03:09
7"Malarkodi Naane"P. Susheela03:15
8"Kaiyyum Odala Kaalum Odala"S. C. Krishnan, T. V. Rathnam03:07
9"Vaadaatha Pushpame.... Vanithaa Maniye"P. B. Sreenivas02:48
10"Kanni Thamizh"P. Susheela04:02
11"Enakkaga Neeye"P. Susheela, P. B. Sreenivas04:02

Release and reception

Adutha Veettu Penn was released on 11 February 1960.[7] A review from the magazine Ananda Vikatan, dated 27 March 1960, called the film a must-watch for the comedy and dance sequences which were in colour.[18] According to film historian Randor Guy, it was a major commercial success primarily because of its full-length situational comedy, then a rarity in Indian cinema and more so in Tamil.[4]

References
  1. Mohan, Ashutosh (11 February 2020). "Tamil Cinema And The Evolution Of The Romcom". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  2. அடுத்த வீட்டுப் பெண் (song book) (in Tamil). Anjali Pictures. 1960.
  3. Adutha Veettu Penn (motion picture) (in Tamil). Anjali Pictures. 1960. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 4:35.
  4. Guy, Randor (7 September 2013). "Adutha Veettu Penn 1960". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  5. Narasimham, M. L. (29 September 2013). "Pakkinti Ammayi (1953)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  6. "Adutha Veettu Penn". The Indian Express. 24 April 1959. p. 10.
  7. Film News Anandan (2004). Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru [Tamil film history and its achievements] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publishers. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017.
  8. Rayachoti, Saritha Rao (26 November 2018). "'Cyrano de Bergerac' is the gift that keeps giving, whether it's 'Padosan' or 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  9. "Adutha Veettu Penn". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  10. Mani, Charulatha (1 March 2013). "A bright start". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  11. Sundararaman 2007, p. 165.
  12. Saravanan, T. (20 September 2013). "Ragas hit a high". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  13. "Know your raga: Hindolam – Soulful swaras". The News Today. 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  14. Sundararaman 2007, p. 136.
  15. Saqaf, Syed Muthahar (18 April 2013). "His voice will never fade". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  16. Narasimham, M. L. (3 October 1997). "Golden voice of a glorious era". The Hindu. p. 27. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  17. Kolappan, B. (14 April 2013). "Veteran singer PBS passes away". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  18. முனுசாமி; மாணிக்கம் (27 March 1960). "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: அடுத்த வீட்டுப் பெண்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

Bibliography
  • Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Chennai: Pichhamal Chintamani. OCLC 295034757.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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