Irumbu Thirai

Irumbu Thirai (transl. The Iron Curtain) is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film produced and directed by S. S. Vasan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, K. A. Thangavelu and B. Saroja Devi in the lead roles, with S. V. Ranga Rao, Pandari Bai and Vasundhara Devi in supporting roles. It is a remake of the Hindi film Paigham (1959). The film's soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman and the lyrics were written by Kothamangalam Subbu, Papanasam Sivan and Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram. The editing was done by M. Umanath while the camera was handled by P. Elappa and N. C. Bala Krishna. The story revolves around the two brothers Manikam and Kondamuthu and their mill owner.

For the 2018 film, see Irumbu Thirai (2018 film).

Irumbu Thirai
Poster
Directed by	S. S. Vasan
Produced by	S. S. Vasan
Story by	Ganesh Subramaniam along with Gemini Story Department
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Vyjayanthimala K. A. Thangavelu B. Saroja Devi
Music by	S. V. Venkatraman
Cinematography	P. Elappa N. C. Bala Krishna
Edited by	M. Umanath
Production company	Gemini Studios
Release date	14 January 1960
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹10 lakh

Plot

The story revolves around the two brothers Manikam and Kondamuthu and their mill owner.

Cast

Sivaji Ganesan as Manikkam Vyjayanthimala as Manju K. A. Thangavelu as Kondamuthu Pandari Bai as Parvathi D. Balasubramaniam as Seth B. Saroja Devi as Malathi T. S. Durairaj as Nandu Vanaja as Challi Vasundhara Devi as Manju's Mother Radha as Manikkam's Mother S. V. Ranga Rao as Mohanarangam

Parthiban as Circle Inspector Mukherji as Inspector S. V. Subbaiah as Saravanan Seetalakshmi as Sheela G. V. Sharma as Jeevan Pushpamala as Kamala Master Gopi as Bhola Karupaiah as Kundan S. R. Janaki as Seth's wife Pattusami as Sleuth Azhwar Kuppusami as Prosecutor Kannan as Judge

Production

In 1959, S. S. Vasan, the proprietor of Gemini Studios, began working on a film built around capital-labour relations.[1] The film, which was the Tamil remake of the Hindi film Paigham,[2] was untitled, and the creative team of Gemini could not come up with a convincing title. Vasan invited his employees to suggest a title for the under-production film, and he received an abundance of entries; one office boy submitted as many as 2500 entries. After examining one by one, Vasan chose the title Irumbu Thirai, which means "Iron Curtain". He also hosted a reception to honour the boy who suggested the title and rewarded him with some prize money.[1] Besides producing, Vasan also directed the film.[3]

The female cast of Paigham – Vyjayanthimala, B. Saroja Devi and Pandari Bai – returned to star in Irumbu Thirai,[4][5] while Sivaji Ganesan reprised the role originally played by Dilip Kumar. It was a "coup of sorts" for Vasan to cast Ganesan since the latter had earlier been rejected by the former for a role in Chandralekha (1948), an incident which created a permanent rift between them.[2][6] K. A. Thangavelu, S. V. Ranga Rao and S. V. Subbaiah were cast in supporting roles.[3] Vyjayanthimala's mother Vasundhara Devi played her screen mother as well.[7] The final length of the film was 18396 feet.[5]

Themes

Irumbu Thirai focuses on capital-labour relations,[1] and the conditions of working-class people.[8]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman.[9] The album had Kothamangalam Subbu, Papanasam Sivan and Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram as the lyricists.[10] The singers consist of T. M. Soundararajan, Thiruchi Loganathan, Sirkazhi Govindarajan, P. Leela, Jikki, (Radha) Jayalakshmi & K. Jamuna Rani.[11] The song "Nenjil Kudiyirukkum" is set in the carnatic raga known as Shanmukhapriya,[12] while the classical-themed "Enna Seidhaalum" is set in Kharaharapriya.[13][14]

No.	Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
1	Nenjil Kudiyirukkum	T. M. Soundararajan & P. Leela	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	03:57
2	Aasai Konda Nenju Rendu	P. Leela		04:27
3	Manidharai Manidhar Sari Nigar Samamaai	Sirkazhi Govindarajan		02:40
4	Kaiyile Vaanginen Paiyile Podalai	Thiruchi Loganathan		03:00
5	Erai Piditthavanum English Padichavanum		Kothamangalam Subbu	03:19
6	Nandri Ketta Manitharukku	Sirkazhi Govindarajan		03:22
7	Dabba Dabba Dabba	S. C. Krishnan
8	Padipirkum Oru Kumbidu	P. Leela & Jikki		02:47
9	Nikkatuma Pogatuma	Thiruchi Loganathan & K. Jamuna Rani
10	Enna Seidhaalum	(Radha) Jayalakshmi	Papanasam Sivan	02:52

Release

Irumbu Thirai was released on 14 January 1960.[3] The film was a commercial success, running for over 175 days in theatres and thereby becoming silver jubilee film.[15][16]

References

1. Guy, Randor (23 May 2003). "With a finger on people's pulse". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
2. Sriram, V. (1 May 2018). "Paigham and Irumbu Thirai – #MayDay Special". Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
3. "இரும்புத்திரை - இது சிவாஜி படம்" [Irumbu Thirai - This is a Sivaji film]. Kamadenu. The Hindu Tamil. 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
4. "Gemini's Paigham". Thought. Vol. 11. Siddhartha Publications. 1959. p. 156.
5. 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 27 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
6. Guy 1997, p. 282.
7. Pradeep, K. (2 November 2011). "Dance and Vyjayantimala". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
8. Vijayakumar, B. (1 May 2017). "Punnapra Vayalar: 1968". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
9. "Tunesmith of many dimensions". The Hindu. 21 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
10. "Filmography | Lyricist". Kottamangalam Subbu. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
11. Neelamegam, G. (December 2014). Thiraikalanjiyam – Part 1 (in Tamil) (1st ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. p. 191.
12. Mani, Charulatha (2 September 2011). "A Raga's Journey - Sacred Shanmukhapriya". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
13. Srinivasan, Anil (24 July 2015). "How Carnatic music has enriched – and been enriched by – movie scores". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
14. Mani, Charulatha (13 April 2012). "A Raga's Journey — Kingly Kharaharapriya". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
15. Selvaraj, N. (20 March 2017). "வெள்ளி விழா கண்ட தமிழ் திரைப்படங்கள்" [Tamil films that completed silver jubilees]. Thinnai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
16. Ganesan & Narayana Swamy 2007, p. 241.

Bibliography

• Ganesan, Sivaji; Narayana Swamy, T. S. (2007) [2002]. Autobiography of an Actor: Sivaji Ganesan, October 1928 – July 2001. Sivaji Prabhu Charities Trust.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Guy, Randor (1997). Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema. Amra Publishers.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Irumbu Thirai on IMDb