Karpagam

Karpagam is a 1963 Tamil-language Indian drama film written and directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan. The film features an ensemble cast including Gemini Ganesan, S. V. Ranga Rao, M. R. Radha, R. Muthuraman, V. K. Ramasamy, V. Nagaiah, Karikol Raju, Savithri, Sheeladevi, K. R. Vijaya and Baby Shakila. In Karpagam, a rich farmer (Ranga Rao) makes his newly-married daughter (Vijaya) and her husband (Ganesan) live in his house to take care of his business. Problems arise when his estranged son (Muthuraman) starts to squander his money.

For other uses, see Karpagam (disambiguation).

Karpagam
Poster
Directed byK. S. Gopalakrishnan
Produced byK. S. Sabarinathan
Written byK. S. Gopalakrishnan
StarringGemini Ganesan
Savithri
Music byViswanathan–Ramamoorthy
CinematographyM. Karnan
Edited byR. Devarajan
Production
company
Amar Jothi Movies
Release date
  • 15 November 1963 (1963-11-15)
Running time
169 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Karpagam is the debut film for Vijaya who plays the title character. It was released on 15 November 1963, Diwali day, and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film. The film was also a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres; from the profits earned, Gopalakrishnan built a studio named after the film. It was remade in Hindi as Rishte Naate (1965), in Telugu as Thodu Needa (1965), and in Malayalam as Vishukkani (1977).

Plot

Nallasivam is a rich farmer and lives in the village Pillaiyarpatti with his son Rajangam and daughter Karpagam. Rajangam is married to Pankajam, daughter of the greedy Thandavam; Karpagam is married to Sundaram, a hardworking farmer from the same village. Karpagam and Sundaram continue to live with Nallasivam at his request to take care of the households and the farm.

Pankajam gives birth to a girl named Meenakshi, but she and Rajangam neglect her. Karpagam, who is childless, takes care of Meenakshi who starts considering Karpagam and Sundaram as her parents. Unhappy to see how Rajangam is squandering money, Nallasivam hands over the administration of his properties to Sundaram. Pankajam, who has ignored her child in her formative years, is annoyed with this development and at the instigation of Thandavam, forces Rajangam to send a legal notice to his father, asking for property settlement. Thandavam creates problems in Rajangam's family by brainwashing and misleading Pankajam and Rajangam, who blindly follow his advice.

When Meenakshi is taken away by Rajangam, Karpagam goes into depression. Finally, Rajangam sends her back and Karpagam becomes happy. A bull attacks Meenakshi, and Karpagam is killed saving her. Meenakshi refuses to return to her parents and opts to stay with Nallasivam and Sundaram. Nallasivam forcibly gets his son-in-law married to his friend's daughter Amudha, who was a friend of Karpagam, so that the child will have a mother. Sundaram and Meenakshi do not accept Amudha. Sundaram lives in the memory of his deceased wife Karpagam, roaming around like a sage. Amudha longs for the love and attention of both Sundaram and Meenakshi. Sadness prevails at home.

Meanwhile, Rajangam and Thandavam conspire to swindle Nallasivam. Thandavam, frustrated with his failure to swindle the wealth of Nallasivam's family, decides to kill Sundaram and sends goons to attack him. Both Nallasivam and Amudha come and save him, while Thandavam is arrested. In the process, Amudha gets stabbed when a goon tries to attack Sundaram. When she is almost dying, Meenakshi sings her favourite song "Athai Madi Methaiyadi" and Amudha is saved. Sundaram realises Amudha's love for Meenakshi. The family unites, while Rajangam and Pankajam repent for their actions.

Cast

Production

Karpagam is the feature film debut of K. R. Vijaya.[3] It was written and directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan, and produced by K. S. Sabarinathan under Amar Jothi Movies.[4] Vijaya, then known by her birth name Deivanayaki, had given a dance performance at an event in Island Grounds which Gemini Ganesan attended. They took a photograph together, which Ganesan later showed to Gopalakrishnan, who wanted a newcomer for the role.[5] Sabarinathan took a loan of ₹4 million (equivalent to ₹270 million or US$3.7 million in 2019) from AVM Productions to produce the film.[6] Cinematography was handled by M. Karnan, and editing by R. Devarajan.[2] The final length of the film was 4,567 metres (14,984 ft).[4]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy and lyrics were written by Vaali. P. Susheela is the only playback singer featured on the soundtrack.[2] The songs "Athai Madi Methaiyadi" and "Mannavane Azhalama Kanneerai" attained popularity.[7][8] In the Hindi remake Rishte Naate (1965), Madan Mohan used the part of the tune of "Athai Madi Methaiyadi" for the song "Ari Neendiya Ki Pari".[9]

No.TitleLyricsSingerLength
1."Aayiram Iravugal Varuvathundu"VaaliP. Susheela4:14
2."Athai Madi Methaiyadi"VaaliP. Susheela5:40
3."Pakkathu Veettu Paruva Machaan"VaaliP. Susheela6:01
4."Mannavane Azhalama Kanneerai"VaaliP. Susheela3:48

Release and reception

Karpagam was released on 15 November 1963, Diwali day.[6][10] Ananda Vikatan, in its review dated 8 December 1963, positively the film, describing Ranga Rao's performance as the highlight of the film. The reviewer also appreciated Vijaya's performance and lauded that of Shakila. According to the reviewer, the film's only weakness was the fact that it was stretched like rubber in the second half.[11] The film was also a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.[12] Karpagam won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film,[13] and the Rashtrapati Award for S. V. Ranga Rao.[14] It was later remade in Hindi as Rishte Naate (1965),[15] in Telugu as Thodu Needa (1965),[16] and in Malayalam as Vishukkani (1977).[17] The film is also available for viewing on Prime Video.[1]

Legacy

From the profits the film made, Gopalakrishnan built Karpagam Studio.[18][4] Though Vijaya feared she would not get further acting offers due to her character's early death in Karpagam which she considered a "bad omen", she went on to act in more than 500 films.[19]

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gollark: ΓΡΕΕΚ ΛΕΤΤΕΡΣ
gollark: οκαy
gollark: Öκay.
gollark: It is possible that I am jöking.

References
  1. "Karpagam". Prime Video. Amazon. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. கற்பகம் (song book) (in Tamil). Amar Jothi Movies. 1963.
  3. Chowdhary, Y. Sunita (19 November 2011). "Screen goddess". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. 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 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. Majordasan. "Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema". Kalyanamalai. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  6. "AVM Film Studios absolute owner of copyright of 1963-Gemini starrer 'Karpagam': HC". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 30 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  7. Guy, Randor (3 August 2013). "Idhaya Kamalam (1965)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  8. Kolappan, B. (15 November 2015). "Director K.S. Gopalakrishnan dead". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  9. Shommohon (1 August 2019). "Aa Ri Nindiya Ki Pari - Part-Ii". YouTube. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  10. தீனதயாளன், பா. (31 July 2015). "சாவித்ரி-13. நூறு நூறு பெருமைகள்!". Dinamani. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  11. "கற்பகம்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 8 December 1963.
  12. Ramachandran, T. M. (11 April 1964). "Trends in Tamil films". Sport and Pastime. Vol. 18. pp. 50–51.
  13. "State Awards for Films" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 25 April 1964. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  14. Sanmana Satkaralu, Viswa Nata Chakravarti, M. Sanjay Kishore, Sangam Akademy, Hyderabad, 2005, pp: 65.
  15. Narasimham, M. L. (15 December 2017). "Thodu Needa (1965)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  16. Sriram, V. (15 May 2019). "Doris Day sang 'Que Sera Sera' – and so did Telugu star Bhanumathi". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  17. "Salil Chowdhury's 'Poovili'" (PDF). The Times of India. Kerala. 26 August 2017. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  18. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul, eds. (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (PDF). Oxford University Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 0-19-563579-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2018.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  19. Vandhana (24 September 2017). "'Back Then, There Was No Pressure To Maintain Our Waistlines': Interview With KR Vijaya". Silverscreen.in. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
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