Thamarai Kulam

Thamarai Kulam (lit. 'Lotus Pond') is a 1959 Indian Tamil language film directed by Muktha Srinivasan, written by S. R. Natarajan and produced by him along with S. R. Veerabahu. It features Sowcar Janaki, V. Gopalakrishnan, M. R. Radha, N. N. Kannappa, K. Sarangkapani, V. S. Raghavan, S. A. Ashokan, Kaka Radhakrishnan, S. N. Lakshmi, Padmini Priyadarshini, and Nagesh in his film debut.[1]

Thamarai Kulam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMuktha Srinivasan
Produced byS. R. Natarajan
S. R. Veerabahu
Written byS.R. Natarajan
Starring
Music byH. Padmanabha Sarma
T. A. Mothi
CinematographyS. R. Veerabahu
Production
company
Kalyani Pictures
Release date
14 April 1959
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

A greedy zamindar bars the villagers from using Thamaraikulam, the village tank. Under the leadership of Chellaiah, the son of a landowner, the villagers organise a revolution. Chellaiah goes to Madras to seek help from his friend Sekhar. A series of complications follow which include the heroine being kidnapped and tortured, and Sekhar murdered. How Chellaiah and the villagers solve these problems forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Credits adapted from The Hindu:[1]

Production

Thamarai Kulam was produced under the banner Kalyani Pictures. Writer S. R. Natarajan and cinematographer S. R. Veerabahu were the producers, and Muktha Srinivasan was director. Nagesh, then a struggling actor, was noticed by Srinivasan during a play in Mylapore. Srinivasan, impressed with Nagesh's comic performance, hired him to act in another comic role in Thamarai Kulam, for a salary of ₹2500. The film thus became Nagesh's cinematic acting debut. S. M. Ramkumar and Kameswaran served as the dance choreographers. Shooting took place at the now non-existent Golden Studios.[1]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by H. Padmanabha Sarma and T. A. Mothi. The playback singers were P. Susheela, Mothi, P. Leela, Sirkazhi Govindarajan, S. C. Krishnan, A. P. Komala and ‘Nellore’ Janaki.[1]

Reception

Thamarai Kulam was released on 14 April 1959.[2] The film, which was written with Leftist themes, was not well-received by viewers because, according to film historian Randor Guy, during that period, "Tamil cinema was then dominated by movies of Sivaji Ganesan with accent on high-flown, alliterative dialogue." He did, however, state that it would be remembered for being "the debut film of ace comedian Nagesh and the early movie of the talented filmmaker Muktha Srinivasan."[1] Nagesh's performance was panned by the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan.[3]

gollark: We have an insane system where it's partly based on *predicted* grades, too.
gollark: Some universities have them, but otherwise it's based on A-level grades, sometimes other things and (ugh) "personal statements".
gollark: I mean, here in the UK, we actually don't have standardized university entrance exams (yes I am 14 minutes late to this now).
gollark: That's... pretty okay, then?
gollark: No, I mean out of how many people?

References
  1. Guy, Randor (16 May 2015). "Blast from the Past: Thamarai Kulam 1959". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  2. 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 21 November 2016.
  3. Raman, Mohan (March 2009). "He made you weep while you laughed". Madras Musings. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
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