Kadhalikka Neramillai

Kadhalikka Neramillai
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	C. V. Sridhar
Produced by	C. V. Sridhar
Written by	C. V. Sridhar Chitralaya Gopu
Starring	T. S. Balaiah R. Muthuraman Nagesh Rajasree Sachu Ravichandran Kanchana
Music by	Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy
Cinematography	A. Vincent P. N. Sundaram
Edited by	N. M. Shankar
Production company	Vijaya Vauhini Studios Gemini Studios (processing)
Distributed by	Chitralaya Pictures
Release dates	February 1964 (1964-02)
Running time	150 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kadhalikka Neramillai (English: No Time for Love) is a 1964 Indian Tamil romantic comedy film produced and directed by C. V. Sridhar, who also conceived and co-wrote its script with Chitralaya Gopu. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of T. S. Balaiah, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, Rajasree and Sachu. Ravichandran and Kanchana made their debut in Tamil cinema with this film.

The plot of Kadhalikka Neramillai revolves around Viswanathan, an estate owner who hopes to get his daughters Nirmala and Kanchana married to wealthy grooms. However, Nirmala falls in love with Ashok, a poor man who was once employed by Vishwanathan. To earn Viswanathan's approval, Ashok pretends to be the only heir of a rich businessman; he is supported by his friend Vasu, who poses as Ashok's fictional millionaire father Chidambaram. A comedy of errors ensues when Vasu discovers his lover Kanchana is Viswanathan's other daughter.

Principal photography for the film was completed in 30 days, with shooting taking place mostly in Ooty and in a bungalow near Pollachi. One song sequence was filmed in Marina Beach, Chennai. It was the first Tamil film to be released in Eastman Color; previous Indian colour films were made in Gevacolor and Technicolor. The cinematographers were A. Vincent and P. N. Sundaram, and the editor was N. M. Shankar. The film's soundtrack and score were composed by the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy, with lyrics written by poet Kannadasan.

Kadhalikka Neramillai was released in February 1964 to critical acclaim; it was a commercial success, running in theatres for more than 25 weeks. It has also received wide appreciation from contemporary critics and film personalities. Regarded as a trend-setting comedy, the film has since developed a cult status in Tamil cinema. Its success led to a Telugu remake Preminchi Choodu (1965), a Hindi remake Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966) and a Kannada remake Preethi Madu Thamashe Nodu (1979); the Telugu remake was directed by P. Pullaiah while the Hindi remake was directed by Sridhar. Rajasree reprised her role in both those films.

Plot

Viswanathan (T. S. Balaiah) is an arrogant, money-minded estate owner who lives in a bungalow called Chinnamalai Estate near Pollachi. His son Chellappa (Nagesh) is an aspiring filmmaker; Chellappa is the antithesis of his father and voices his displeasure at his father's arrogance. Viswanathan also has two daughters; Kanchana (Kanchana) and Nirmala (Rajasree). Kanchana is in love with her college mate Vasu (R. Muthuraman), the son of a rich Chennai-based businessman Sachidanandam (V. S. Raghavan). The sisters return home after completing their education in Chennai. One day while out sightseeing, a battered car driven by their father's young, rebellious estate manager Ashok (Ravichandran) bumps into their car. The sisters quarrel with Ashok and are annoyed by his insolence. At their home, they force Viswanathan to dismiss Ashok. Infuriated, Ashok pitches a tent overlooking their bungalow and begins a strike to get his job back. Nirmala accidentally drops a bucket of water on Ashok's head, hurting him. Feeling guilty, she visits Ashok's tent to apologise and they fall in love.

Viswanathan decides to get his daughters married to wealthy men. Ashok realises that because he is poor he has no chance of becoming a prospective groom. Nirmala loves him but she does not wish to elope with him. He calls up his friend, who happens to be Vasu, to pose as his wealthy father. Vasu arrives at Chinnamalai and agrees to help. He disguises himself as a rich, old man named Chidambaram. When Kanchana is introduced to Vasu in disguise, he is shocked because he believes Ashok loves Kanchana, but discovers to his relief that Ashok is in love with Nirmala.

Meanwhile, Chellappa starts a film production house called Oho Productions. Unable to earn anyone's faith in his capabilities, he handles the film-making himself. Chellappa unsuccessfully tries to persuade his father to finance his film; he engages the estate manager's daughter Meenalochni (Sachu) to play the heroine in his film. Chellappa selects Ashok for the film's screenplay and asks Chidambaram to fund it. When the film does not progress as expected, Meenalochni's father forces Chellappa to marry her. Chellappa initially refuses but realising he has no choice, he accepts the offer.

On a short trip, Chidambaram reveals his identity to Vishwanathan's daughters, who agree to play along. Viswanathan, believing Ashok is the only heir of a millionaire, asks Kanchana's consent to marry him. When Kanchana rejects the proposal, Viswanathan asks Nirmala, who happily accepts. Sachidanandam, who is buying a nearby estate, is referred to Viswanathan and arrives in Chinnamalai. They meet and discover that they are childhood friends. Thinking it would be inappropriate to marry off his younger daughter while the elder one is still unmarried, Viswanathan arranges Kanchana's marriage to Vasu, who meets his father is unable to reveal his true identity to prevent getting caught. When Sachidanandam returns to Chennai to make the wedding preparations, he finds that there has been no word from his son, who left for Coimbatore weeks before. Sachidanandam almost cancels the marriage when Vasu makes a telephone call in the nick of time and approves the marriage.

Sachidanandam's car breaks down and he takes shelter in a nearby hut until it is fixed. There, he finds a photograph of Ashok and an elderly school teacher who is Ashok's father. He suspects Ashok of foul play to usurp Viswanathan's riches and files a complaint. Vasu and Ashok are held in custody by the police. As Sachidanandam arrives at the police station, the truth behind the impersonation is revealed and he withdraws his complaint. When his daughters refuse to part with their lovers, Viswanathan realises their love and agrees to their request to get married.

Cast

Production

Origin

C. V. Sridhar and Sadagopan, who was known by his screen name Chitralaya Gopu, had been friends since their tenure at St. Joseph's High School, Chengalpattu.^[2] At school both were playwrights; Sridhar wrote stage plays and portrayed the lead roles.^[3] Gopu wrote the humour-oriented plays and portrayed comic roles.^[3] Later, when Sridhar had the opportunity to direct a film, he asked Gopu to join him and handle the humour content.^[4][5] The success of Kalyana Parisu (1959) led to Sridhar establishing his own production house, Chitralaya Pictures.^[2][6]

Sridhar used to spend his evenings with Gopu, driving along Marina Beach.^[7] Gopu asked Sridhar whether he would like to work on a comedy film. Sridhar, who was known for dramatic films, thought the audience would not accept a comedy from him. He agreed reluctantly upon Gopu's insistence, and decided to produce a full-length comedy and originated the title, Kadhalikka Neramillai, which translates as "No time for love".^[8] The entire story and screenplay were conceived on Marina Beach; according to Gopu, "[s]itting in Sridhar’s open Herald, we discussed the script for days on end".^[3]

Cast and crew

P. S. Raman, who went to Chennai in 1963 to join a medical college, was asked to see Sridhar, who was auditioning newcomers for the film.^[9] Sridhar chose to christen Raman as Ravichandran and introduced him in this film.^[10][11] During a flight, Sridhar met an air-hostess named Vasundhara Devi and approached her to play one of the female leads.^[6][12] Because she shared her name with Vasundhara Devi, the mother of actress Vyjayanthimala, Sridhar renamed her Kanchana to avoid confusion.^[13]

Rajasree, who made her film debut as a child actor in AVM Productions' Naga Devathai (1956) playing the younger Jamuna, was in her late teenage years and was playing second heroine and sister roles in Telugu films. Gopu phoned and asked her to attend their studio the next day to audition for her role.^[14] A song sequence, "Anubhavam Pudhumai", was shot to audition her; the makers were impressed and her name was added to the cast, making it her first film as a lead actress.^[15]

Sachu, who began her career as a child actor, played the heroine in films such as Veerathirumagan (1961) and Annai (1962) until Sridhar offered her a comic role.^[16][17] Sachu initially refused the offer as she was hesitant on playing a comedy role. Sridhar assured her that being a full-fledged comedy film, there were no separate comedians and that she would only be playing a character in one of the three lead pairs.^[18] Gopu also persuaded Sachu's grandmother, who used to accompany her to the sets.^[19][20] Impressed by the way Sridhar "narrated the story featuring three couples", Sachu accepted the offer.^[21] Sachu felt that the film's story was as good as William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953).^[22]

T. S. Balaiah and R. Muthuraman were chosen to play the characters Viswanathan and Vasu respectively.^[1] Nagesh, then a struggling actor whose breakthrough role was in Sridhar's Nenjil Or Aalayam (1962),^[23] was selected to play Viswanathan's son Chellappa.^[1][24] The screenplay and dialogues were co-written by Sridhar and Gopu.^[1] A. Vincent and P. N. Sundaram handled the film's cinematography, while N. M. Shankar was the editor. Art director Ganga and choreographers Thangappan and Mugur Sundar comprised the rest of the technical crew.^[25]

Filming

Aaliyar Dam, as seen from the Chinnamalai Estate bungalow where a major portion of the film was shot.

Kadhalikka Neramillai was the first Tamil film to be made in Eastman Color.^[26] According to G. Dhananjayan, author of the book The Best of Tamil Cinema, the film was launched with an advertisement that said, "Do not look for any story in the film!".^[1] It was produced by Vijaya Vauhini Studios and processed at Gemini Studios' laboratory.^[27]

Principal photography on the project commenced with the song "Anubhavam Pudhumai", which was picturised on Ravichandran and Rajasree. Portions of the song featuring the latter were the first scenes shot. Because the producers had not taken measurements for her costumes, Rajasree was sceptical about whether filming would begin that day. She was given a nightgown as the costume for the song sequence.^[14][15] Sachu's costumes were designed by Sridhar himself.^[22]

Because the idea for the film came while at the Marina Beach, the opening sequence song "Enna Parvai" picturised on Muthuraman and Kanchana was filmed on the beach promenade with Madras University and Presidency College in the background.^[5] In the first scene of the film, Sridhar attempted to depict Madras as a "progressive place: where couples sang duets on the Marina".^[28] After several days of filming, Sridhar was unhappy with the script and filming was stopped. He reworked the script and dialogues, after which filming resumed. Most of the film was shot in Ooty in 30 days.^[29] Filming also took place on location at the Aaliyar Guest House, a bungalow near Aaliyar Dam, Coimbatore.^[8]

During filming, Gopu gave Ravichandran the lyrics of the song "Naalaam Naalaam", which were written like tongue-twisters in chaste Tamil. He claimed they were his own lines and asked him to memorise them. When the director called for the shots, Ravichandran asked for more time because he found it difficult to remember the dialogue. The puzzled director then said, "This isn’t the dialogue. Who gave it to you? This is a social film, a comedy. Gopu must have done it. He’s always pulling a fast one, don’t you know?"^[3] During the 50th anniversary of the film in 2014, Rajasree said she had difficulties in providing the right pronunciation of her dialogues for the film.^[30]

In one scene, Balaiah asks Nagesh to tell a story, promising to finance his film if he is impressed. Knowing he will not receive any funds, Nagesh decides to scare Balaiah and narrates a horror story. Nagesh later said this was Gopu's idea; "You know how director Dada Miraasi tells a story. Just follow the pattern". Nagesh and Balaiah completed shooting the scene in a single take.^[31] Kanchana recalled filming the scene and said, "I was standing behind, trembling to control my laughter. The moment the scene was over, the entire team began to laugh, so hard, we soon had tears running down our faces."^[8]

Music

The soundtrack album and background score for Kadhalikka Neramillai were composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy (a duo consisting of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy) and the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.^[3] The album was released under the label of Saregama.^[32]

The song "Anubhavam Pudhumai" samples a 1940 Spanish song titled "Bésame Mucho".^[33] Philips, an autodidact guitarist, played the guitar for "Anubhavam Pudhumai" and "Malarendra Mugamondru".^[34] The original soundtrack edition omits the songs "Maadimele" and "Kadhalikka Neramillai", which are included on the tracklist of Raaga.com; the website omits the song "Viswanathan Velai Vendum" which was included on the original soundtrack edition.^[35][36] Viswanathan and his wife were spending a vacation in Yercaud for a week, when Kannadasan, Gopu and Sridhar were waiting for him to begin composing the songs. The day when Viswanathan returned and arrived at Chithralaya office, Kannadasan said, "Ennappa..Viswanathaa...Velai kodu.." (English: Viswanathan give me some work). Sridhar then said that should be the beginning of the song and decided to give Balaiah's character the name Viswanathan.^[37]

The music received positive reviews from critics. The song "Enna Parvai" was considered by K. J. Yesudas as his breakthrough song in his career as a playback singer.^[30] G. Dhananjayan said that all the songs were popular—especially among teenagers—and contributed to the film's success.^[29] In August 2014, Mayura Akilan of Oneindia Entertainment said the songs were mesmerising and pleasant to the ears.^[38] Playwright-comedian Y. G. Mahendra called the songs "immortal masterpieces".^[39] V. Chandramohan of The Hindu praised the catchy rock and roll tunes in "Maadimele" and said "Anubhavam Pudhumai" and "Enna Paarvai" were meant for all music lovers.^[40]

Release

Gopu (pictured in 2015) and Nagesh (pictured in 2005) received major praise for their contributions.

Kadhalikka Neramillai was released in February 1964.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Gopu said Chitralaya released the film because initially no company wanted to screen it; the first showings were at the Casino Theatre in Chennai and later in Madurai. A few weeks later, the film caught the attention of theatre distributors, who competed with one another for it.^[8] According to The Best of Tamil Cinema, "The distributors who saw the first copy were impressed as the film was looking fresh and appealing in Eastman Color and eagerly bought the rights".^[29] Artist Jeyaraj designed the publicity posters.^[42]

After playing to full houses for about eight weeks, the film's revenue began to reduce. The film attracted controversy when newspapers said it could spoil the youth and the society. Due to this statement, the film regained momentum.^[29] Eventually, it garnered wide critical acclaim and became a commercially successful venture at the box office,^[43] running for more than 175 days at the box office and becoming a silver jubilee film.^{[10][lower-alpha 2]} On the 175th day celebrations held at N. K. T. Kala Mandapam, Triplicane, Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy were conferred with the title "Mellisai Mannargal", by Kannadasan.^[37] After its release, Sridhar placed full-page advertisements in magazines with a disclaimer that his company should not be held responsible if anyone suffered from stomach ache after watching the film.^[29]

In April 2010, Kadhalikka Neramillai was one of five films screened at the South Indian Film Chamber Theatre for the Dignity Film Festival held in Chennai; the other four were Madhumati (1958), Server Sundaram (1964), Anbe Vaa (1966) and Thillana Mohanambal (1968).^[44][45]

Critical response

The film received positive response from critics and the performances of Nagesh and Balaiah were particularly praised.^[29] The Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan wrote in its review, "Tamil cinema has not witnessed a film like this so far, which did not bore the audience for two and a half hours, but entertained and made them laugh throughout ... the film maker has given an innovative, best comedy entertainer to the audience."^[29] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "Even today 'Kadhalikka Neramillai' has you in splits every time you watch it".^[31] Following Sridhar's death, she wrote, " ... who can forget the humour ride Sridhar offered with 'Kadhalikka Naeramillai?' The carnival feel and gaiety, the freshness of the cast, the hill station back drops in Eastman colour and the comedy that every actor projected so well, with Nagesh and T.S. Balaiah at the helm will live as long as Tamil cinema does!"^[46] P.R. Viswanathan wrote, "Kadhalikka Neramillai saw Nagesh walking into the hearts of Tamil filmgoers".^[47]

According to a February 2009 article by The Hindu, Nagesh gave Tamil cinema one of its "memorable vintage comedy scenes." as the intrepid storyteller/film director.^[48] Press Trust of India said his role as aspiring director Chellappa is still remembered by Tamil moviegoers.^[49] Ramya Kannan of The Hindu said, "Kadhalikka Neramillai broke out on celluloid screens in the South, in glorious Eastman Colour, with songs (by Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy) that were an instant hit".^[8] Writing for The Hindu, Meera Srinivasan said, "Kadhalikka Neramillai made waves in the industry and remains one of the best-loved comedies in Tamil cinema".^[2] Another journalist for The Hindu wrote, "Kaadhalikka Neramillai (1964) turned out to be a superhit, its songs memorable, and some of the scenes featuring T.S.Balaiya and Nagesh... classic comedy".^[43] Film critic Naman Ramachandran called it "one of the all-time great comedies of Tamil cinema".^[50] Sify wrote, "[Nagesh's] scenes with Baaliah who played his father has terrific comedy timing and great one-liners".^[51]

Remakes

In 1965, Kadhalikka Neramillai was remade in Telugu as Preminchi Choodu. The remake was directed by P. Pullaiah, and featured Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Kongara Jaggayya in the lead roles. Kanchana and Rajasree reprised their roles. The following year, the film was remade in Hindi as Pyar Kiye Jaa. This remake was directed by Sridhar, and starred Shashi Kapoor and Kishore Kumar in the lead, while Mehmood portrayed the role played by Nagesh in the original.^[52] Rajasree, who again reprised her role, was the only actor to appear in both remakes.^[8][15][30] It was also remade in Kannada as Preethi Madu Thamashe Nodu by C. V. Rajendran.^[53]

In 2007, director-turned-comedian Manobala—who wanted to return to directing—decided to remake Kadhalikka Neramillai as his comeback film and bought the remake rights.^[54] The Hindu reported in August 2008 that R. Madhavan would be playing the lead role.^[55] The film was to be produced by Raadhika Sarathkumar's production house Radaan Mediaworks.^[56] When the casting fell through, the project was abandoned and Manobala was willing to sell the rights.^[57] Meanwhile, director K. Selva Bharathy was reported to have been engaged for the project with a few casting changes, but it did not materialise.^[58]

The planned contemporary remakes drew criticism. In an interview with Rekhs, a celebrity columnist for Behindwoods, Gopu said, "This film even if it is remade today, will not hold a candle to its original".^[59] Crazy Mohan said, "Kadhalikka Naeramillai is Tamil Cinema’s Mount Everest of comedy. There’s no other Tenzing [Norgay] in sight so far. I was aghast that some people even considered re-making Kadhalikka Naeramillai. None should attempt it. It is blasphemy".^[60]

Legacy

Since its release, Kadhalikka Neramillai has developed a cult status in Tamil cinema.^[6] It has been hailed as a trendsetting comedy,^[31] and the film is said to kindle a feeling of joie de vivre.^[31][60] The film's comedy sequences are regarded as evergreen.^[61] Other films of the comedy genre that followed the trend set by Kadhalikka Neramillai's success were Kasethan Kadavulada (1972), Indru Poi Naalai Vaa (1981), Athisaya Piravi (1990) and Ullathai Allitha (1998).^[29] The success of their on-screen pairing led Nagesh and Sachu to act together in films such as Motor Sundaram Pillai (1966), Galatta Kalyanam (1968), Sivandha Mann (1969) Sumathi En Sundari (1971) and Urimai Kural (1974).^[22]

While the comedy track of 'Oho Productions' featuring Nagesh is considered to be one of Gopu's masterpieces,^[4] the Balaiah-Nagesh scene is often termed to be legendary in Tamil cinema.^[8] In a film that featured mostly newcomers, Balaiah was the most senior artiste. When the Balaiah-Nagesh pairing was an instant hit, he praised the latter saying, "Watch out! This boy is a scene-stealer".^[62] Gopu said, "Chitralaya had a solid technical team ... Thangappan’s choreography in [Kadhalikka Neramillai] is timeless and combined with MSV’s magic, looks modern even today".^[3]

After Tamil cinema's platinum jubilee in 2007,^{[lower-alpha 3]} when eight acclaimed directors were asked to list ten films they liked most, Kadhalikka Neramillai was chosen by K. S. Ravikumar.^[63] In 2009, Y. G. Mahendra said the film "[...] taught me there is everything to know about comedy—what is timing, what is healthy comedy, what is situational comedy ... It also portrayed love in such a clean and healthy way. And, who can forget the music? I can relate to the songs even today. [...] Kaadhalikka ... is a movie for all seasons.^[64]

Choreographer-turned-director Prabhu Deva, whose father Sundaram was the assistant choreographer under Thangappan, named Kadhalikka Neramillai among his five favourite films.^[65] Crazy Mohan and comedian Aarthi also listed Kadhalikka Neramillai among their favourite films.^[66][67] The film was featured in a list by The Hindu named "Bring on the laughs".^[68] During the celebrations of the film's 50th anniversary, Kamal Haasan appreciated Gopu's dialogue in the film while Y. G. Mahendra said, "[Kadhalikka Neramillai] was Wodehouseian humour at its best—unadulterated and pure."^[60]

In popular culture

In 1985, choreographer Raghuram directed a film featuring Karthik and Jeevitha in the lead roles.^[69] The film was titled Viswanathan Velai Venum after the song of the same name.^[70] According to IndiaGlitz, it was an unofficial remake of Kadhalikka Neramillai.^[57] In 2006, Crazy Mohan wanted to create something similar to Kadhalikka Neramillai. He wrote the story, screenplay and dialogue of the film Jerry, which he described as his "pet project".^[66][71] In 2011, director I. Ahmed's then-forthcoming film was initially titled Kadhalikka Neramillai, but this was changed to Endrendrum Punnagai (2013) because the producers could not get the rights to use the former name.^[72][73]

Surya, son of writer Balakumaran, named his short film Kadhalikka Neramillai.^[74] Independent filmmaker R. Buvana titled her romantic comedy film Kadhalikka Naeramundu ("There is Time for Love").^[75] Y. G. Mahendra has a particular affinity for Kadhalikka Neramillai. When he launched his theatre group United Amateur Artists' 55th play, he named it Kadhalikka Neramundu as a tribute to Gopu and Sridhar.^[76] The play, a parody of the film, was written by Gopu's son 'Chitralaya' Sriram.^[77][78]

Explanatory notes

References

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1931-1976. Galatta Media. ISBN 978-81-9210-430-0. 
• Narwekar, Sanjit (2012). Eena Meena Deeka: The Story of Hindi Film Comedy. Rupa & Co. ISBN 978-81-291-2625-2. 
• Ramachandran, Naman (2014) [2012]. Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography (2nd ed.). Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-81-8475-796-5. 

External links

• Kadhalikka Neramillai at the Internet Movie Database
• Kadhalikka Neramillai at Upperstall.com