In an attempt to kill the hero, the villain, along with his gang place a bomb in a walking doll. Unexpectedly, the doll comes back to the car in which the gang travels, killing all of them.
Balachander, who was known for his critically acclaimed suspense thriller films Andha Naal and Avana Ivan made Bommai on the same genre. The film was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 British film Sabotage. Balachander made a few changes in the script to suit the Tamil audience. A walking-talking doll, which carries the bomb, played the main character in Bommai. To cast the doll, Balachander was in search for a long time and even tried one from the United States. Incidentally, while shopping in Parry's Corner, Madras, he found the right doll in a roadside shop and bought it. Unlike the British film, where the passengers in the bus get killed, the Tamil version had the villains who plot to kill the hero get killed in the blast.
Production and release
In addition to acting and directing, Balachander wrote the story and screenplay. His friend Ve. Lakshmanan wrote the dialogues. Although completed and censored in 1963, the film was released only the following year. The film completed 100 days in many theatres in Madras. Its commercial success helped Balachander recover from the loss incurred on his previous film Avana Ivan. At the end credits of the film, Balachander introduces every actor and member of the crew to the audience. Rochelle Shah appeared as an actress, this being the only film she ever acted in. New Straits Times wrote though "the film fails to grip" however "A neat, tidy, suspense packet". The reviewer praised the film's cinematography but criticised background score and editing. Randor Guy of The Hindu wrote the film is"Remembered for the interesting storyline, excellent onscreen narration and performances by Balachandar, V. S. Raghavan and the doll."
Music
The film's soundtrack consisted of six songs, all written by Balachander's associate Ve. Lakshmanan. The music for songs, was composed by Balachander himself, while the background score was composed by D. B. Ramachandran. The philosophical song "Neeyum Bommai Naanum Bommai" marked the playback singing debut of K. J. Yesudas in Tamil cinema. In 2014, when the song was re-used in Moodar Koodam, Yesudas recorded the same for Moodar Koodam, coincidentally marking his completion of 50 years in the Tamil film music industry.
Songs list
The following song list was adapted from a book authored by K. Neelamegam.
