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.
Karpagam is the feature film debut of K. R. Vijaya. It was written and directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan, and produced by K. S. Sabarinathan under Amar Jothi Movies. 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. Sabarinathan took a loan of from AVM Productions to produce the film. Cinematography was handled by M. Karnan, and editing by R. Devarajan. The final length of the film was.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy and lyrics were written by Vaali. P. Susheela is the only playback singer featured on the soundtrack. The songs "Athai Madi Methaiyadi" and "Mannavane Azhalama Kanneerai" attained popularity. In the Hindi remake Rishte Naate, Madan Mohan used the part of the tune of "Athai Madi Methaiyadi" for the song "Ari Neendiya Ki Pari".
Release and reception
Karpagam was released on 15 November 1963, Diwali day. 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. The film was also a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres. Karpagam won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film, and the Rashtrapati Award for S. V. Ranga Rao. It was later remade in Hindi as Rishte Naate, in Telugu as Thodu Needa, and in Malayalam as Vishukkani. The film is also available for viewing on Prime Video.
Legacy
From the profits the film made, Gopalakrishnan built Karpagam Studio. 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.
