Pasamalar


Pasamalar is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh. It stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Savithri, while K. A. Thangavelu, M. N. Rajam and M. N. Nambiar play supporting roles. It tells the story of Rajasekhar and his bonding with his younger sister Radha. Radha falls in love with his brother's friend. Rajasekhar eventually arranges for their marriage. Problems they face form the story. It was the film adaptation of the Malayalam writer Kottarakara's story of the same name.
The film was predominantly shot in Neptune Studios. The film was produced by M. R. Santhanam and K. Mohan under the production companies, Rajamani Pictures and Mohan Arts respectively. The film's original soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan. The story for the film was written by K. P. Kottarakkara and the dialogues by Aaroor Dass. Pasamalar eventually became a trendsetter resulting in similar themes about brother sister relationship.
Pasamalar was released on 27 May 1961 and received critical acclaim with Ganesan and Savitri's performances being widely lauded. The film was also a commercial success, with a theatrical run of over 26 weeks, thereby becoming a silver jubilee film. The film won the Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature film at the 9th National Film Awards. It was later remade in numerous languages including Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Sinhala. A digitally restored version of Pasamalar was released on 15 August 2013 and was also well received.

Plot

Rajasekharan alias Raju becomes the guardian to his younger sister Radha after their parents' death. When the factory where Raju works is closed due to a labour problem and he is depressed, Radha gives him 1000 which she had earned and saved by making toys. She advises him to use this money as seed capital and commence his own toy business. Raju assents, and in a short time, becomes rich. Anand, a former colleague of Raju, is jobless and approaches Raju for work. Raju appoints him in his concern and over a period of time, Anand and Radha fall in love. Raju, who is very possessive of his sister, gets angry with Anand as he feels betrayed. However, knowing how intensely Radha loves Anand, he arranges their wedding.
After the marriage, Anand, along with his aunt and cousin, move into Raju's house. Raju marries Malathy, a doctor, on Radha's suggestion. All of them continue to live under the same roof and several misunderstandings arise. Anand's aunt uses every opportunity to widen the rift between Malathy and Radha and Radha and Anand. Unable to witness Radha's troubles, Raju moves out of the house with his wife. Through Radha, Anand's aunt serves a legal notice to Raju, demanding a share in the property for Radha. Malathy files a counter petition and the property is attached by the court, pending resolution. Unable to see Radha's sufferings, Raju withdraws the case. Still the families do not unite.
Radha delivers a girl and Malathy delivers a boy. After her child's birth, Malathy goes abroad for further studies, leaving the child with Raju. Unable to cope with the separation from his sister and to have peace of mind, Raju goes on a pilgrimage for several months. He returns on Diwali day and goes to meet Radha, but is denied entry by Anand's aunt. While going back, he saves a little girl from getting burnt by firecrackers and in the process, loses his eyesight. He is hospitalised and Radha rushes to the hospital to see her brother. Raju learns that the girl he saved is none other than his niece. Unable to cope with his inability to see them, he dies; Radha too dies holding his hand.

Cast

K. P. Kottakara, a Malayalam film producer and story writer, wrote a story about the everlasting relationship between a brother and sister, with the intention of making it a film. He approached A. Bhimsingh, a director who gained a reputation for making successful family drama films, and narrated the story to him. After listening to the story, Bhimsingh agreed to make it as the film that would become Pasamalar. Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri, who previously acted in many film as lovers, were cast as the siblings, making this the first film where they did so. The film was produced by K. Mohan under the banner of Rajamani Pictures. Along with him, M. R.Santhanam was a co-producer. Aaroor Dass wrote the dialogues. Few scenes were shot at Sivaji's home in T. Nagar. One day, the climax with the highly emotional dialogue, "Kai Veesamma Kai Veesu" was being canned, during the break, Sivaji didn't even have lunch as he want to starve the whole day to get the perfect emotion and diction for the scene.

Themes

According to Soorian Kasi Pandian, author of the 1996 book India, That Is, Sidd, Pasamalar means "Flower of Love". The term "Pasa" refers to brotherly love which involves sacrifices for his loved sister.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. "Vaarayen Thozhi Vaarayo" attained popularity, and has been played at many Tamil weddings. It was composed in Abheri, a carnatic raga. The song provided major breakthrough for its playback singer LR Eeswari.

Release

Pasamalar was released on 27 May 1961. The film was a commercial success, running for over 26 weeks, thereby becoming a silver jubilee film.

Critical reception

M. Suganth of Times of India noted: "Pasa Malar is actually not a feel-bad movie. Yes, it is melancholic but it also restores your faith in human relationships, not just the brother-sister bond which is the crux of this tale, and its unflinching pursuit of pathos only feels audacious now". Sify called it the "most memorable film on sister sentiments". Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan called it a milestone film and mentioned that though films may come and go, this one would stay forever in the hearts of those who had a chance to see it.

Awards

The film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film in 1962.

Home media

Pasamalar was released in DVD by Raj Video Vision in 2015. It was also included alongside various Sivaji-starrers in a compilation DVD Yettavathu Ulaga Athisayam Sivaji, which was released in May 2012.

Remakes

Pasamalar has been remade in number of languages, including Sinhala. The first Hindi remake, Rakhi was directed by Bhimsingh, the director of the original. It was again remade in Hindi in 1986 as Aisa Pyaar Kahan. It was remade in Telugu as Rakta Sambandham with Savitri reprising her role, and in Kannada as Vathsalya.

Legacy

The film became a trendsetter and inspired similar films of brother-sister relationships like Mullum Malarum. In July 2007, S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu asked eight Tamil film directors to list their all-time favourite Tamil films; four of them – K. Balachander, Balu Mahendra, Mani Ratnam, K. S. Ravikumar – named Pasamalar as one of the favourite films in Tamil. K. S. Ravikumar said "As a kid I saw 'Pasamalar' and cried. As an adult, each time I have seen it I was moved to tears. That is the power of the script and the performance of lead players". Playback singer Asha Bhosle noted that Pasamalar was the first Tamil film she had watched. Samy remarked that his directorial Kangaroo was a "modern day Pasamalar". Actor Sivakumar stated, "You can't reproduce movies like Parasakthi, Pasamalar, Devadas, Veerapandiya Kattabomman or Ratha Kanneer By remaking such films, you are lowering yourself, while it enhances the original artists' image".

In popular culture

Footage of Paasa Malar is featured in the 2011 Tamil film Velayudham. Footage of the song "Malarnthu Malaratha" is featured in the opening scene of Jigarthanda.
Pasamalar has been parodied and referenced many times. The dialogue from this film "En Kannaye Unkitta Oppadaikaren, Adhula ennikume Anandakanneera naan pakkanum, Manjal Kungumamthoda Nee Needoozhi Vazhavendum" became one of the famous dialogues in the film. The dialogue appears in the song "Sakkarakattikku" from Mella Thirandhathu Kadhavu in which a small boy utters imagining the marriage of Radha.The dialogues in this movie also taken in "Yenga annan" song in Namma veetu pullai. In a comedy scene from Magudam, Senthil utters the dialogue in a lighter vein to his sister. Goundamani who has married his sister is irritated that the lady is blackish in colour and she doesn't deserve these words. In Thai Poranthachu, Vivek sings "Malargalai Pol Thangai" in a lighter vein after hearing the sob story of his tenant. In Aasaiyil Oru Kaditham, Vivek sings the same song after hearing that the lady sweeper is married. In Thangam, Sathyaraj sings the same song to his sister just like Sivaji's character from the film. In Thoranai, when Paravai Muniyamma and Mayilsamy fall down unconscious reminiscent of the film's climax, Santhanam jokingly remarks that as if there are the brother-sister pair from Pasamalar.
The following year, Sivaji and Savithri acted as lead pair in a film called Ellam Unakkaga. The film became a failure as the audience couldn't digest Sivaji and Savitri as lovers after seeing them as siblings.

Re-release

A digitally restored version of Pasamalar was released on 15 August 2013, during India's Independence Day. The digital conversion was done by Prasad EFX, Chennai. M. Suganth of The Times of India rated it 5 out of 5, saying "The restoration, cinemascope and audio conversion are pretty good while the trimming manages to retain the continuity to a large extent."