Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan Part 10

[ScottAlise]

Saraswathi Sabatham
Overwhelmed by the success of their previous attempt Thiruvilayadal the same combo of NT & APN made their foray in the year 1966 with Saraswathi Sabatham. NT was riding high after Thiruvilayadal success(1965) & started the year with a bang Motor Sundaram Pillai which is well known for his subtle acting.

APN movies if it is an mythological one teaches good morals , unknown puranas, Vedas unlike the present trend of an evil wizard trying to overpower God, God killing him. Since Thiruvilayadal created quite a good platform inspite of efforts to pull it down as mentioned by Ragavenderan sir, probably they decided to go for a imaginary flick with a good message engrossed all over it though made on mytholocial canvas.
If Thiruvilayadal had a ensemble star cast of Savithri, Muthuraman , Balaiah , Saraswathi Sabatham too featured an ensemble of cast of actors and actresses like Gemini Ganesan, KR Vijaya, Savithri, Devika & Padmini who were in the prime of their careers at the time. The film’s biggest attraction those days might have been, the cast. Not only does the movie feature two of Tamil cinema’s acting greats in ‘Sivaji’ Ganesan and ‘Gemini’ Ganesan, but also the most famous actresses of the time in Savithri, Padmini, K.R. Vijaya and Devika.
Here all the 3 top stars, fight for their respective honours only on the screen & it has to be noted no one has a lead pair to romance with & no part of the story deviate from the movie though the comedy track might test your patience, reason the movie is too good to have a comedy track also Thiruvilayadal is still remembered for Nagesh comedy . The expectations might have been huge considering Nagesh playing a comical role again in same combo of APN, NT that too in combination of Manorama might have raised the bars of expectation which played the culprit I guess but nonetheless Manorama’s imitation as a stammerer evoked laughter though I do not prefer making fun of such people.

The film’s underlying premise is very simple. Which is better:education, wealth or strength? In the opening sequences, we see the mischievous sage Naradha (‘Sivaji’ Ganesan) visit Saraswathi (Savithri, as the Goddess of Knowledge), Lakshmi (Devika, as the Goddess of Wealth) and Parvathi (Padmini, as the Goddess of Strength), and pose each of them with the above question. This sets up the clash between the three to see which quality is more essential.
To outwit each other each female God , chooses a person and changes their fate .
Saraswathi provides Vidyapathi (‘Sivaji’ again), who is dumb by birth, with a voice and intelligence making him wise. Godess Lakshmi makes the poorest girl in the country as the next queen to the throne, Naachiya (K.R. Vijaya), providing her with unquestionable wealth and fame. Parvathi transforms one of the biggest cowards into Veeramallar (‘Gemini’ Ganesan), the bravest and strongest man in the land, who also goes on to become Naachiya’s commander-in-chief.
What happens when brain, money, strength clash against each other , it is just a clash of Titans
Even with such a cast, the acting honours would obviously have to go to NT. Of all the actors who have played Naradha on-screen (and there are quite a few), none would probably come close to matching Sivaji. (My other choice would be Cho ) The mischievous glint is obviously visible in his eyes as he plays around with the three goddesses in order to obtain the obvious answer to the question. (Note him especially in the single sequence with the three in tandem.) As Vidyapathi, he also brings the dignity and ego of the knowledgeable character to life. Although K.R. Vijaya and ‘Gemini’ Ganesan are legends in their own right, the pride seen in Sivaji’s face and body language as he talks about the power of knowledge is unmatched by the former two.
The fact that the scene in which NT (Vidyapati) gets his voice is imitated very often underlines the fact that it has been very well received and still remains in our heart. The dialogues too are a rage especially NT confronting scenes with the king and the commander rhyming ones(T R is famous for it in present trend) also I guess it is more of punch dialogues but said with a beautiful purpose when I see such a movies I do get a clue as to how the present day actors limited to Thalaivar Rajini, Kamal get inspiration
K.R. Vijaya and ‘Gemini’ Ganesan are perfect for their respective roles. The self-importance of the queen, with all her wealth and fame, is skilfully depicted by the former. And since good screen-presence is the main pre-requisite for Veeramallar, the latter fits the bill perfectly. Though OAK Devar would have been my choice but You cannot cast him main role
Savithri, Devika and Padmini have limited screen presence , Savithri gets compensated for her performance & screen presence in thiruvilayadal, Devika in Many movies with NT, Padmini, no prizes for guesses in Tillana Mohanmbal Just like Thiruvilayadal another major highlight of the film is K.V. Mahadevan’s music combined with Kannadasan’s lyrics. Agara Muthala Ezhuthellam... is the best song with each line starting from each of the Tamil alphabets in sequence, Kalviya Selvama Veerama... features great lyrics from Kannadasan underlining the significance of each of these qualities in life. Thai Thandha Pichaiyile... has been beggar related comedy scenes over the years
( Goundamani, Senthil comedy, Vivek Comedy), while Gomatha Engal Kulamatha..is also a song played in Mattu Pongal
As always this movie too is a very sensational devotional flick often played in Jaya Tv and widely sold in DVD formats , waiting for its re release

[ScottAlise]

Congrats Murali sir for your rocking posts a ardent fan of your articles especially your trip down memory lane type articles , NT political article from 1952 to till end

[parthasarathy]

Dear Mr. Murali,

Hearty congratulations on reaching 2000 postings!

Like Mr. Gopal and may be some more, your writings only brought me into this thread.

Please continue to write and enthrall us.

Regards,

R. Parthasarathy

[parthasarathy]

Dear Mr. Ragulram,

Great postings on "Thiruvilaiyaadal" and "Saraswathi Sabatham". Your writing is simple but very effective. Please continue and make everyone happy.

Regards,

R. Parthasarathy

[adiram]

Mr. Ragulram sir,

Your writings about Thiruvilaiyadal and Saraswathi Sabatham are too good.

Why not you try to present your analysis in Tamil, which will be more effective to read, and will reach many.

If anyone translate these two analysis to Tamil, that will be very nice.

keep up sir.

[HARISH2619]

2000 பதிவுகளை கடந்த எங்கள் முத்தான முரளி சாருக்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள்.ஏனைய நண்பர்கள் சொன்னதைப்போல நானெல்லாம் இந்த திரிக்கு வந்ததே நம் முரளி சாரின் பதிவுகளால்தான்.உங்களில் ஒவ்வொரு பதிவுமே எனக்கு ஒரு கோடிக்கு சமம்.

[HARISH2619]

புகைப்படங்களை அப்லோட் செய்த திரு ராகவேந்தர் சாருக்கு மிக்க நன்றி .

அரங்கத்திற்கு உள்ளே நடந்த அளப்பரைகளை நான் விவரிப்பதைவிட இந்த புகைப்படங்களை பார்த்தாலே புரிந்துகொள்ளலாம் என்றாலும் முக்கியமான ஒன்றிரண்டு நிகழ்வுகளை சொல்கிறேன் .நான் முன்பே குறிப்பிட்டிருந்த அந்த பெரியவரின் உற்சாகம்தான் அன்றைய ஹைலைட் .படம் ஆரம்பித்ததில் இருந்து வணக்கம் போடும்வரை ஒரு இடத்தில் உட்காராமல் வலம் வந்தபடியே இருந்தார் முக்கியமான கட்டங்களிலும் பாடல் காட்சிகளிலும் தான் கொண்டுவந்திருந்த சில்லறைகளை திரையைநோக்கி வீசிக்கொண்டும்,விசில் அடித்துக்கொண்டும்,கோஷங்கள் எழுப்பிக்கொண்டும் அங்கிருந்த பல நடுத்தர வயது ரசிகர்களுக்கு இணையாக படு சுறுசுறுப்பாக இயங்கிகொண்டிருந்தார்.அவரே இப்படி என்றால் மற்ற ரசிகர்களைபற்றி சொல்லவும் வேண்டுமோ?நடிகர்திலகத்தின் அறிமுக காட்சியில் ஆரம்பித்த அமர்களங்கள் யாருக்காக பாடலில் உச்சம்பெற்றது .அதிலும் மாளிகையை வர்ணிக்கும் காட்சியிலிருந்து க்ளைமாக்ஸ் வரை பெரும்பாலானவர்கள் நின்றுகொண்டு அல்லது நடமாடிகொண்டுதான் படம் பார்த்தார்கள் .சக்கரவர்த்தியடா ஸ்டைலுக்கும் குடிமகனே பாட்டிற்கும் சில்லறைகளோடு சாக்லேட்டுக்களும் பறந்தது .படம் முடிந்து வெளியேவரும்போது வரும் மயக்கமென்ன பாட்டுக்கு கூட காசு பறந்தது.நடுநடுவே கொளுத்தப்பட்ட கற்பூரங்களுக்கும் உடைக்கப்பட்ட தேங்காய்களுக்கும் கணக்கே இல்லை.மிகப்பெரிய அளப்பரையுடன் படம் பார்த்த திருப்தியோடு வீடு திரும்பினோம்

[KCSHEKAR]

Dear Murali sir,

Congratulations for you to crossing 2000 posts.

[KCSHEKAR]

Dear Rahul sir,

Your write up about Saraswathy Sabatham is very good.

[vasudevan31355]

முத்தான முரளி சார்,

தங்களுடைய 2000 பதிவுகள் என்றுமே எங்களுக்கு இரட்டிப்பு சந்தோஷம் தருபவை. தங்களுடைய தன்னிகரில்லா பதிவுகளுக்கு என் உளமார்ந்த வாழ்த்துக்கள்.