Iravum Pagalum

Iravum Pagalum (transl. Night and Day) is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by Joseph Thaliath Jr. The film stars newcomers Jaishankar and C. Vasantha in the lead roles while S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh, Ganthimathi and Pandari Bai play supporting roles. In Iravum Pagalum, a man's house is robbed of all its wealth, and his mother prevents him from reporting it to the police. Suspicious, he sets out to unravel the mystery behind his mother's silence. The film was released on 14 January 1965 and became a success.

For the 2015 film, see Iravum Pagalum Varum.

Iravum Pagalum
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph Thaliath Jr.
Produced byJoseph Thomas
Story byT. N. Baalu[1]
StarringJaishankar
C. Vasantha
Music byT. R. Pappa
CinematographyB. B. Lucas
Edited byP. Radhakrishnan
M. Vellaisaamy
Production
company
Citadel Films
Release date
  • 14 January 1965 (1965-01-14)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Rajasekar is a wealthy college student who lives with his widowed mother Maragadhavalli and leads an untroubled life; he is in love with Parimala, his classmate. One night, Rajasekar and Maragadhavalli are robbed of their wealth by a gang; as Maragadhavalli prevents Rajasekar from reporting this incident to the police, he himself sets out to unravel the mystery behind his mother's silence.

Cast

Cast according to the opening credits[1]

Production

Joseph Thaliath Jr. set up a production company named "Citadel Films", the name being inspired by the A. J. Cronin novel The Citadel. He wanted to adapt that novel into a Tamil film, but Citadel Films co-founder F. Nagoor dissuaded him from doing so as he felt the subject was "risky". He instead suggested a crime thriller, which became Iravum Pagalum. Due to the film's low budget, Joseph chose to cast newcomers. Joseph cast theatre actor Subramaniam Shankar in the lead role, christening him Jaishankar and marking the actor's cinematic acting debut. C. Vasantha was cast as the female lead, also making her cinematic acting debut. Pandari Bai, an established actress, played the mother of Jaishankar's character.[2] Thengai Srinivasan was also cast in what would have been his film debut, but was removed after distributors were not supportive of him.[3] The film was produced by Joseph Thomas under the Citadel banner, photographed by B. B. Lucas,[4] and edited by P. Radhakrishnan and M. Vellaisaamy.[1] The final length of the film was 4,509.67 metres (14,795.5 ft).[5]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was composed by T. R. Pappa. The lyrics were written by Alangudi Somu.[6]

Tracklist
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Iravu Varum"T. M. Soundararajan3:45
2."Kaalai Neram Oruvan"P. Susheela, T. M. Soundararajan4:04
3."Koothaadum Kondaiyile"Sirkazhi Govindarajan, P. Susheela3:03
4."Kunguma Kolam"T.M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela3:15
5."Ullathin Kathavugal"T. M. Soundararajan3:36
6."Iranthavanai Sumanthavanum"S. A. Ashokan3:21

Release and reception

Iravum Pagalum was released on 14 January 1965, Pongal day.[7] Despite facing competition from Enga Veettu Pillai and Pazhani, released on the same day,[8][9] the film became a commercial success.[10] The Indian Express said on 6 February 1965, "Iravum Pagalum, despite a muddled script, is above the level of the run-of-the-mill suspense thrillers and has obvious box office potential."[4] In 2009, film historian Randor Guy noted that it would be "remembered for Jaishankar's debut, taut onscreen narration and melodious music".[2]

References
  1. Iravum Pagalum (motion picture) (in Tamil). Citadel Films. 1965. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 1:11.
  2. Guy, Randor (20 March 2009). "Blast from the past – Iravum Pagalum 1965". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 September 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  3. Raman, Mohan V. (20 October 2012). "He walked tall in tinsel town". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  4. "Promising new faces in 'Iravum Pagalum'". The Indian Express. 6 February 1965. p. 3.
  5. "Iravum Pagalum (Tamil) (35 mm) (India)". The Gazette of India. 17 July 1965. p. 2493.
  6. "Iravum Pagalum". JioSaavn. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. Film News Anandan (2004). Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru [Tamil film history and its achievements] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publishers. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017.
  8. "எம்.ஜி.ஆர். நடித்த படங்களின் பட்டியல்". Ithayakkani (in Tamil). 2 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  9. "நான் ரசித்த நாயகன் என்னைத் தேடி வந்தார்" [The man whom I loved came in search of me]. Dina Thanthi (in Tamil). 28 February 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  10. Guy, Randor (7 November 2008). "Bond of Tamil Screen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
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