Kalangarai Vilakkam

Kalangarai Vilakkam (pronunciation ) (transl. Lighthouse)[1] is a 1965 Tamil-language psychological thriller film starring M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi in the lead roles. It is based on the American film Vertigo.[2] The film was released on 28 August 1965.[3]

Kalangarai Vilakkam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byK. Shankar
Produced byG. N. Velumani
Written byG. Balasubramaniam
Story byMa. Lakshmanan
StarringM. G. Ramachandran
B. Saroja Devi
M. N. Nambiar
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
CinematographyThambu
Edited byK. Narayanan
Production
company
Saravana Films
Release date
28 August 1965
Running time
148 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

A mysterious machination around the Mahabalipuram Lighthouse's city...

Ravi (MGR), a leading lawyer from Madras with his friend Gopal (V. Gopalakrishnan), a doctor, meet Neela (Saroja Devi), a beautiful girl in Mahabalipuram.

Ravi (MGR) falls in love with her.

But Ravi sees Neela jumping off a cliff and Gopal pronounces her dead.

Heartbroken, Ravi travels with Gopal to get over Neela, but one day, sees a theatre performance of the famous song "Sange Muzhangu" starring the same young woman!

Ravi follows her backstage and confronts her, where she calmly tells him that she is "Maliga".

Still unconvinced, Ravi peeks into her dressing room and confirms that she is indeed Neela, because of a scar on her back.

Meanwhile, Maliga asks Gauwry (G. Sakunthala), her elder sister about the incidences in Mahabalipuram and is told that it is better that she does not know about it.

Ravi convinces Maliga to marry him.

Nagaradjan (M. N. Nambiar), her brother-in-law, is against this and tries to thwart their plans, but they marry in spite of this.

In order to trick Nagaradjan to come out with truth of what transpired in Mahabalipuram, Maliga pretends to get hysterical and runs up the lighthouse and jumps down.

Gauwry distraught, tells Ravi that her husband, (Nagaradjan) had killed a girl who looked exactly like Maliga and taking advantage of the similarity in their looks her husband made everyone believe it was a suicide.

Saying this, she swallows poison and takes her life.

Nagaradjan, who is watching all this tells Ravi that both the witnesses to his murder are dead.

The police, who were hiding, waiting for his confession, swoop down and arrest him.

It is revealed that it was actually a marionette dressed like Maliga that was thrown from the lighthouse.

Maliga is safe. She comes down crying for her elder sister, Gauwry.

And then Ravi and Maliga live happily ever after.

Cast
ActorRole
M. G. Ramachandranas Advocate Chinnadurai Ravi
B. Saroja Devias Neela / Neela alias Maliga
M. N. Nambiaras Nagarajan
Nageshas Vasu, a tourist guide
V. Gopalakrishnanas Doctor Gopal
K. D. Santhanamas Neela 's father
A. Veerappanas Deva, a tourist guide, Vasu 's partner
S. M. Thirupadhiswamyas Thirumalai, Moghini 's father
G. Sakunthalaas Gowri
Manoramaas Moghini

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.[4] The first composition of a soundtrack for M.S.V. since his separation with its partner, the other musician T. K. Ramamoorthy. All songs were super hits. The song "Pallavan Pallavi" is set in Nilambari raga.[5]

No.SongSingersLyricsLength (m:ss)
1"Ennai Maranththen"P. SusheelaPanju Arunachalam03:16
2"Ponnezhil Pootadu"T. M. Soundararajan & P. Susheela06:14
3"Sange Muzhangu"Seerkazhi Govindarajan, P. Susheela & chorusBharathidasan04:57
4"Kattru Vaanga"T. M. SoundararajanVaali04:19
5"Enna Uravo"T. M. Soundararajan04:57
6"Pallavan Pallavi"T. M. Soundararajan03:48

Reception

T. M. Ramachandran of Sport and Pastime criticised K. Shankar's direction "not up to the mark" and also noted "In some of the places, his treatment is naive and bears marks of hurried work".[6]

References
  1. Kannadasan, Akila (17 November 2013). "View from the top". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  2. Riti, M. D. (15 November 1987). "Speak Memory". The Illustrated Weekly of India. Vol. 108. pp. 46–47.
  3. "Kalangarai Vilakkam". The Indian Express. 28 August 1965. p. 10.
  4. "Kalangarai Vilakkam Songs". Raaga.com. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  5. Krishnamachari, Suganthy (15 December 2017). "Filmy perhaps, but definitely not flimsy". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. Ramachandran, T. M. (25 September 1965). "Kalangarai Vilakkam". Sport and Pastime. p. 51. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
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