Naanal (film)

Naanal (transl. Reed) is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language crime comedy film, written and directed by K. Balachander. It is based on his play of the same name. The film stars R. Muthuraman, Major Sundarrajan, Srikanth, Sowcar Janaki, K. R. Vijaya and Nagesh. It was released on 24 December 1965 and failed at the box office.

Naanal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byK. Balachander
Written byK. Balachander
Based onNaanal
by K. Balachander
Produced byG. V. Saravanan
StarringR. Muthuraman
K. R. Vijaya
Major Sundarrajan
Sowcar Janaki
Srikanth
Nagesh
CinematographyP. N. Sundaram
Edited byN. R. Kittu
S. Muthu
Music byV. Kumar
Production
company
Saravana Pictures
Release date
  • 24 December 1965 (1965-12-24)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Four jailbirds escape from prison to take revenge on the judge who sentenced them. They take over his house, and the film builds around the judge and his family escaping from them.

Cast

Production

Naanal was a play written by K. Balachander and inspired by the film The Desperate Hours (1955).[1] After the release of Neerkumizhi, Balachander decided to adapt The Desperate Hours as the story for his next play after being impressed by the plot.[2] Naanal was later adapted by him into a film with the same name after the producer Velumani felt it had potential.[2][3] Naanal marked the feature film debut of Typist Gopu.[4]

When the film was submitted to the censor board for certification, an official raised objection against the film's concept, believing it may influence criminals in real life to take revenge in a similar manner and instructed Balachander to change the story and film it again. Balachander, who was shocked by this decision as the film was nearing its release, made changes to the film like redubbing lines of "Judge" and replacing it with "Durai" while also shooting a flashback scene to show the reason for the criminals' anger against the film's protagonist in one day and added it in the film. After making these changes, the certification was given.[2]

Soundtrack

Music was composed by V. Kumar and lyrics were written by Alangudi Somu and Suratha.[5][6] A. R. Venkatachalapathy wrote, "[Suratha] had a knack for compiling data, making lists and turning them into poetry", citing "Vinnukku Melaadai" in Naanal as an example.[7]

SongsSingersLyricistsLength
"Ennathaan Paaduvathu"P. SusheelaAlangudi Somu03:59
"Kuyil Koovi Thuyil Ezhuppa"Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi02:52
"Kuyil Koovi Thuyil Ezhuppa" – SadSoolamangalam Rajalakshmi & Major Sundarrajan (dialogues)03:26
"Vinnukku Melaadai"T. M. Soundararajan & P. SusheelaSuratha05:39

Release and reception

Naanal was released on 24 December 1965.[8] T. M. Ramachandran of Sport and Pastime positively reviewed the film, praising Sundarrajan's performance more than the other cast members.[9] Kalki gave the film a less positive review, comparing it unfavourably to the source play.[10] The film did not do well at the box-office.[2]

Legacy

The storyline of Crazy Mohan's play Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam was inspired by Naanal.[11]

References
  1. Gopalie, S. (1969). "Tamil | (In)significant" (PDF). Enact. No. 25. pp. 13–15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. பாலசந்தர், கே. (12 February 1995). "நினைவலைகள் – 28". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 49–51. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  3. "1965 – நாணல் – சரவணா பிக். (மேடை நாடகம்)" [1965 – Naanal – Saravana Pic. (stage play)]. Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. "Veteran Tamil actor 'typist' Gopu passes away in Chennai". The News Minute. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  5. "Naanal". JioSaavn. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  6. Neelamegam, G. (November 2016). Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 2 (in Tamil) (1st ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. pp. 205–206.
  7. Venkatachalapathy, A.R. (17 June 2021). "Suradha: The poet of similes". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  8. "Naanal". The Indian Express. 24 December 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  9. Ramachandran, T. M. (12 February 1966). "Naanal". Sport and Pastime. Vol. 20. p. 42. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  10. "நாணல்". Kalki (in Tamil). 9 January 1966. p. 9. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  11. Ramakrishnan, Deepa H. (1 September 2016). "'Crazy Thieves' all set to return". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
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