Neelagiri Express
Neelagiri Express (transl. Blue Mountain Express) is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by Thirumalai–Mahalingam and written by Cho Ramaswamy. The music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy. The film stars Jaishankar, Cho, Vijaya Nirmala and Vijaya Lalitha. It is a remake of a 1967 Malayalam film Cochin Express (1967).[1] The film was released on 23 March 1968 and was a commercial success.[2]
| Neelagiri Express | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Thirumalai–Mahalingam |
| Screenplay by | Cho Ramaswamy |
| Produced by | V. Arunachalam |
| Starring | Jaishankar |
| Cinematography | G. Vittal Rao |
| Edited by | A. Paulduraisingam |
| Music by | T. K. Ramamoorthy |
Production company | A. L. S. Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
A murder takes place aboard Neelagiri Express, bound to Coimbatore from Madras. Ravanan is the only passenger who is travelling with a deceased. One of Ravanan's co-passengers is a mysterious woman named Kalavathy. She takes him off the train to have food at Arakkonam and purposely makes him lose the train, and she disappears. In the meantime, a wealthy man named Sabapathy is murdered, and Ravanan becomes a crime suspect. CID Inspector Shankar is assigned the task of nabbing the criminal behind the murder. He realises that Ravanan is innocent and begins the investigation. So, he sets out of solving the case with the help of Ravanan and eventually finds the murderer.
Cast
- Jaishankar as CID Inspector Shankar[1]
- S. A. Ashokan as the villain with eye-patch[1]
- Cho Ramaswamy as Ravanan[1]
- Vijaya Nirmala as Geetha[1]
- Vijaya Lalitha as Kalavathy[1]
- V. S. Raghavan as Sabapathy[1]
- S. V. Ramadas as Boopathy[1]
- K. Vijayan as Kumar
- S. Parvathi as Mahalakshmi
- Tambaram Lalitha as Geetha's mother
- Kallapart Natarajan[1]
- Srividya (special appearance in the song "Thiruthani Muruga Thennava Thalaiva")
- M. Bhanumathi (special appearance in the song "Thiruthani Muruga Thennava Thalaiva")
Soundtrack
The music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy and the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.
| No. | Song | Singers | lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Vallibam Oru Velli Thattu" | T. M. Soundararajan, L. R. Eswari | Kannadasan | 5:11 |
| 2 | "Naan Kalaingan Alla" | 3:56 | ||
| 3 | "Thiruthani Muruga Thennava Thalaiva" | P. Susheela, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi | 4:20 | |
| 4 | "Kalyana Pennai Konjam" | P. Susheela, L. R. Eswari | 4:18 | |
| 5 | "Kadavul Madhuvai Kangalil Aada" | L. R. Eswari | 4:20 |
Release and reception
Neelagiri Express was released on 23 March 1968.[3] Kalki said the story looked like it lacked salt and pepper.[4] Despite this, it was a commercial success.[1]
References
- Guy, Randor (14 March 2015). "Neelagiri Express 1968". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- Guy, Randor (7 November 2008). "Bond of Tamil Screen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- "Nilgiri Express". The Indian Express. 23 March 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- "நீலகிரி எக்ஸ்பிரஸ்". Kalki (in Tamil). 21 April 1968. p. 31. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
