Avan Amaran
Avan Amaran (transl. He is immortal) is a 1958 Indian Tamil language film produced and written by Nagercoil S. Nagarajan, and directed by S. Balachander. The film stars K. R. Ramasamy, P. Kannamba, Rajasulochana and T. S. Balaiah.[2] It was released on 23 May 1958.
| Avan Amaran | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | S. Balachander |
| Written by | Nagercoil S. Nagarajan |
| Story by | Nagercoil S. Nagarajan |
| Produced by | Nagercoil S. Nagarajan and So.Kanapati |
| Starring | K. R. Ramasamy |
| Cinematography | Nemai Ghosh |
| Music by | T. M. Ibrahim |
Production company | People's Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 199 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
Cast
The cast is listed below:[3][4]
- K. R. Ramasamy as Arul
- P. Kannamba as Arul's mother
- Rajasulochana as Lily
- T. S. Balaiah as Lily's father
Production
Avan Amaran was produced and written by Nagercoil S. Nagarajan under People's Films, and directed by S. Balachander shot at the Newtone, Paramount, and Revathi studios in Chennai.[4][1] The scene where labourers protest on a bridge was shot at a bridge near Fort St. George, Madras (now Chennai).[5] Cinematography was handled by Nemai Ghosh.[1]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by T. M. Ibrahim. The lyrics were by A. Maruthakasi, Ku. Sa. Krishnamurthi, Kambadasan, Surabhi, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam and Kuyilan.[6] The song "Kaalanaa Minjaadhaiyaa" is based on "Ramayya Vastavayya" from the Hindi film Shree 420 (1955), and "Vaanmadhi Nee Arivaai" is based on "Jaye To Jaye Kahaan" from another Hindi film, Taxi Driver (1954).[7]
| No. | Song | Singers | Lyricist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Vaanmadhi Nee Arivaai" | Seerkazhi Govindarajan & Jikki | Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam | 03:34 |
| 2 | "Kanmaniye Innamudhe Karkandu Paage" | Jikki | Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam | 03:01 |
| 3 | "Ezhaiyai Kozhai Endru Ninaikkudhu" | K. R. Ramasamy | Ku. Sa. Krishnamoorthi | 02:22 |
| 4 | "Varum Kaalam Ulagam Namadhendre" | Jikki & group | A. Maruthakasi | 03:24 |
| 5 | "Kaalanaa Minjaadhaiyaa Kaalanaa Minjaadhaiyaa" | Seerkazhi Govindarajan, p.susheela & group | 03:14 | |
| 6 | "Aniyaayam Indha Ulagile" | C. S. Jayaraman | 04:12 | |
| 7 | "Kanneer Sindhaadhe Kavalai Kollaadhe" | Jikki | 03:11 | |
| 8 | "Yezhaigal Vaazhvil...Van Pasiyaale Thudikkiraar Inge" | K. R. Ramasamy | Kuyilan | |
| 9 | "Aasiyaavin Jyothiyaaga" | Group song | ||
| 10 | "Kanavo Sol Kaadhal" | K. R. Ramasamy & Jikki | Kambadasan | |
| 11 | "Dhaam Dhoom Thagatham" | A. M. Rajah & A. P. Komala | Surabhi |
Release and reception
Avan Amaran was released on 23 May 1958.[8] Film historian Randor Guy wrote that the film would be "Remembered for the leftist message-oriented story, screenplay and dialogue, the performances by Ramasami, Kannamba, Balaiah and Rajasulochana, and Balachandar's deft direction." According to him the film did not succeed commercially.[4] At that time as it was left oriented theme there was more than 72 cuts at the Censor board and on appeal it was reduced to 52 and after screening it to the then Prime minister Mr.Jawaharlal Nehru finally 35 cuts were approved and censor board certification was given. In this daragging background the film' s release was delayed by more than 6 months.
When released there was a severe power cut at Tamilnadu, then Madras state, and theaters were allowed to run only one show. This toppled the film's success even though it was highly spent movie (₹650,000 production cost) and so it had to become a failure in box office.
Vennai Balachander' s first debut as film Director.
References
- Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 353.
- காந்தன் (29 June 1958). "அவன் அமரன்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 16–17. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- Baskaran 1996, p. 123; Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 353.
- Guy, Randor (12 May 2012). "Avan Amaran 1958". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
- Baskaran 1996, p. 123.
- Neelamegam, G. (December 2014). Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 (in Tamil) (First ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. p. 137.
- Gopalakrishnan, P. V. (15 May 2017). "FIlmy Ripples- Inspired plagiarism in early music". The Cinema Resource Centre. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- "1958 – அவன் அமரன் – தி பியூசல் [sic] பிலிம்ஸ்" [1958 – Avan Amaran – The Piyusal [sic] Films]. Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
Bibliography
- Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The eye of the serpent: an introduction to Tamil cinema. East West Books. OCLC 243920437.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. British Film Institute and Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5.
External links
- Avan Amaran at IMDb