Iru Kodugal

Iru Kodugal (transl. Two lines) is a 1969 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Balachander. The film stars Gemini Ganesan, Sowcar Janaki, Jayanthi, Nagesh, V. S. Raghavan, S. N. Lakshmi and others. The story revolves around one man who was married to two women.^[1] Iru Kodugal won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, the first film by Balachander to win the award.^[2] The film, which was based on a stage play of same name, was remade in Kannada as Eradu Rekhegalu, in Telugu as Collector Janaki and in Hindi as Sanjog.

Iru Kodugal
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	K. Balachander
Screenplay by	K. Balachander
Based on	Iru Kodugal by Joseph Anandan
Produced by	N. Selvaraj B. Duraisamy N. Krishnan V. Govindarajan
Starring	Gemini Ganesan Sowcar Janaki Jayanthi
Cinematography	N. Balakrishnan
Edited by	N. R. Kittu
Music by	V. Kumar
Production company	Kalakendra Movies
Release date	2 October 1969 (1969-10-02)
Running time	176 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Gopinath falls in love with Janaki and they get married in Kasi. The marriage is not accepted by Gopinath's mother and the couple gets separated. Janaki is pregnant and her father, realising that no man will marry Janaki a second time, decides to make her a collector. Gopinath meanwhile had moved to South India, where he later married Jaya by hiding his previous marriage. They live a happy life with their three children and Jaya's father. Gopinath works as a clerk in the collector's office. A new collector arrives at the office, and it turns out to be Janaki. They tend to work together, until one of the employees in Janaki's office, Babu, spreads a rumour stating that there is an affair between Janaki and Gopinath. This rumour reaches Jaya and she is completely disturbed. Jaya discovers the secret of Gopinath's affair with Janaki. Meanwhile, the sons of both Janaki and Jaya, Ramu and Prabhakar drowned in water and have been admitted to Hospital. Somehow Jaya manages the disturbance of the secret and accepts Janaki as her sister. But Ramu dies in hospital while Prabhakar survives. Jaya gives Janaki her son as a gift. Janaki and Prabhakar leave for abroad as Janaki received her duty abroad.

Cast

• Gemini Ganesan as Gopinath
• Sowcar Janaki as Janaki^[3]
• Jayanthi as Jaya
• Nagesh as Babu
• V. S. Raghavan as Janaki's father
• S. V. Sahasranamam as Jaya's father
• Harikrishnan as Harikrishnan
• S. Ramarao as Ramarao
• Gokulnath as Gnanaprakasham
• S. N. Lakshmi as Janaki's aunt
• Sachu
• Gemini Mahalingam
• Seshadri as Gopinath's father
• C. K. Saraswathi as Gopinath's mother
• Shoba as Shoba
• Sumathi as Sumathi
• Master Prabhakar as Prabhakar
• Master Adhinarayan as Ramu

Production

Iru Kodugal was based on the stage play of same name written by Joseph Anandan.^[4] It is the first collaboration between Balachander and Ganesan.^[5] Though uncharacteristic of Janaki to ask for roles, she asked Balachander for a role and got it.^[6][7] In a scene in the film Janaki's character meets the Chief Minister. Balachander wanted to bring in former Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai (he died 1969) for the scene but did not want to use a body double in his place. Instead, Annadurai's voice was imitated by Sivagangai Sethurajan.^[8] Also, a pair of glasses on the table and a pen in the foreground are seen, implying that Annadurai is the intended character.^[9]

Soundtrack

The music was scored by V. Kumar, and Vaali wrote the lyrics.^[10][11]

Song	Singers	Length
"Moondru Thamizh Thoondri"	T. M. Soundararajan, A. L. Raghavan, K. Suvarna	04:58
"Naan Oru Gumastha"	T. M. Soundararajan	02:50
"Punnagai Mannan"	K. Jamuna Rani, P. Susheela	05:04
"Kavidhai Ezhudhiya"	P. Leela, P. Susheela	02:37

Release and reception

Iru Kodugal was released on 2 October 1969.^[12] The Indian Express praised Balachander for adapting the play very well: "No doubt they are very good dramatic moments but there is tendency to overdo the symbolism" and went on to praise the performances of the lead actors.^[13] The film was a commercial success,^[14] and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – President's silver medal in 1970, while Janaki won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.^[15][16]

Legacy

Iru Kodugal was remade in Kannada as Eradu Rekhegalu, in Telugu as Collector Janaki and in Hindi as Sanjog.^[17] Malathi Rangarajan said Janaki "stomped the screen and stole our hearts [..] came up with a stellar performance".^[18] Clips from the film were screened along with clips from other films such as Server Sundaram (1964), Arangetram (1973), Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974), Avargal (1977) and Azhagan (1991) at a function held in Balachander's honour at Tiruchirappalli in January 2015,^[19] a month after his death.^[20]

References

1. Murugesan, Deepauk (23 April 2011). "Trois". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
2. Rangarajan, Malathi (2 May 2011). "The granddaddy of Tamil films". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
3. Rangan, Baradwaj (10 November 2017). "Aramm Movie Review". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
4. "IFFI 2019 to screen K Balachander's Iru Kodugal". The Indian Express. 13 November 2019. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
5. Ganesh 2011, pp. 61–62.
6. Shiva Kumar, S. (23 October 1983). "I never failed as an actress – Janaki". Sunday Mid-Day. p. 36. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022 – via Twitter.
7. ஜானகி, சௌகார் (30 May 1993). "முத்திரை படம்; விசித்திர அனுபவம்!" [Identity film, weird experience]. Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 62–63. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023 – via Internet Archive.
8. "இரு கோடுகள்: புன்னகை மன்னன் பூவிழிக் கண்ணன் ருக்மணிக்காக..." Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). 2 October 2023. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
9. Srinivasan, Meera (15 September 2009). "Significant contribution to Tamil theatre, cinema". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
10. "Iru Kodugal (1969)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
11. "Iru Kodugal". JioSaavn. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
12. "Iru Kodugal". The Indian Express. 2 October 1969. p. 5. Retrieved 1 June 2018 – via Google News Archive.
13. "Cinema". The Indian Express. 4 October 1969. p. 12. Retrieved 1 May 2019 – via Google News Archive.
14. Bharathi, Veena (13 October 2013). "Celebrating a big screen beauty". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
15. Ashok Kumar, S. R. (25 December 2006). "Still ready to act: Sowcar Janaki". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
16. India Who's who. INFA Publications. 2000. pp. 282, 286.
17. "Remembering the prodigy: 10 most memorable films of K Balachander". Hindustan Times. 2 January 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
18. Rangarajan, Malathi (8 March 2014). "Women of Steel". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
19. Srinivasan, G. (22 January 2015). "Rich tributes paid to Balachander". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
20. "K Balachander: The man who gave us Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan dies". The Economic Times. Press Trust of India. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2015.

Bibliography

• Ganesh, Narayani (2011). Eternal Romantic: My Father, Gemini Ganesan. Roli Books. ISBN 978-81-7436-578-1.

External links

• Iru Kodugal at IMDb