Nizhal Nijamagiradhu

Nizhal Nijamagiradhu (Tamil pronunciation: [n̪iɻal n̪idʑamaːɡiraðu] transl. Illusion becomes reality) is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by K. Balachander,^[1] starring Kamal Haasan, Sarath Babu, Sumithra and Hanumanthu, and introduced Shoba to Tamil cinema. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Adimakal.^[2] The film was released on 24 March 1978.^[3]

Nizhal Nijamagiradhu
DVD cover
Directed by	K. Balachander
Screenplay by	K. Balachander
Story by	Pamman
Produced by	P. R. Govindarajan J. Duraisamy
Starring	Kamal Haasan Sumithra Shoba Sarath Babu
Cinematography	B. S. Lokanath
Edited by	N. R. Kittu
Music by	M. S. Viswanathan
Production company	Kalakendra Movies
Release date	24 March 1978 (1978-03-24)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Venkatachalam and Indumathi are siblings. Indumathi hates men and she is adamant that she will never get married. Sanjeevi is a friend of Venkatachalam and often visits his house. Sanjeevi likes Indumathi's attitude and starts teasing her many times, they often quarrel as well. Though Indumathi too starts liking him, she is too egotistical to show her romantic side to Sanjeevi as she doesn't want to remove her stubborn attitude "mask".

Thilagam (Sobha) is a young girl from the village who comes to work as a servant in Venkatachalam's house. Her innocence draws Venkatachalam towards her and they get intimate. She becomes pregnant, but Venkatachalam refuses her. Thilagam is driven out of Venkatachalam's house and gets support from Sanjeevi and Kasi, a man who is hard of hearing, who also worked at Venkatachalam's house and has affection towards Thilagam. Sanjeevi provides Thilagam with lodging and requests Kasi to stay with her and look after her. Thilagam delivers a child.

Months later, after Sanjeevi and Kasi appealed to his conscience, Venkatachalam repents and is ready to accept Thilagam, but she decides to live her life with Kasi, who took care of her during her pregnancy. Indumathi, meanwhile, throws away her "stubborn" mask and asks Sanjeevi to accept her. Sanjeevi accepts her love.

Cast

• Kamal Haasan as Sanjeevi
• Sumithra as Indumathi
• Shoba as Thilagam
• Sarath Babu as Venkatachalam
• Hanumanthu as Kasi
• T. S. B. K. Moulee as Manmatha Naidu^[4]
• Oru Viral Krishna Rao as Kalimuthu
• M. S. Sundari Bai as Ponnamma
• K. Natraj as Ayyavu

Production

Sarath Babu was given a role in the film, after Balachander saw him at a function. His first shot was at Hyderabad.^[5] Balachandar cast Malayalam actress Shoba in a pivotal role in the film, but the delayed release of the film meant that Karaikkudi Narayanan's Achaani (1978) marked Shoba's debut as a lead actress in Tamil. Balachander gave T. S. B. K. Moulee, who had directed films under Balachander's banner, the role of a "women-obsessed local tattler".^[6] Balachander, who used to watch Moulee's plays, liked his style of writing and wanted him to write a comedy track for the film. Mouli said that he was given the liberty by Balachander to insert comedy sequences wherever he wanted and that he wrote 16 scenes for the film.^[7] For the role of Kasi, Balachander chose stage actor Hanumanthu after he was impressed with his performance in the play Sampoorna Ramayanam.^[8]

Balachander stated that he had an egotistical girl (Sumitra) fall for the macho antics of the hero (Kamal Hassan) "to lend credence and strength to the plot" and felt she was in juxtaposition to the innocent victim character played by Shoba.^[9] The final length of the film was 3,981.30 metres (13,062.0 ft).^[10]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.^[11] The song "Ilakkanam Marudho" is set to the Hindustani raga Brindavani Sarang and "Kamban Emandhan" is set to the Carnatic raga Mohanam.^[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kamban Emandhaan"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	4:25
2.	"Ilakanam Maarudho"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam	4:27
Total length:			8:52

All lyrics are written by Kannadasan

Legacy

Actor Maadhu Balaji said, "I must have watched Nizhal Nijamagiradhu 40 to 50 times".^[13] In 2008, actor and TV host Bosskey named Nizhal Nijamagiradhu among his three most favourite films.^[14] In 2005, Kamal Haasan stated that Nizhal Nijamagirathu was far superior to Maro Charitra, another Balachander film he was also part of.^[15]

References

1. "From theatre to the big screen". The New Indian Express. 26 March 2009. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
2. Singh, Mohit (22 October 2021). "From Adimakal to Nizhal Nijamagiradhu: The Taming of the Shrew, reimagined". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
3. "Nizhal Nijamagiradhu (1978)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
4. "The Mouli-KB bond". The Hindu. 12 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
5. Ashok Kumar, S.R. (5 October 2006). "I am a director's actor, says Sarath Babu". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
6. "Reflections of a matinee maverick". The New Indian Express. 18 July 2010. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
7. Saravanan, T. (12 June 2014). "Mouli and the moolah". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
8. "அனுமந்துவின் அனுபவங்கள்" [Hanumanthu's experiences]. Kalki (in Tamil). 6 March 1983. p. 58. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023 – via Internet Archive.
9. Ilangovan, R. (2 October 2013). "The KB school". Frontline. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
10. "'Nizhal Nijamakirathu' (Tamil) (35mm) (B&W) India". The Gazette of India. 16 September 1978. p. 1508. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023 – via Internet Archive.
11. "Nizhal Nijammagiradhu". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
12. "ஏழிசை எம்எஸ்வி | பயோகிராபி". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
13. Balaji, Maadhu (25 July 2008). "Why I like... Dasavathaaram". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
14. Bosskey (27 June 2008). "Why I like... Johnny". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
15. Shivkumar, S. (25 August 2005). "Set to score a perfect ten". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2018.

External links

• Nizhal Nijamagiradhu at IMDb