Oru Viral

Oru Viral (transl. A Finger) is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language mystery film written and directed by C. M. V. Raman. The film stars Krishna Rao and Thengai Srinivasan in their acting debut, along with K. Kannan, Prem Anand, Pandarinath, Malaysia Radhika, V. R. Thilakam and Meenakumari.^[1] It was released on 17 December 1965 and emerged a success.

Oru Viral
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	C. M. V. Raman
Written by	Thangam C. M. V. Raman
Produced by	Salvador Fernandes
Starring	Krishna Rao Thengai Srinivasan
Cinematography	T. G. Sekar
Music by	Vedha
Production company	Associate Artists
Release date	17 December 1965 (1965-12-17)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

A rich man, who has two sons, is murdered, and a hunt for the murderer ensues. Stories of a haunting skeleton circulate in the estate owned by the murdered man. An employee of the estate (Kannan), who is actually an absconding convict, is being chased by a CID officer (Srinivasan) who obtains work in the estate to monitor him.

Cast

• Krishna Rao
• Thengai Srinivasan as a CID officer^[2]
• K. Kannan
• Prem Anand
• Pandarinath
• Malaysia Radhika
• V. R. Thilakam
• Meenakumari

Production

Oru Viral was written and directed by C. M. V. Raman. The dialogues were written by Thangam.^[3] At a period when murder mysteries and detective stories were not exploited as genres in Tamil cinema, it was a "surprise package", being made on a shoestring budget with artistes who were then newcomers or less popular. Krishna Rao and Thengai Srinivasan made their acting debut with this film, and the film's title became prefixed to Krishna Rao's name. Other supporting actors included K. Kannan, Prem Anand, Pandarinath, Malaysia Radhika, V. R. Thilakam and Meenakumari.^[1] Salvador Fernandez, also a newcomer, produced the film under the production company Associate Pictures.^[1][3] T. G. Sekar handled the cinematography.^[4]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Vedha and the lyrics were written by Alangudi Somu.^[5] Two songs from the film — "Malligai Mottu Sangetuthu" and "Ungal Thevai Ennavendru" — attained popularity.^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Malligai Mottu Sangetuthu"	P. Susheela
2.	"Ungal Thevai Ennavendru"	T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela
3.	"Badhil Ondru Tharavendum"	P. Susheela

Release and reception

Oru Viral was released on 17 December 1965.^[3] Kalki criticised the film for its story.^[6] Despite its low budget and lack of stars, the film was successful.^[1]

References

1. Guy, Randor (15 September 2012). "Oru Viral 1965". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. Majordasan. "Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema — Thengai Srinivasan". Kalyanamalai. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
3. "1965 – ஒருவிரல் – அசோசியேட் ஆர்டிஸ்ட்ஸ்" [1965 – Oru Viral – Associate Artists]. Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
4. "Oru Viral". The Indian Express. 17 December 1965. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2018 – via Google News Archive.
5. "Oru Viral". Songs4all. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
6. "ஒரு விரல்". Kalki (in Tamil). 2 January 1966. p. 32. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

External links

• Oru Viral at IMDb