poNNE bhoomiyadi from manidharil iththanai niRangaLaa

Song of the Day: "manitharil iththanai niRangaLa (1978/ VDS productions) starred Kamalhasan, Sridevi, Satyapriya, Muralimohan, Major Sundararajan, Manorama, Ceylon Manohar, Surulirajan and others. It was produced by V.D.Sundaram and directed by R.C.Sakthi. Incidentally, Kamal, R.C.Sakthi and Shyam had jointly collaborated on uNarchigaL earlier.

It was Sridevi’s film all the way- she handled with poise the challenging role of the central character, Shantha. Shantha is a destitute girl who has no one to care for her. She faces the trials that come her way with grit, but circumstances force her into even contemplating selling herself.Things take a turn for the better once she seeks shelter under the roof of her friend Devaki (Satyapriya). Devaki’s husband is the perennially inebriated ruffian Velu, played with panache by Kamal. Shantha soon wins over the village with her gentle ways and determined efforts to work hard and earn her living.

The Station Master (Muralimohan) falls for Shantha, and even proposes to her. But Shantha demurs, memories of her unpleasant past haunting her. When she finally gets around to accepting him, retribution claims its due- for her prospective father-in-law (Major Sundararajan) is none other than the man to whom she had tried offering herself!

The film was bold and bleak, save some light-hearted moments with Surulirajan and Manorama. It was released on Deepavali, 1978, along with sigappu rOjakkaL, thaai meedhu sathiyam, thappu thaaLangaL and avaL appadithaan, and gave up the race in the very first lap.

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Though the film came a cropper, it proved a godsend for Shyam, for he elicited widespread notice for the first time. His earlier efforts in karunthEL kaNNaayiram (1972), appa amma (1974) and uNarchigaL (1976) went mostly unnoticed. But with poNNE boomiyadi and mazhai tharumO en mEgam, Shyam had finally arrived in tfm. The others two songs in the album, ‘ada maama manasu innaikku nallaalE’ (Kamal Hasan & Ceylon Manohar), and ‘aarumuganE vEla ummammai baala’ (MV, Kousalya & Chorus) were praiseworthy efforts too, for they showed an original and innovative composer at work."