Pasamalar is a 1961

1961 in film

The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...

 film starring Sivaji Ganesan

Sivaji Ganesan

Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...

 and Gemini Ganesan

Gemini Ganesan

Ramaswami Ganesan , popularly known as Gemini Ganesan , was an Indian actor. He was nicknamed "Kadhal Mannan" of Tamil cinema for the romantic roles he played in movies....

. The film was cast in 1961 and directed by A. Bhimsingh

A. Bhimsingh

A. Bhimsingh or Bhim Singh was a film maker, producer, editor and writer . He was born on October 15, 1924. His film career started as an assistant editor with the film making duo Krishnan-Panju, in the late 1940s. His directorial debut was with Ammaiyappan , he directed several movies thereafter....

. This film is considered to be one of the greatest Tamil movies ever made. Stellar performances from Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri make this movie a pleasure to watch. This movie was a great hit of its time and the melodious songs are a delight to hear to this day. One of the song, Vaarayen Thozhi Vaarayo, is still played in all Tamil weddings.
The movie was produced by Sivaji's own company Rajamani pictures. The producers were M. R. Santhanam and K. Mohan of the famous Mohan Arts. The dialogues were written by Aroor Das, some of the fiery dialogues delivered by Sivaji make this film memorable. Some of the exchanges between Gemini and Sivaji are exquisite. Kanadasan's verses touch the heart and bring tears to one's eyes when listening to the songs. The music director duo of Viswanathan Ramamurthy have created songs which still remain popular to this day. The songs reach new heights with the voices of T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela

P. Susheela

Pulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka...

, P. B. Sreenivas, Jamuna Rani

Jamuna Rani

K. Jamuna Rani is a prolific Indian Playback singer who has sung over 6,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Sinhala languages....

 and L. R. Eswari

L. R. Eswari

L. R. Eswari is a Veteran playback singer of the Tamil movie industry. She also sang in other languages like Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, and English.-Early Life:...

. The movie was predominantly shot in Neptune Studios.

Plot

The film follows the life and travails of Raju (Sivaji Ganesan), Radha (Savitri) and Anandan (Gemini Ganesan). Raju and Radha are orphans who lose their mother at a very young age. Raju loves his sister very much and raises her very dearly. Raju and Anandan work in the local mill and become fast friends when Anandan bails Raju out of trouble with the Mill foreman. Anandan and Radha fall in love and their love affair continues unknown to Raju.

Anandan who is a union leader makes Raju join the union much against his wishes. The workers call a strike at the mill and this leads to Raju losing his job. Raju is very worried as to how he is going to support the family when Radha comes up with 1000 rupees that she has saved. Raju is amazed and overcomes his initial anger at Radha for having worked without his knowledge. Radha convinces Raju that they can earn more if they start their own business making dolls and toys for children. Raju and Radha make it big in the toy business, the local mill owner who is unable to run the mill offers the mill to raju and asks him to buy him out. Raju reluctantly agrees to take over the mill and becomes its owner. Raju is shown receiving education from a teacher and becomes much more sophisticated.

Meanwhile Anandan and Radha are married, and her in-laws are very greedy towards Raju's wealth. They treat Radha badly, which culminates with Raju giving his entire wealth to them. Finally, Raju gets bedridden and he dies in poverty. Radha comes to see his dead-body on funeral, and cries hugging him, and dies in the same position.

Cast

• Sivaji Ganesan
  Sivaji Ganesan
  Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
  
  : Rajasekharan
• Gemini Ganesan
  Gemini Ganesan
  Ramaswami Ganesan , popularly known as Gemini Ganesan , was an Indian actor. He was nicknamed "Kadhal Mannan" of Tamil cinema for the romantic roles he played in movies....
  
  : Anand
• Savitri: Radha
• KA Thangavelu
• AM Rajam
• M. N. Nambiar
  M. N. Nambiar
  M. N. Nambiar M. N. Nambiar M. N. Nambiar ( (born Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar 7 March 1919 — 19 November 2008) was a film actor in Tamil cinema and had been in the film industry for more than 50 years.-Biography:...
  
  
• MR Santhanam
• KD Santhanam
• SA Kannan
• M Saroja
• MR Santhanam
• Baby Kanchana
• Baby Malathi
• Shakeela
• Reshma

Awards

It was the biggest Box Office Hit of the year with the revenue of USD 134,000 collections in 1 week and ran for more than 1 year in Sapphire Theater at Mount Road, Chennai

Soundtrack

• Malargalai Pool Thangai - T.M. Soundararajan
• Mayangugiraal Oru Mathu - P.Susheela
• Paatondru Ketten Paravasam Aaanen - Jamuna Rani
• Engalukkum Kaalam Varum - TMS and Susheela
• Yaar Yaar Avar YaarO - P.B. Srinivas and Susheela
• Vaarayen Thozhi Vaarayo - L. R. Eswari
• Malarnthum malaradha paathimalar pola - T.M.Soundararajan, P.Susheela