Paar Magaley Paar (pronounced [paːɾ maɡaɭeː paːɾ] transl. Look daughter, look) is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh and written by Valampuri Somanathan. Based on the play Petral Thaan Pillaiya by Pattu, which in turn was based on the Hindi film Parvarish (1958), it stars Sivaji Ganesan, M. R. Radha, Sowcar Janaki and C. R. Vijayakumari. The film was released on 12 July 1963.
| Paar Magaley Paar | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | A. Bhimsingh |
| Screenplay by | Valampuri Somanathan |
| Based on | Petral Thaan Pillaiya by Pattu |
| Produced by | V. C. Subburaman |
| Starring | Sivaji Ganesan Sowcar Janaki R. Muthuraman C. R. Vijayakumari |
| Cinematography | G. Vittal Rao |
| Edited by | A. Bhimsingh A. Paul Duraisingham R. Thirumalai |
| Music by | Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy |
Production company | Kasturi Films |
| Distributed by | Sivaji Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 152 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
editZamindar Sivalingam is married to Lakshmiammal and takes his family's prestige and heritage very seriously. Dancer Sulochana and Lakshmiammal have baby girls at the same time in the same hospital.
Sivalingam is not in town at the time of the delivery and his close friend Ramaswamy takes care of Lakshmiammal. When the babies are taken for cleaning by the nurses, there is a short circuit and both nurses die. There is no way of identifying the babies. Sulochana who was abandoned by her husband, leaves the hospital. The doctor brings both babies to Lakshmiammal and she is not able to identify her baby either.
Sivalingam arrives and seeing both babies in the room assumes he has twins. Knowing how important the family line is to him, Lakshmiammal, Ramaswamy and the doctor don't tell him the truth. Both girls, Chandra and Kantha grow up as the zamindar's daughters. Sulochana's brother, Nadaraj, who learns that his niece is growing up in Sivalingam's household and faced with the same confusion, takes up Lakshmiammal's offer and stays on there as a caretaker. Meanwhile, Lakshmiammal and Ramaswamy's wife, Parvathi, who are childhood friends promise to get their children married to each other.
Chandra has a birthmark which is said to be very lucky, but is by nature more like her Lakshmiammal. Kantha is more like Sivalingam. Chandra falls in love with her classmate Shekar. Since he is the son of his wealthy friend, the late Mohanasundaram, Sivalingam agrees to the wedding.
Ramaswamy, who lives lavishly and who is careless in his business matters, faces severe business losses and approaches Sivalingam to back him in business matters. Sivalingam promises to give him money, but refuses to let him use his name or claim his acquaintance. He also gives a job to Sundaram in one of his factories, but refuses to have any further contacts with their family.
When Ramaswamy and Parvathi hear that Chandra's engagement is fixed, they attend the function uninvited. Sivalingam insults them and Ramaswamy is driven to reveal that one of his daughters is not his own. The doctor who was also present there needs to confide too. The engagement is stopped and the family is thrown into confusion. Due to this, Shekar's mother (Rukmani) forces him to leave the place.
Sivalingam refuses to talk to his family or the children and becomes extremely disturbed. Chandra tries to solve the problem by leaving the house. She gives a lady called Maragatham her ring to act as the dancer Sulochana. Maragatham goes to Sivalingam's house and says that her daughter can be identified by means of a birthmark.
The police arrive with some jewels and a suicide note from Chandra and they realise that she is now dead. Sivalingam is very happy when he finally becomes convinced that Kantha is his real daughter and fixes her marriage with Shekar. Lakshmiammal is very disturbed because she believes that all the confusion in the house was caused because they did not keep their word to Ramaswamy and Parvathi and get one of the daughters married to Sundaram.
Kantha wants to humiliate Sivalingam, whose conceit caused Chandra's death and she made Lakshiammal practically bedridden. She refuses to marry Shekar and says that she will marry Sundaram. Meanwhile, Nadaraj, who was thrown out of the house by Sivalingam, traces Maragatham through the ring that she tried to pawn and the family is again thrown into confusion.
Meanwhile, Chandra, who attempts suicide by jumping into a river is saved by the students of an ashram. They persuade her to stay on as a teacher to the orphan students and she agrees. Shekar who is now an Education Inspector comes to the school and sees her. The principal, however, convinces him that she is an orphan girl who always lived in the ashram.
Shekar then narrates the story of Chandra and also tells the principal that her sacrifice was wasted because Maragatham confessed the truth. He also tells her that both Sivalingam and Lakshmi are bedridden and that Kantha is struggling to care for both parents. Chandra wants to go back home, but makes up her mind to move away instead. She requests a transfer. Nadaraj overhears the principal and Chandra talking and is realises that Chandra is alive. He tells Sivalingam and Lakshmiammal and they set out in search of her.
Chandra's taxi hits Sivalingam and he is admitted in the hospital. Both daughters give him blood and he understands that character is more important than family's prestige and heritage. Sivalingam who had turned over a new leaf accepts both Chandra and Kantha as his daughters. Finally, Chandra marries Shekar and Kantha marries Sundaram as both Sivalingam and Ramaswamy reunited.
Cast
edit- Sivaji Ganesan as Zamindar Sivalingam
- Sowcar Janaki as Lakshmi
- R. Muthuraman as Shekar
- C. R. Vijayakumari as Chandra / Saradha
- A. V. M. Rajan as Sundaram
- Pushpalatha as Kaantha
- Kumari Rukmini as (Shekar's mother)
- V. K. Ramasamy as Ramasamy (Sundaram's father)
- M. R. Radha as Nataraj (Dance Teacher)
- A. Karunanidhi as Manickam (Nataraj assistant)
- Cho as Madasamy
- Manorama as Aaravalli
- N. Seethalakshmi
- Radhabhai as Parvathi
- S. R. Janaki as Principal
- Thambaram Lalitha as Doctor
- M. S. S. Bhagyam as Maragatham
- Seethalakshmi as Aravalli's mother
Production
editPaar Magaley Paar was a film adaptation of the stage play Petral Thaan Pillaiya,[1][2] itself based on the Hindi film Parvarish (1958).[3] The play had the concept of two sons, but it was changed to daughters for the film.[4] As a result, Y. G. Mahendran, who portrayed one of the two sons in the play and was signed on to reprise the role in the film, was unable to do so.[5] Cho Ramaswamy, who played a character named "Mechanical Madasamy" in the play, reprised his role in the film,[6][7] which also marked his cinematic acting debut.[8][9] Ganesan's home, Annai Illam, also features in the film.[10]
Music
editThe soundtrack was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy.[11][12]
| Song | Singers | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Aval Paranthu Ponale" | T. M. Soundararajan, P. B. Sreenivas | Kannadasan | 05:19 |
| "Ennai Thottu" | P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela | 03:21 | |
| "Enthan Kannai" | A. L. Raghavan, L. R. Eswari | 03:27 | |
| "Madhura Nagaril" | P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela | 05:44 | |
| "Neerodum Vaikaiyile" | T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela | 04:30 | |
| "Paar Magaley Paar" | T. M. Soundararajan | 05:02 | |
| "Paar Magaley Paar" 2 | M. S. Viswanathan | 02:31 | |
| "Poochudum Nerathile" | P. Susheela | 03:46 | |
| "Thuyil Kondal" | P. Susheela | 03:06 | |
| "Vetkamai Irukkuthu" | P. Leela, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi | Shuddhananda Bharathiyar | 06:59 |
Release and reception
editPaar Magaley Paar was released on 12 July 1963,[13] distributed by Ganesan's Sivaji Films,[14] and sold for ₹21 lakh (equivalent to ₹17 crore or US$2.0 million in 2023).[15] Writing for Sport and Pastime, T. M. Ramachandran derided the film, comparing it unfavourably to the original play but praised the performance of the cast, particularly Ganesan.[16] Kanthan of Kalki, however, reviewed the film more positively for the cast performances and emotional incidents.[17]
References
edit- ^ Ashok Kumar, S. R. (20 September 2004). "You and Sivaji made a great jodi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ Santhanam, Kausalya (9 April 2001). "Doing it with joie de vivre". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ ஜானகி, சௌகார் (2 May 1993). "வித்தியாச வாய்ப்பு; கூடவே சோதனை!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 62–63. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (30 April 2010). "A feat so unique!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ "Oscar-worthy performance by Sivaji: Y Gee Mahendra". The Times of India. 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ Ramanujam, Srinivasa; Raman, Mohan (7 December 2016). "A different brand of wit". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Madras Bashai and Cho -a tribute" (PDF). The Lighthouse. The Rotary Club of Madras. 20 December 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ Subramanian, Anupama (8 December 2016). "Playwright, comedian par excellence". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ Sridhar-Chaamaa (7 May 1993). "Farewell to plays". Frontline. Vol. 10, no. 1–9. Kasturi & Sons. p. 94. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ^ Raman, Mohan (26 August 2020). "#MadrasThroughTheMovies: Tracing the parallel journey of MGR and Sivaji in Madras". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ "Paar Magale Paar". JioSaavn. 31 December 1963. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ "Paar Magaley Paar Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Macsendisk. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ "Paar Magaley Paar". The Indian Express. 12 July 1963. p. 3. Retrieved 14 February 2019 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Paar Magaley Paar". The Hindu. 10 July 1963.
- ^ Kannan, R. (2017). MGR: A Life. India: Penguin Random House. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-14-342934-0.
- ^ Ramachandran, T. M. (10 August 1963). "Acting Redeems Paar Magaley Paar". Sport and Pastime. Vol. 17. p. 42. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ காந்தன் (28 July 1963). "பார் மகளே பார்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 21. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
