Nenjirukkum Varai
Poster
Directed bySridhar
Written bySridhar
Chithralaya Gopu (dialogues)
Produced bySridhar
StarringSivaji Ganesan
Muthuraman
Gopalakrishnan
K. R. Vijaya
Geetanjali
CinematographyBalakrishnan
Edited byN. M. Shankar
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
Distributed byChitralaya
Release date
  • 2 March 1967 (1967-03-02)
Running time
169 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Nenjirukkum Varai (transl. As long as there is a heart) is a 1967 Indian Tamil-language film, directed and produced by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Muthuraman, Gopalakrishnan, K. R. Vijaya and Geetanjali. It revolves around a man struggling with poverty, falling in love with his house owner's daughter.

Sridhar initially decided to make Nenjirukkum Varai as revolving around the theme of war between India and Pakistan; the story was dropped after Sridhar learnt that Lal Bahadur Shastri and Muhammad Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration. Retaining the same title, he developed a new story inspired by the Bengali play Shudha (transl. Hunger). The film was shot in black-and-white to emphasise the central theme of poverty, and none of the cast members applied make-up for their roles.

Nenjirukkum Varai was released on 2 March 1967 and failed at the box office.

Plot

Raghu does odd jobs looking for a big break. He and his friend Peter rent a part of a house. The owner Natarajan's daughter is Raji. Raghu falls in love with her. Raghu meets Siva and likes his character. He lets him stay in his rented house. Raji and Siva fall in love. Raghu is devastated when he learns about it, but gets over it and decides to help them. Siva is away when Raji's father dies and Raghu takes care of the orphaned Raji, who is waiting for Siva to come back for her. Meanwhile, Siva hears people gossiping about Raghu and Raji and believes they are having an affair. When Raghu confronts him, he agrees to marry Raji if Raghu agrees to go away. Raghu agrees. How they reconcile forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Production

After the success of Vennira Aadai (1965), Sridhar decided to make a film titled Nenjirukkum Varai revolving around the theme of war between India and Pakistan with Sivaji Ganesan portraying an army colonel; however Sridhar decided to drop this film after reading an article about Lal Bahadur Shastri and Muhammad Ayub Khan signing the Tashkent Declaration.[4][5] Sridhar then developed a story from the Bengali play Shudha, retaining the title Nenjirukkum Varai. He did not, however, adapt the play verbatim, but took only the basic premise and created an otherwise original story. Ganesan and Muthuraman, who were part of the dropped film, were retained for the new film.[5][6] Sridhar and Chithralaya Gopu discussed the whole script during their car trip to Bangalore.[7]

The song "Nenjirukkum Engalukku" was shot at Beach Road, Madras.[8][9] The last scene of the song was shot at the fountain near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the beach.[10] None of the cast members applied make-up for their roles.[11][12] Cinematography was handled by Balakrishnan who earlier worked as assistant cinematographer for Gemini Studios, and editing by N. M. Shankar.[7][1] Unlike Sridhar's earlier films such as Kadhalikka Neramillai (1964) and Vennira Aadai, Nenjirukkum Varai was shot in black-and-white to emphasise the central theme of poverty.[13]

Soundtrack

Music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.[14][15] The song "Poo Mudippal" is set in Simhendramadhyamam raga.[16][17] "Muthukkalo Kangal" is set in Madhyamavati and Kanada ragas.[18][19]

SongSingersLyrics
"Nenjirukkum Engalukku"T. M. Soundararajan, P. B. SreenivasVaali
"Ninaithal Podhum Aaduven"S. JanakiKannadasan
"Muthukkalo Kangal"T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela
"Poo Mudippal Indha Poonkuzhali"T. M. Soundararajan
"Kannan Varum Neramithu"P. Susheela
"Enge Neeyo Nanum Ange – Happy"P. Susheela
"Enge Neeyo Nanum Ange – Pathos"P. Susheela

Release and reception

Nenjirukkum Varai was released on 2 March 1967,[20] and distributed by Chitralaya themselves.[1] Kalki said only half the film was excellent, and it was worth watching for Ganesan's performance.[3] According to Sridhar, the film did not do well at box-office as audience could not digest Ganesan's character dying onscreen.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cowie & Elley 1977, p. 273.
  2. ↑ Ashok, A. V. (19 July 2002). "Incredible charisma on screen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 November 2004. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "நெஞ்சிருக்கும் வரை". Kalki (in Tamil). 19 March 1967. p. 13. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  4. ↑ ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (24 May 1992). "சாந்தாராமுடன் ஒரு சந்திப்பு". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (31 May 1992). "நெஞ்சிருக்கும் வரை: நீங்கள் பார்த்ததும் பார்க்காததும்!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 50–51. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  6. ↑ "பத்திரிகையாளர் சுதாங்கனின் 'நெஞ்சம் மறப்பதில்லை!' – 61". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Nellai. 18 November 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. 1 2 நரசிம்மன், டி.ஏ. (17 August 2018). "சி(ரி)த்ராலயா 31: 'நெஞ்சிருக்கும் வரை' மறக்க முடியாது!". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  8. ↑ Naig, Udhav (20 August 2014). "Madras by day, by night and by song". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Subramanian, Anupama (27 August 2019). "When Madras cast a spell on Tamil movies". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Raman, Mohan (24 August 2020). "#MadrasThroughTheMovies: A stroll by the Marina Beach & its landmarks". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Rangarajan, Malathi (21 July 2016). "The director's fine cut". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  12. ↑ Raman, Mohan (November 2008). "An auteur no more". Madras Musings. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "பத்திரிகையாளர் சுதாங்கனின் 'நெஞ்சம் மறப்பதில்லை!' – 62". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Nellai. 25 November 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ↑ "Nenjirukkum Varai (1967)". Music India Online. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  15. ↑ "Nenjirukkum Varai Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  16. ↑ Mani, Charulatha (20 January 2012). "A Raga's Journey — The passionate appeal of Simhendramadhyamam". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Sundararaman 2007, p. 154.
  18. ↑ Vinayakam, Ramesh (16 July 2015). "He ruled with his music wand". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Sundararaman 2007, p. 145.
  20. ↑ "111–120". nadigarthilagam.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

Bibliography

  • Cowie, Peter; Elley, Derek, eds. (1977). World Filmography: 1967. Tantivy Press. ISBN 0-498-01565-3.
  • Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Pichhamal Chintamani. OCLC 295034757.
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