Punnagai

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Not to be confused with Punnagai Mannan, Punnagai Desam, Punnagai Poove, Mandhira Punnagai, or Endrendrum Punnagai.

Punnagai
Punnagai poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byK. Balachander
Screenplay byK. Balachander
Based onSatyakam
by Narayan Sanyal
Produced byR. Venkatraman
K. Arumugam
H. Nagaraja Rao
S. S. Nachammai
StarringGemini Ganesan
R. Muthuraman
Nagesh
M. R. R. Vasu
Jayanthi
CinematographyN. Balakrishnan
Edited byN. R. Kittu
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
Amutham Pictures
Release date
  • 5 November 1971 (1971-11-05)
[1]
Running time
154 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Punnagai (transl. Smile) is a 1971 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and written by K. Balachander. It is a remake of the Hindi film Satyakam (1969). The film stars Gemini Ganesan, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, M. R. R. Vasu and Jayanthi.

Plot[]

Sathya, Rajan, Rajbabu, Mandiramoorthi and Haniff are college-mates in Madras. To celebrate their graduation, they go on a drive around the city in Haniff's car, singing about the ideals of life. The car crashes and Haniff dies, leaving his friends shocked. Rajan, Rajbabu and Mandiramoorthi later succumb to corrupt lifestyles while Sathya vows to remain a righteous person. He meets Kanchana, a young woman who had been seduced and impregnated by a playboy who then abandoned her. She gives birth to a son Kumar; Sathya marries her, despite knowing her history and raises Kumar as his own son. Meanwhile, the playboy leaves his wealth to his illegitimate son, but Kanchana declines it. Sathya's kidneys are affected and his friends turn away when the doctor asks if any of them would donate their kidneys for him. Sathya ultimately dies, and his wife realises that she has successfully upheld the values taught by him to her. The story is narrated by Rajbabu, who wants to write a book and asks his wealthy friend to get it published. All these scenes are narrated by him and acted by the artistes as chapters of the book. Sathya's friends ultimately realise their folly and bring out the book with the title being Punnagai.

Cast[]

Production[]

Punnagai is a remake of the Hindi film Satyakam (1969), with some changes made in the screenplay. Although Gemini Ganesan was generally billed with the sobriquet "Kaadhal Mannan" (King of Romance) in film credits, this was the first film where he was billed as "Nadippu Selvam". The cinematography was handled by N. Balakrishnan.[2]

Soundtrack[]

Punnagai
Soundtrack album by
M. S. Viswanathan
Released1971
Recorded1971
GenreSaregama
Length13:39
LanguageTamil
ProducerM. S. Viswanathan

Music was by M. S. Viswanathan and lyrics were by Kannadasan.[3]

No Songs Singer Lyrics Length
1 "Naalai Naamoru Rajangam" T. M. Soundararajan, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. Veeramani, Saibaba Kannadasan 04:38
2 "Aanaiyiten Nerungathe" S. Janaki 05:15
3 "Naanum Kooda Rajathaane" T. M. Soundararajan 03:46

Critical reception[]

According to historian Randor Guy, the film was not a commercial success, but was considered a classic by critics. He praised the performances of Ganesan, Jayanti, Muthuraman and Sakunthala.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "Punnagai (1971)". Screen4screen. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Guy, Randor (6 August 2016). "Punnagai (1971)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Punnagai". Gaana.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

External links[]

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