Kalyana Parisu

For the TV series, see Kalyana Parisu (TV series).

Kalyana Parisu
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	C. V. Sridhar
Written by	C. V. Sridhar
Produced by	S. Krishnamurthi T. Govindarajan C. V. Sridhar
Starring	Gemini Ganesan B. Saroja Devi
Cinematography	A. Vincent
Edited by	N. M. Shankar
Music by	A. M. Rajah
Production company	Venus Pictures
Release date	9 April 1959
Running time	194 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kalyana Parisu (lit. 'Wedding Gift') is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi in the lead roles while K. A. Thangavelu, C. R. Vijayakumari, M. Saroja, Akkineni Nageshwara Rao and M. N. Nambiar play supporting roles. A triangular love story, the film is about a young man who rents a house near his girlfriend, but the girl's elder sister is not aware of their romance. She subsequently falls for the man and wishes to marry him, so her younger sister decides to sacrifice her love, unknown to the former.

Kalyana Parisu was the directorial debut of Sridhar, who co-produced it with his partners S. Krishnamurthi and T. Govindarajan. It was released on 9 April 1959. It was critically acclaimed and commercially successful, with a theatrical run of over 100 days. It was later remade by Sridhar in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1960) and in Hindi as Nazrana (1961). A second Telugu remake, Devata, was released in 1982 and a second Hindi remake, Tohfa, in 1984. Both were directed by Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao

Plot

Baskar and Vasanthi are college-mates. A naughty girl creates misunderstanding between them, and an enraged Vasanthi complains to the college dean, who immediately dismisses Baskar. Now left homeless, Baskar however manages to get employed at a tea company, and gets to stay with his close friend Sampath. Vasanthi approaches Baskar and apologises for her cruel act. Baskar forgives her, and they both fall in love. Vasanthi lives with her mother and her elder sister Geetha who is unmarried. Baskar rents the vacant portion of their house. Over time, Vasanthi passes her exams and gets employed.

One day when Baskar falls ill, Geetha nurses him and in the process, falls in love with him. She confides her love to Vasanthi who is heartbroken, but decides to sacrifice her love for the sake of her sister. Since Geetha was responsible for raising Vasanthi, she is granted her wish, and Vasanthi convinces Baskar to marry Geetha. After Baskar and Geetha get married, they shift to Coimbatore where Baskar has been transferred. Meanwhile, Vasanthi's manager Raghu falls in love with her and expresses his desire to marry her, but she is unable to respond to his feelings.

Baskar is unable to lead a happy life in Coimbatore as he often thinks about his disappointment in love. He receives a letter from Vasanthi advising him to forget about the past and lead a happy life with Geetha, and he relents to this. Shortly thereafter, Geetha becomes pregnant and returns to her original home where she delivers a son. Raghu again meets Vasanthi and proposes to her, but she tells him her past history and expresses her inability to respond to his love. Heartbroken, Raghu leaves her and resigns from his job. Vasanthi’s mother dies and Vasanthi joins Geetha at their house in Coimbatore. When Geetha falls sick, Vasanthi attends to all the household work. Baskar spends more time with Vasanthi than his own wife, and Geetha, suspecting them of being in a relation, berates them both. Due to this, Vasanthi leaves them.

Geetha, having realised that Baskar and Vasanthi loved each other, dies in guilt, leaving Baskar alone to bring up their child, making him promise that he will find Vasanthi and make her the child's mother. He searches for Vasanthi all over the city, to no avail. Meanwhile, Vasanthi meets with an accident, but is saved by a wealthy old man who allows her to stay in his house. The man's son arrives and is revealed to be Raghu, who Vasanthi agrees to marry. Through Sampath, Baskar learns about Vasanthi's impending marriage, and rushes to the marriage hall with his son. However, by the time they arrive, Vasanthi is already married. Baskar then hands over his child to her as a wedding gift, and walks away.

Cast

• Gemini Ganesan as Baskar
• B. Saroja Devi as Vasanthi
• K. A. Thangavelu as Sampath
• C. R. Vijayakumari as Geetha
• M. Saroja as Malini
• Akkineni Nageshwara Rao as Raghu
• M. N. Nambiar as Raghu's father

Production

Kalyana Parisu marked the directorial debut of C. V. Sridhar, who was previously a partner in the production unit Venus Pictures, where he was an associate of S. Krishnamurthi and T. Govindarajan. He also wrote its story, and produced it along with Krishnamurthi and Govindarajan under Venus Pictures. Chitralaya Gopu, who was previously an employee the ACA Enterprises, Triplicane, joined as an associate writer for the film, after which his "tryst with cinema began". A. Vincent handled the film's cinematography, while N. M. Shankar was the editor. The film's script started out as a "love triangle" of two sisters in love with the same man and one eventually sacrificing the lover for her sister. The sisters were played by C. R. Vijayakumari and the-then "upcoming actor" B. Saroja Devi, whose breakthrough came previously with Nadodi Mannan (1958). The role of the male lead was given to Gemini Ganesan, while K. A. Thangavelu and M. Saroja were signed for the comedy sequences. Even though Ganesan had contracted typhoid fever, Sridhar felt that only he could do "justice to the role" and had to wait for him to get better before casting him. According to film historian Mohan Raman, Thangavelu's scene with M. Saroja where he narrates about his profession to her was filmed in a single take. Sridhar, despite providing the required dialogues, asked Thangavelu to improvise on them so as to make the humour more spontaneous.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by A. M. Rajah (in his debut as music composer), while the lyrics were written by Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram. The song "Unnaikkandu Naanada" is set in the carnatic raga known as Bilahari. The success of Kalyana Parisu's songs made P. Susheela a leading female playback singer of Tamil cinema.

The soundtrack received positive response. Tamil film historian S. Theodore Baskaran said, "Its songs were stupendous hits. It owed its phenomenal success in large part to its music composed by A.M. Raja, who was at his peak as a playback singer. the filmic convention of singing the same song twice, once in joy and once in sorrow, is followed. in fact, there are two such happy-sad songs." V. Balasubramanian of The Hindu said, "A. M. Rajah's tryst with composing includes super duper hit songs from the films Kalyana Parisu, Aadi Perukku and Then Nilavu."

Tracklist

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Vaadikkai Maranthathum"	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	A. M. Rajah, P. Susheela	4:24
2.	"Aasaiyinaale Manam"	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	A. M. Rajah, P. Susheela	3:28
3.	"Unnaikkandu Naan Vaada" (Pathos)	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	A. M. Rajah	4:13
4.	"Thullatha Manamum"	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	Jikki	3:57
5.	"Kaathalile Tholviyutraal"	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	P. Susheela	1:46
6.	"Mangayar Mugathil (Akkalukku)"	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	P. Susheela, K. Jamuna Rani, Chorus
7.	"Kathalile Tholviyutraan"	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	P. Susheela	3:27
8.	"Unnaikandu Nanada" (Happy)	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	P. Susheela	3:20

Release and reception

Kalyana Parisu was released on 6 April 1959. It became very profitable at the box office, eventually becoming a silver jubilee film, and one of Sridhar's biggest box-office hits. The film, which created a major impact in Tamil cinema, was the breakthrough for Saroja Devi and A. M. Rajah. On the film's 100th day celebrations, Thangavelu and M. V. Saroja were married at a temple in Madurai. At the 7th National Film Awards, the film won the Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Kalyana Parisu received critical acclaim. On 10 April 1959, The Indian Express said, "The picture has powerful story value [...] Gemini Ganesan, B. Saroja Devi, C. R. Vijayakumari and A. Nageswara Rao have all given sensitive performances." A review in Ananda Vikatan, dated 26 April 1959, lauded the fact that the film had no villain, and everyone had a good heart. The review also wrote that in totality, the film deserved a prize for its story, a prize for its acting and a prize for its dialogues. In contrast, the magazine Film Word, in 1970, called it "an otherwise imperfect and aesthetically crude film". Theodore Baskaran said the comedy subplot did not fit into the main storyline and was not cinematic.

In a 2007 interview with S. R. Ashok Kumar The Hindu, director K. Balachander said, "[Kalyana Parisu], a love story, is the first of its kind. I became director Sridhar’s fan after watching it." Film historian Randor Guy stated that the film would be "remembered for the deft direction, interesting storyline, cinematography, music, and, above all, the comedy sequences of Thangavelu and Saroja." Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu called the film "A love story with well etched characters", and described the actors' performances as "excellent".

Legacy

With the success of Kalyana Parisu, Sridhar launched his own production company, Chitralaya Pictures, and he later "went on to scale greater heights" in the Hindi, Telugu and Kannada film industries as well. It also set the pattern for his later works in which he repeated the motif of the eternal triangle and unrequited love. The comedy subplot gained popularity, and was sold separately on audio cassettes.

In a scene from Avvai Shanmugi (1996), Viswanatha Iyer (Gemini Ganesan) is shocked to hear that Shanmugi (Kamal Haasan) is married, the song "Kadhalile Tholvi" will be seen as background song for the scene. Malathi Rangarajan in her review of Parthiban Kanavu (2003) mentioned that comedy track performed by Vivek in the film "has touches of the Thangavelu-M. Saroja track in Sridhar's Kalyana Parisu".

Remakes

Following its success, Sridhar remade Kalyana Parisu in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1960), and in Hindi as Nazrana (1961). A second Telugu remake, Devata, was released in 1982 and a second Hindi remake, Tohfa, in 1984. Both were directed by Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao.

Bibliography

• Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The Eye of The Serpent: An Introduction to Tamil Cinema. Chennai: East West Books. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (PDF). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Kalyana Parisu at IMDb
• Kalyana Parisu at Rotten Tomatoes