JK & Tamil Cinema Part 3

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

JK & Tamil Cinema Part 3: S.V.Subbiah & Kaaval Deivam

' உமது பத்திரிகையில் நீர் அரசாங்கத்தை தாக்கி எழுதியதால் உம்மையும் ஒரு ராஜத்வேஷி என்று நான் கூறுகிறேன்!'

'கூறிக்கொள்ளும், நன்றாக 400 முறை கூறிக்கொள்ளும், கவலையில்லை !'

'சரி.. நீர் போகலாம்'

'போகிறோம்!'


I first saw Kappalottiya Thamizhan on TV as a child. So many years have flown past since, yet even now the image of a majestic, defiant S.V. Subbiah comes to mind whenever I open my copy of Bharathiyaar’s verses. Such was the performance of Subbiah- straight from the heart, marked by a rare, simple, dignity. Generations of Tamils have grown up believing that this was how the revolutionary bard must have looked, this was how he must have walked, talked…

Subbiah (1920-1980) was born in Senkottai. Spurning academic pursuits, he joined a drama troupe called ‘Senkottai Ananda Sakthivel Paramananda Boys Company’ when he was 11 years old. Later, he was part of hoary drama troupes such as Balashanmukhananda Sabha and Sakthi Nadaga Sabha.

Subbiah’s performance as Kavi Anandar in S.D. Sundaram’s play ‘Kaviyin Kanavu’ (Sakthi Nadaga Sabha/1945) fetched rave reviews. He made his debut in cinema with ‘Vijayalakshmi’ (1946). His fine performance in the movie ‘Kanjan’ (1947) elicited critical approbation. Throughout the 50s and 60s, Subbiah was a much sought-after artiste, for he would intersperse a subtle, heartwarming empathy into his performances and make even a minuscule cameo stand out.

The unjustly accused servant who seeks a terrible revenge in ‘Velaikkaran’ (1952), the platform philosopher in ‘Porter Kandan’, the unscrupulous railway clerk with a peculiar twitch in the neck in ‘Sugam Enge’, the understanding and loving elder brother in ‘Mangaiyar Thilagam’, the chief protagonist in ‘Valliyin Selvan’, the duet-singing womanizer in ‘Naane Raaja’, the long-suffering suppressed farmer in ‘Kaalam Maarippochchu’, the loyal employee who belatedly realizes the true colours of his employer in ‘Irumbu Thirai’, the timid family man in ‘Baagappirivinai’, the loyal boatman in ‘Parthiban Kanavu’, the Christian gentleman in ‘Paava Mannippu’, the gifted musician in ‘Kalaikkoyil’, the fanatical devotee of the Goddess in ‘Aadhi Parasakthi’….. Subbiah essayed the varied roles with a simple elegance and uncommon finesse.

Even in the 70s, Subbiah stands out in unforgettable sketches such as the widower with 3 daughters in ‘Sollathaan Ninaikkiren’ and the irresponsible patriarch in ‘Arangetram’. Why, even as late as 1978, and in a fiasco called ‘Mariamman Thiruvizha’, Subbiah showed dignified restraint in his performance as the father of a woman whose is accused of infidelity by her husband.

And around the mid 60s, Subbiah decided to venture into film production. Being a voracious reader and an ardent fan of Jayakanthan, he was firm that he would adapt one of JK’s stories for cinema. At that time JK was not too favorably inclined towards cinema and people associated with the industry. His experiences in producing and directing ‘Unnaippol Oruvan’ and ‘Yarukkaaga Azhudhaan’ had left him bitter and rueful. But when Subbiah approached JK expressing his desire, JK could not refuse, as he had often admired Subbiah’s performances, and had known him well from the days when Subbiah worked in ‘Paadhai Theriyudhu Paar’.

Further, JK had wanted Subbiah to play the role of Govindasami Pillai in ‘Yarukkaaga Azhudhaan’ and had visited Subbiah in his Karanodai farm one night with the offer. Subbiah who had been deeply impressed with the story, had already envisaged himself playing the lead role of Joseph. So his reply, gentle and firm at the same time, was that if JK could consider him for the role of Joseph, it was agreeable to him, otherwise they both had better pass their time talking of other unconnected matters. And so JK stayed the night as Subbiah’s guest in the tranquil farmhouse and they discussed on philosophical matters of mutual interest till the wee hours of the morning.

Besides his liking for Subbiah, another factor that made it difficult for JK to refuse Subbiah’s current request to give one of his stories for making into a movie, was that Subbiah had appointed K. Vijayan as the director, and Vijayan, was of course, JK’s close friend. A railway employee of Ponmalai Station and a fellow comrade, Vijayan had appeared in the lead role in ‘Paadhai Theriyudhu Paar’. Subsequently, Vijayan took up whatever film offers that came his way and also acted in the plays of Sahasranamam’s Seva Stage.

However, Vijayan was more interested in the technical aspects of film making, and would observe keenly cinematographers, editors and directors at work. Like JK, Vijayan was wholly disenchanted with the type of Tamil movies that were being made, and they often discuss avidly how they would stray off the beaten track if given a chance. When JK decided to make a movie of ‘Unnaippol Oruvan’, Vijayan was one among the few close associates who helped him in every way. In his ‘Oru ilakkiyavaadhiyin kalaiyulaga anubavangal’, JK recalls how with masaal vadai and tea as their only sustenance, the entire screenplay of ‘Unnaippol oruvan’ was written in 10 days in the one-room tenement of Vijayan in Chidambarasami Koyil Street in Mylapore when Vijayan’s family was away.

Vijayan assisted JK in directing both ‘Unnaippol Oruvan’ and ‘Yarukkaaga Azhudhaan’. In fact, JK asked Vijayan to direct the first shot of ‘Unnaippol Oruvan’, for at that time JK had no clue of how directors go about their work!

So when JK learned that Vijayan was finally getting a well-deserved break as director through Subbiah, he agreed readily to give them any of his stories for filming. When Subbiah enquired from JK as to the payment JK expected, JK said that he would be happy even if Subbiah would pay him 5 paise. Subbiah replied since JK had mentioned the number 5, he would pay JK Rs.5,000. JK acquiesced with a smile. The story that Subbiah and Vijayan selected was ‘Kai Vilangu’, a novel that JK had written in Kalki in 1961.

What then this story that had so fascinated Subbiah?
* * * *

Stone walls do not a prison make,
nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
that for an hermitage…

- Richard Lovelace (To Althea, from prison)

Aanaikundram Jail. Superintendent K. Raghavan is a man of integrity and humaneness who views the 500 inmates as 500 books that need to be perused. He stays with his wife Alamu in the bungalow adjoining the penitentiary, and the childless couple treats the prisoners with compassion and love, for they look upon the inmates as the children they never had. Chamundi who is serving a life sentence for killing one of the 2 villains who had fatally molested his teenaged daughter Sivakami, Syed who is yet to see his 9 year old son, Kesavan who ensures that he is arrested ever so often on trivial crimes, for he prefers the comforts of the prison to the uncaring outside world….

With the unusual backdrop of a prison, JK endows each character with an interesting history and subtle idiosyncrasies.



In the nearby Allikkulam village lives Manickam- an honest, hardworking youth who is the leaseholder of Raghavan’s lands. Manickam and Kokila love each other. The scoundrel Marimuthu, an unwelcome suitor of Kokila, sees his dreams of marrying Kokila coming to nought, and schemes with his accomplices to harm Manickam. They spy Manickam and Kokila singing and romancing, and this increases their ire. Marimuthu accosts Manickam near the Aiyanaar statue. When Marimuthu speaks deprecatingly of Manickam’s lineage, Manickam sees red. He plucks the sword from the hands of the Aiyanaar statue and injures Marimuthu. Manickam is arrested and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Superintendent Raghavan consoles him and treats him with kindness.

The story then captures the interesting events in the prison. Of particular interest are the sequences that involve Chamundi. Chamundi sees the other man who was responsible for his daughter’s death as an inmate in the prison and manages to hack him to death one night. For this crime, Chamundi is sentenced to death, and the death sentence is carried out.

In the meantime, Manickam gets the news that his mother is seriously unwell. He grieves for her and longs to pay her a visit. On his own accord Superintendent Raghavan takes the unprecedented step of permitting Manickam to go to Allikkulam to see his mother, after eliciting a promise from him that he would return to the prison by daybreak. The next day is Raghavan’s last day in service, and Raman Nair arrives to take charge as the new superintendent. Manickam has not yet returned, and Raman Nair refuses to take charge until the headcount tallies with the roster. Raghavan is confident that Manickam will return, and his confidence is not misplaced. Manickam arrives just in the nick of time. Raghavan retires; his honour and reputation untarnished.

- Kaval Deivam to be continued....

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Yaarukkaga Azhuthaan

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

JK & Tamil Cinema Part 2:

Yaarukkaga Azhuthaan (Continued)

What then was this story that had attracted so many celebrities over the years? As we know, it had appeared in Ananda Vikatan, and had then been published as a book by Meenakshi Puththaga Nilayam, Madurai in 1962.

‘Nataraja Vilas’, an unpretentious lodge located near the railway station in a nondescript town forms the backdrop of the proceedings. The story narrates the happenings of a Monday night and the subsequent Tuesday in the lodge. The chief protagonist is the simpleton Joseph, a hardworking employee in the lodge. An inebriated guest, Gopinath Seth entrusts his wallet stuffed with money to the owner Ratnavelu Mudaliar for the night. Forgetting all about it in the morning, he accuses the innocent Joseph who had entered his room with his morning coffee of stealing his wallet. Mudaliar, who is in dire need of money, seizes this opportunity and remains silent, even as Gopinath thrashes Joseph asking him to accept the theft and return the wallet.

A stoic Joesph’s response remains that he did not steal the wallet. A small-time fraudster who occupies another room in the lodge sees an opportunity to share in the loot, and taking Joseph aside, cajoles him to own up so that they can make good their escape with the wallet. When Joseph reiterates that he did not take the wallet, the scoundrel along with his accomplice beat him mercilessly.

A woman who had been abandoned by her paramour is another guest in the lodge. She has always held Joseph in high regard, and yells at the two men to stop beating Joseph. She then takes him to her room and bathes his wounds and comforts him. Joseph goes down to Mudaliar’s room. A nervous Mudaliar asks him blusteringly if he had stolen the wallet. Joseph does not reiterate his innocence now, he looks at Mudaliar unflinchingly. Joseph had witnessed Gopinath handing over his wallet to Mudaliar the previous night, but chooses to remain silent rather than reveal Mudaliar’s duplicity.

Unable to meet Jospeh’s gaze, Mudaliar falls silent. Govindasami Naidu, the head cook returns just then from his weekly visit to his village. He had always held a soft corner for Joseph and seeing him torn and bleeding, he flies into a rage. He insists that Joseph would have never committed this theft. After ascertaining that no one had left the lodge since morning, Naidu urges that the police are summoned so that they could search the premises and find the wallet. Mudaliar trembles in fear, and when Naidu asks him to lock all the rooms, he sees a way out of his predicament. Going up to Gopinath’s room, he places the wallet behind a statuette of Gandhiji’s 3 monkeys that Joseph had placed there. When Gopinath goes in to take his coat, he notices the wallet and announces the discovery.

Gopinath Seth is now profuse in his apologies to Joseph and offers him money, which Joseph refuses. Mudaliar is unable to look at the honest Joseph. The fraudsters and the other employees of the lodge who had thought Joseph to be guilty look at him sheepishly. Naidu and the girl look at him with compassion. And what does Joseph do? He cries. Joseph who had never shed a drop of tears all his life, even when his mother died, even when he had caught his wife and his best friend locked in a moment of illicit intimacy, even when he had been unjustly accused of theft, weeps now with unabashed abandon… What does he weep for? Is it enough if the hidden wallet comes to light? When would the deceit, falsehood, avarice and suspicion that men harbour in their hearts come out? Hugging his statuette of the 3 monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil, does Joseph weep for the evils that remain hidden deep inside every man?
* * * *

This then was the story that JK set about making a movie of. He picked on Nagesh to play the lead role of Joseph. It was the time when Nagesh was riding on an unprecedented high as the most sought after actor in Tamil cinema- his very name spelled magic at the box office, for his mere presence in a scene would kindle guffaws from elders and children alike. JK had held Nagesh in high esteem for his unquestioned talents. And for his part, Nagesh reserves words of warm appreciation for JK in his ‘Sirithu Vaazha Vendum’.

Nagesh’s close friend Srikanth who was an ardent fan of JK’s works. When JK met Nagesh for the first time in a railway station, Nagesh, who had not read much of JK’s books, told him that Srikanth used to speak high of JK to him. Later Nagesh attended some of JK’s public speeches and found himself drawn to the maverick writer. One morning JK woke up to see a huge crowd gathered in front of his house.

When he rushed down to know the cause, he saw Nagesh seated calmly in his drawing hall. Nagesh said that he had heard that JK would be at home only early in the morning and so he had dropped by at that unusual hour. After exchanging pleasantries, Nagesh invited JK to come and watch his ‘Ethirneechal’ play. JK willingly obliged, and after watching the play, JK refuted the rumours floating around that the play was inspired by his ‘Yaarukkaaga azhuthaan.’ This incident served to pave the way for a budding friendship between the writer and the actor, which strengthened further during the making of ‘Yaarukkaaga azhuthaan’.

Nagesh agreed happily to play the role of Joseph, indeed he treasured it as a singular honour for having been picked by JK for the coveted role. However, his dates were wholly booked much in advance, and hence JK shot all the sequences involving Nagesh in the middle of the night. In his memoirs Nagesh recalls an incident wherein they were relaxing after a stint of shooting.

An altercation with some taxi drivers led to JK and Vijayan joining in the brawl and bashing up some of the taxi drivers. However, the very next day JK sent for those taxi drivers, apologized to them and gave them twice the amounts they had demanded earlier. In another incident, JK and Nagesh were traveling together for the shooting one night when they were held up at a railway gate. To while way the time, at the suggestion of a mischievous JK, Nagesh and JK removed their shirts, and in the dark roadside they posed as beggars seeking alms. Nagesh adds that it was JK who managed to collect a higher amount!

As the financiers wanted popular actors of the day in the cast, JK selected his cast accordingly. A slim and beautiful K.R. Vijaya, a much sought after heroine by all the top actors of the day, agreed willingly to play the role of the sympathetic female guest in the lodge and even went to the extent of adjusting her dates to accommodate JK. T.S. Baliah enacted the role of the lodge owner Ratnavelu Mudaliar who gives in to temptation and remains silent when Joseph is unfairly accused. For the playing the role of the good-hearted Govindasami Naidu, JK’s first choice was S.V. Subbiah, but when Subbiah refused the offer, JK engaged another veteran S.V. Sahasranamam to play the role. Raja Wahab Kashmiri was well cast as the North-Indian Gopinath Seth.

The gifted Nimai Ghosh, who had earlier directed ‘Paadhai theriyudhu paar’ was the cinematographer of ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’. Koteeswara Rao composed the background music. Editing was by Jambulingam and Selvaraj. JK’s total budget was Rs. 3 Lakhs, which Chempi Traders handed over in 6 installments. JK was assisted by his associates K. Vijayan and Malliyam Rajagopal. JK demanded and secured a higher remuneration than Nagesh, but recalls in his ‘Or ilakkiyavaadhiyin kalaiyulaga anubavangaL’ that he was taken aback when the financiers informed him that part of the remuneration would be in black!

The movie had a single song, which comes right after the opening speech by JK. The song was written by Kannadasan. In his initial years, when Kannadasan was associated with the DMK, JK did not entertain any high regards for the poet, as JK was vehemently against the party. However, with Kannadasan breaking away from DMK and associating himself with the Congress, JK found himself addressing joint meetings with Kannadasan and came to know him well. Kannadasan had openly declared once that one book that was always to be found at his bedside was JK’s ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’.

When JK called Kannadasn to write the song for ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’, the bard came willingly one morning to the ‘Asia Jyothi Films’ office. After accepting ‘a peg’ offered by JK, Kannadasan’s pen flew with its known felicity, and the verses were written in no time at all. The bard then departed flashing his gracious smile. JK had kept aside in a cover the money to be paid to Kannadasan for the song; the cover was lying intact with JK for many months, and then JK used the money to meet some expense. JK adds that Kannadasan never asked for the payment!

Kannadasan poratrays the noble character of Joseph in simple, yet arresting lines:

uruvaththilE ivan manithan-
koNda uLLaththilE oru paRavai
paruvaththilE oru kuzhandhai-
nenjin paasaththilE oru thandhai

JK sent for S.V. Ramanan to set the verses to tune. JK had listened earlier to the music composed by Ramanan for the documentaries produced by his brother S. Krishnaswami and for few devotional songs and radio jingles. Even earlier Ramanan had assisted his gifted mother Meenakshi Subramaniam when she, along with C.N. Pandurangan, composed music for ‘paaNdithEvan’. Ramanan had also assisted Pandurangan when the latter composed music for Sridhar’s ‘ethirpaaraathathu’. He was among Salilda’s assistants when the music for ‘chemmeen’ was composed. JK had come to know Ramanan well when Ramanan assisted Chittibabu in composing the background score for ‘unnaippOl oruvan’, and when a song had become mandatory for ‘yaarukkaaga azhuthaan’, he called Ramanan to compose the music.

The movie version of the song begins with the lines ‘piRandhapOdhu piRandha paarvai maaRavEyillai- indha piLLai koNda veLLai manam vaLaravEyillai’ rendered by Dharapuram Sundararajan. This song is among the early forays of Yesudas in Tamil Cinema, and his honeyed tones tinged with an inexplicable melancholy bring alive the vision of the bard.

The song serves as an introduction to the noble character of Joseph with silhouette shots of him working hard at his menial tasks. As the verses unfold, Joseph is seen kneeling in front of a cross, his eyes closed deep in prayer. As the song progresses, we see Joseph reacting to all situations with the same serene smile… when he gives all his food to a beggar, when a street urchin throws a stone at him, when Mudaliar pours a bucketful of water at him when he oversleeps- he even mops the water cheerfully, when he massages Mudaliar’s feet at the end of the day, when he spies his wife and friend in an intimate embrace… Joseph’s response is the same always … the tranquil smile that comes from his heart and escapes from his lips, not before lighting up his eyes… The song, with its lyrics and visuals establishes firmly the credentials of Joseph…

http://www.veoh.com/watch/yapi-Vpdfvitmyao

With JK’s meticulous planning and determined execution, the movie was shot in a start-to-finish schedule at the Newtone Studios and was completed in 3 months. The movie was released on April 14 1966. K. Balachander, who was among those who watched the movie in its very first show in Casino Theater, was effusive in his praise. JK who watched the movie along with the audience that day felt encouraged at the response. But when he returned from a 10-day trip to Kerala, he saw that the movie was running to empty halls, and was taken off from all the theaters at the end of a mere 2 weeks.

The reasons were not far to seek. JK admits that a story that could not be extended beyond 7000 feet had been ‘dragged like rubber’ to satisfy the whims of the financiers. The original story takes place wholly in the premises of ‘Nataraja Vilas’, but the movie had extended external sequences such as Naidu taking leave of his family after his weekly visit in the village, the girl’s lover being unable to return to her due to family pressures, Mudaliar seeing a mother beating her child for stealing, Mudaliar imagining himself standing as an accused in a court and then languishing as a prisoner in a cell… For prolonging the length of the movie, JK even had to introduce new characters not present in the original story such as Mani Panikkar played by K. Vijayan. As another ‘stretching tactic’, the movie opens with a speech heard in JK’s voice, followed by the longish song.

Notwithstanding the unseemly speed with which it was returned to the cans, ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’ remains one of the stray realistic ventures of Tamil Cinema. In fact, it has a place of pride in the ratings of learned film historians such as Theodore Bhaskaran. Nimai Ghosh captured the soul of JK’s story with his haunting black & white frames. Nagesh was simply astounding as the unjustly accused Joseph, and Vijaya was a revelation with her stark, brilliant performance. In future years, Nagesh would go on to gather honours with his sensitive portrayals in JKs projects such as ‘Sila nerangalil sila manitharga’ and ‘Oru nadigai naadagam paarkiraal’, while Vijaya would come out with another stunning delineation in JK’s ‘Karunai ullam’.

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JK & Tamil Cinema Part 2

Saravanan Natarajan writes:

JK & Tamil Cinema Part 2:

Yaarukkaga Azhuthaan

“They hold a notion that I have all along been writing about people of the lower strata. However, haven’t I really been writing about high level people among the so-called lower strata? Who belongs to the higher strata and whom to the lower strata? That cannot be determined by their position or by their place of living. It is based on how they are-how they live-that a determination should be made….”

- Jayakanthan

Sometime in the late 50s, Jayakanthan’s story ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’ had appeared in Ananda Vikatan, fetching widespread critical acclaim. Actor Chandrababu had befriended Jayakanthan during that time, and expressed his eagerness to adapt the story for the screen and act in the lead role of Joseph. However, the ideas that Chandrababu put forth on the screenplay were not to JK’s liking.

It was a little later that actor A. Veerappan came to JK with the news that Producer G.N. Velumani was desirous of making a movie of ‘Yaarukkaaga azhuthaan’, and wanted to meet him in this regard. JK met Velumani and agreed to give him the rights to the story on the condition that Veerappan play the lead role of Joseph. Velumani agreed to JK’s terms at the spur of the moment, but when the press announcements were made, it was Sivaji Ganesan who was playing the lead role! The movie was to be a star-studded affair with Savitri, Rangarao and Baliah taking on the supporting roles. Velumani had appointed Sridhar to direct the venture.

Though Velumani had gone against his word, JK remained silent as he felt that a producer who was investing money in a project could not be bound by a mere verbal assurance. Later on, Velumani informed JK that Sridhar was desirous of holding discussions with him on the adaptation, and requested JK to meet up with Sridhar. JK called upon Sridhar at the latter’s Chitralaya office, and Sridhar elaborated his ideas on making the movie. With mounting frustration, JK felt that his story was being mangled beyond recognition. Reminiscing on this incident in his ‘Or ilakkiyavaadhiyin kalaiyulaga anubavangaL’ JK says that when Sridhar related to him how he would film the end of the movie with Joseph kneeling in front of a wooden cross and breathing his last, JK lost his cool and retorted that considering Sridhar’s ideas, it would be more appropriate to rename the movie ‘yaarukkaaga seththaan!’

With that, JK kept away from the making of the movie. Reports reached him, however, that Velumani had started expressing apprehensions on Sivaji fitting into the character of Joseph, and that Sivaji had become aware of the producer’s misgivings. JK, who was nowhere in the picture by then, suddenly found himself in the center of a controversy as there appeared some false reports in certain sections of the vernacular media that it was JK who was not in favour of Sivaji donning the role of Joseph.

Subsequent reports indicated that Chandrababu was now being considered to play the role of Joseph. When the press sought JK’s reaction, all that JK said was it did not matter who would be playing the lead role, what was important was how realistic performances would be extracted from the actors and how the story would be filmed. This was again misrepresented in some sections of the press that JK was not happy with Chandrababu as Joseph either. The next day’s Dhinathandhi carried Sridhar’s irked reaction that if JK did wanted neither Sivaji nor Chandrababu, would JK himself play the role? A furious JK gave a prompt rejoinder to Sridhar in Janashakti. In later years, JK regretted the harsh terms he had employed in his response.

The partially made movie was then abandoned after several lakhs of rupees had been expended on it. Chandrababu came to JK’s house soon thereafter, offering Rs.75, 000 for the rights to ‘Yaarukkaaga azhuthaan’. When JK informed Chandrababu that the rights were still with Velumani, Chandrababu replied that as Velumani had given up the project, he would give the rights to Chandrababu if JK urged him to do so. JK refused to do this, and with this the idea of filming ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’ was shelved.

In the meantime, as we have seen earlirt, along with a horde of talented communist comrades, JK involved himself in the making of Paadhai Theriyudhu Paar (1960/ Kumari Films). Though it was a commercial failure, JK was satisfied with the way the off-beat movie had shaped up. Soon thereafter, Producer ‘Venus’ Krishnamoorthi professed a great admiration for JK and wanted him to make a movie for them. JK expressed his opinion that none of his stories would suit the screen. At Krishnamoorthi’s request JK wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the Tamil adaptation of a Bengali movie titled ‘Takka Aanna Paisa’. However, Krishnamoorthi had lost interest in the project, and now asked JK to work on the script of another Bengali story involving a dual role for the heroine. JK had completed penning the ‘treatment’ of the screenplay when he felt a torrent of misgivings overcome him and informed the producers that he was no longer interested in the assignment. The movie came out later as Kaathirundha KangaL (1962/ Vasumathi Pictures).

It was during this time that JK’s friends, K. Vijayan and N. Bhaskaran in particular, were urging him constantly to take upon himself the filming of any one of his stories. Their argument was that just as DMK had ingratiated itself into the psyche of the populace solely through cinema, they too could counter this assault through the same medium, making truly good movies in the bargain. JK then decided to make a movie of his ‘Unnaippol Oruvan’ and approached Venus Krishnamoorthi with the idea. Krishnamoorthi agreed readily to finance the project. However, when the script was read out, Krishnamoorthi expressed an opinion that the proceedings seem to drag on with the characters eating and sleeping all the time.

JK walked away in a rage, and then with the encouragement of his friends floated his own film company, calling it ‘Asia Jyothi Films’ after Nehru who had passed away just then. The starkly realistic ‘Unnaippl Oruvan’ (1965) scripted and directed by JK under this banner, won critical acclaim and the National award for the 3rd Best Feature Film. The movie, however, could not run beyond a week. In his memoirs, JK reveals how the movie was removed after just a week from Krishanveni Theater in Madras, though the collections were more than average, and how he had to sell the movie to a Soviet Film Entity called Sovexport. However, despite all this, the financial woes of ‘Asia Jyothi Films’ were such that JK and friends decided to recoup their losses by making another movie.

This time JK picked his ‘Karunaiyinaal Alla’ for adaptation. A new found acquaintance called Mothi Rajagopal agreed to finance the project in part. JK then approached the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) for funds. However, the stringent conditions imposed by FFC filled JK with reservations. It was at this opportune moment that an old friend and owner of Mars Advertising, Udhuman Mohaydeen who went by the name Minnal accosted JK with the welcome tidings that his friends who were owners of a company called Chempi Traders were willing to wholly finance the celluloid adaptation of ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’ if JK was ready to make the movie. So JK gave up his efforts to film ‘Karunaiyinaal Alla’ and approached Velumani to get back the rights to film ‘Yaarukaaga Azhuthaan’. The good-hearted Velumani returned the rights to JK without a demur, and wished him all the best to make a successful movie of it.

Thus JK commenced making ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’. He felt intuitively that this particular story was such that the impact the book could never be reproduced on the screen. However, the financiers insisted on ‘Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan’, and considering the livelihood of the members of Asia Jyothi Films, JK went about making the movie.

- Yaarukkaga Azhuthaan to be continued.

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