Kudumba Vilakku (transl. Family Lantern) is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by F. Nagoor. The film stars P. V. Narasimha Bharathi and Jamuna.[2]

Kudumba Vilakku
Directed byF. Nagoor
Screenplay byA. K. Velan
C. K. T. Rajan
Kangeyan
Story byNagoor Cine Productions
Story Department
Produced byMinal
StarringP. V. Narasimha Bharathi
Jamuna
CinematographyJiten Bannerji
V. Kumaradevan
Edited byP. V. Narayanan
Music byT. R. Pappa
Production
company
Nagoor Cine Productions
Release date
  • 14 June 1956 (1956-06-14)[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot edit

Radha is the wife of Kanagasabai, a Zamindar. The couple have no children. Kanagasabai brings in another woman, Pushpa, as his second wife with Radha's consent. In the meantime, Radha gets pregnant. Pushpa and her uncle Appasami try to abort the baby, but Radha safely delivers a boy. While Radha is in a delirious state, Pushpa and Appasami hand over the baby to a servant, Gopal and order him to kill it. But Gopal takes it to the next village and dumps the baby in a garbage bin. Kaathaan comes to clear the bin and finds the baby. He and his wife Pechi decide to bring up the baby, name him Marudhan and move on to the Zamindar's village in order to escape from neighbours' prying eyes.

Peychi gets employed as a servant in the zamin bungalow. She takes the baby with her. Radha becomes fond of the baby.
Pushpa and Appasami poison the zamindar's mind and make him chase Radha out of the house. Kaathaan's hut is also burnt. While going aimlessly on the road in another village, Radha picks up a girl child, Kannamma. Kaathaan and Peychi also comes and settles down in the same village. Years roll by. Marudhan becomes a building contractor.

Radha works as a labourer in a building. One day she slips and fall down. Marudhan takes her to her home and meets Kannamma. As Radha is injured, Kannamma goes to work in the building. Marudhan and Kannamma become lovers. When Kaathaan and Peychi learn of their love, they go to Kannamma's house to arrange the marriage. When they met Radha there, they are shocked. But Radha explains that Kannamma is her adopted daughter. Radha tells them her full story. Marudhan gets angry and goes to zamindar's house to settle affairs.
After chasing Radha, Pushpa takes control of the zamin and imprisons Kanagasabai. But he manages to escape. Pushpa sends Appasami to find and bring back Kanagasabai. Appasami finds Kanagasabai and tries to get hold of him. In the nick of time, Marudhan comes to the spot and rescues Kanagasabai. He takes him to the zamin bungalow. When Marudhan argues with Pushpa, she suspects that he may know the full story. So he plans to kill him. In the meantime, Kathan meets Gopal and takes him to his house. Gopal explains what happened. So Radha discovers that Marudhan is her own son. All of them goes to the zamindar's house. How the problems are solved forms the rest of the story.[3]

Cast edit

List adapted from the film's song book.[3]

Production edit

The film was produced and directed by F. Nagoor under his own banner Nagoor Cine Productions. A. K. Velan, C. K. T. Rajan and Kangeyan wrote the screenplay and dialogues. V. Kumaradevan did the cinematography supervised by Jiten Bannerji while P. V. Narayanan did the editing. Audiography was done by M. V. Karunakaran supervised by Dhinsha K. Tehrani. Art direction was by N. Kuppusamy and Chinnilal and Sampathkumar handled the choreography. Still photography was done by K. Rathinavelu. The film was shot at Neptune Studios.[1][3]

The film was also produced in Malayalam with the title Graha Devatha.[1]

Soundtrack edit

Music was composed by T. R. Pappa while the lyrics were penned by Maruthakasi, Kambadasan, Purakshidasan, Subbu Arumugam and N. S. Krishnan.[4]

No. Song Singer/s Lyricist Length
1 "Ennum Manadhinil" Andal Subbu Arumugam 03:31
2 "Panavin Aasaiyinale" Susheela A. Maruthakasi 02:30
3 "Koottal Perukkal Vaguthal" N. S. Krishnan & Party N. S. Krishnan 02:19
4 "Abalaiyin Gathiyidhuvo" Sirkazhi Govindarajan Subbu Arumugam 03:25
5 "Inidhana Pechile" Ghantasala, P. Leela Kambadasan 03:09
6 "Kanna Nee Vaa Ennudan" Purakshidasan 04:01
7 "Kanni Ponnu Nanunga" Susheela A. Maruthakasi 03:48

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "1956 – குடும்ப விளக்கு – நாகூர் சினி புரொடக்சன்ஸ்-கிரகதேவதா(ம)" [1956 – Kudumba Vilakku – Nagoor Cine Productions-Graha Devatha(ma)]. Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  2. ^ காந்தன் (8 July 1956). "குடும்ப விளக்கு". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 34–35. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c குடும்ப விளக்கு (PDF) (song book) (in Tamil). Nagoor Cine Productions. 1956. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  4. ^ Neelamegam, G. (2014). Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 (in Tamil) (1st ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. p. 104.

External links edit