Idhaya Veenai

1972 Indian film

20 October 1972 (1972-10-20)

Running time

146 minutesCountryIndiaLanguageTamil

Idhaya Veenai (transl. The Heart's Veena) is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Lakshmi and Manjula, with Sivakumar, M. N. Nambiar and M. G. Chakrapani in supporting roles. It was released on 20 October 1972.

Plot

Somewhere in Madras, several years previously, a young Sundaram was driven away from home by Sivaraman, his father, a severe lawyer. Sivaraman denies his son. Sundaram makes a promise to his father, that one day, he will beg him to recognise him. He currently lives in the Kashmir as a tourist guide. When he finds Nalini, his younger sister, in the middle of a group of students, Sundaram decides to go back home, to gain knowledge of her and help the situation. But at the beginning, he incurs only troubles, in particular, with Kirymani, the lover of Nalini and Annamalai, a man with a double life.

Cast

M. G. Ramachandran as Sundaram
Lakshmi as Nalini
Manjula as Vimala
Sivakumar as Giri
M. N. Nambiar as Annamalai
M. G. Chakrapani as Sivaraman
R. S. Manohar as Karmegam
Thengai Srinivasan as K. Muthu alias Kalimuthu
Poornam Viswanathan as Kumarswamy, Vimala's father
A. Sakunthala as Vasantha, Annamalai's young sister
G. Sakunthala as Mangalam, Sivaraman's wife
Sachu as Karmegam's daughter
Master Sekhar as Young Sundaram
Master Prabhakar as Young K. Muthu
Ennatha Kannaiya as Snake Charmer
Selvaraj as Patient's brother
Isari Velan as Masala Vadai Seller

Production

The film was produced by Udhaya Productions. Parts of Idhaya Veenai were shot in Kashmir.^[1]^[2]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Shankar–Ganesh.^[3] The song "Kashmir Beautiful" attained popularity.^[4] Ramachandran suggested Shankar–Ganesh to use veena as background score for the climax fight. 30 veenas were used for this scene and it was completed within half an hour.^[5] Veena player Raghavan was initially approached to play the veena but declined due to scheduling conflicts; his son R. Parthasarathy signed on instead.^[6]

Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
"Aanandham Indru"	T. M. Soundararajan, S. Janaki	Vaali	03:28
"Kashmir Beautiful"	T. M. Soundararajan		07:28
"Neeraadum"	P. Susheela		03:29
"Oru Vaalum"	T. M. Soundararajan		03:38
"Pon Andhi"	T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela	Pulamaipithan	05:49
"Thirunirai Selvi"	T. M. Soundararajan	Vaali	04:14

Release and reception

Idhaya Veenai was released on 20 October 1972, Ramachandran's first release since his expulsion from the political party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.^[7] Kanthan of Kalki appreciated the performances of Ramachandran, Lakshmi and Sivakumar while also appreciating Krishnan–Panju's direction, Sornam's dialogues and Shanmugam's cinematography.^[8]

References

^ Kannan 2017, pp. 158, 167.
^ "New Kashmir beckons Kodambakkam arc lights". The Times of India. 23 August 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
^ "Idhaya Veenai (1972)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
^ "Crooning TMS' Kashmir". Business Line. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
^ சுந்தரம், கே. (17 November 1974). "சண்டையில் முழங்கிய வீணைகள்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). pp. 157–160.
^ "'My Heart is in Film Music'". The New Indian Express. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
^ Sri Kantha, Sachi (27 December 2019). "MGR Remembered – Part 54 | An Overview of the Final 31 movies of 1970s". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
^ காந்தன் (29 October 1972). "இதய வீணை". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 31. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via Internet Archive.