Thaai Sollai Thattathe was one of the biggest hits of MGR. In Madras city, the film ran for 20 weeks (140 days).
The film was produced by ‘Sandow’ M.M.A. Chinnappa Thevar under his banner Devar Films. The story, screenplay and dialogues were written by Aroor Das. Thaai Sollai Thattathe highlights the priceless nature of a mother’s teachings.
Raju (M.G. Ramachandran) is an honest police inspector working hard to nab a group of thieves. While on his mission, he saves a rich young girl Vijaya (Saroja Devi) in the woods from wild animals, and they both fall in love. Her father is a rich crook (M.R. Radha) who had killed Raju’s father when he was a young boy. When Vijaya’s father comes to Raju’s house to fix their marriage, Raju’s mother (Kannamba) who had witnessed her husband’s murder by Vijaya’s father, asks him to leave. It is only then that Raju learns of his father's murder. Raju also has a brother named Asokan, who is also a criminal working with Vijaya’s father.
As the film draws to a close, Asokan kidnaps Vijaya and tries to take advantage of her. Kannamba exhorts Raju to save her, and during their fight, Asokan, the elder of the two, gets killed. The mother, however, applauds her son for carrying out her instructions.
MGR and Saroja Devi play the lovers and this was one of the first films to establish them as a pair. The MGR-Saroja Devi star pair is still considered one of the most successful in Indian cinema besides MGR-Jayalalithaa.
Performances by top stars and melodious music by maestro K.V. Mahadevan with lyrics by Kavignar Kannadasan contributed to the success of the film.
There are eight songs in the film, rendered by T.M. Soundararajan and P. Susheela. One particular song, ‘Kaatukulle Thiruvizha’, became a superhit and is considered as one of the immortal melodies of Tamil Cinema. The film was edited and directed by M.A. Thirumugam (Thevar’s younger brother). Cinematography was by C.V. Murthi.
Remembered For: The interesting storyline and fine performances by MGR, Saroja Devi, M. R. Radha and his sidekick, Rajagopal, and a spirited performance by P. Kannamba as the mother. And, of course, for all the hit songs.
