A. Bhim Singh was one of the most successful directors, with several hits to his credit in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam. Hailing from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, he worked in a Telugu daily as a sub-editor before getting interested in movies and relocating to Madras. He was then spotted by leading comedian N. S. Krishnan, and started working in his unit. He went on to assist as an editor under the directorial duo, Krishnan-Panju, and after a long struggle, turned director with Ammaiyappan (1954). He went on to make many hits, whose titles usually started with the letter ‘ pa ’. Among these films are Pathi Bhakthi (1958), Padikaatha Medhai (1960), Pasamalar (1961), Palum Pazhamum (1961), Pandha Pasam (1962), Paarthaal Pasi Theerum (1962), Padithaal Mattum Podhuma (1962), Paar Magale Paar (1963), Pachai Vilakku (1964), Paaladai (1967), and Pathukappu (1970). Most of these films were box-office hits and starred top actors of the time, such as Gemini Ganesan, Sivaji Ganesan, M. R. Radha, and Savithri.
Pava Mannippu was one such film. A story about religious tolerance, the film attempted to bring home the point that religion was created by man to divide people and that one must not give too much importance to it. The film had great performances by Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, M. R. Radha, Savithri, Devika and veteran actors such as V. Nagaiah, S. V. Subbaiah, Rajamma and others. The story was written by Buddha Pictures unit, and the dialogues were by M. S. Solamalai, with the assistance of R. Pasumani.
Kannadasan’s lyrics contributed significantly to the success of the film. The songs by accomplished singers such as T. M. Soundararajan, P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela, G. K. Venkatesh and Nagoor Hanifa are popular even today. ‘Kalangalil Aval Vasantham’, ‘Vandha Naal Mudhal’, and ‘Atthan Ennathan’ were all superhits.
Pava Mannippu , in which noted film personality A.V.M. Saravanan worked as a production executive, won the All India Certificate of Merit (an award discontinued in 1957) for being the Second Best Feature Film.
As with most of his films, music by Viswanathan-Ramamurthi played a great part in Pava Mannippu ’s success. The orchestration was so popular that whenever their tunes were played on the jukebox inside a popular restaurant in Mylapore, youngsters would stop outside to listen to them.
Remembered for : Superb performances by the actors, the music of Viswanathan-Ramamurthi and Bhim Singh’s direction.
