He was hailed as the trailblazer of screen writing in Tamil cinema. C.V. Sridhar wrote the dialogues in simple prose, without rhetoric and long-winding speeches thus bringing in a sea change in Tamil cinema in the mid-1950s which caught the attention of the industry and admiration from the common audience. Interestingly, Chitthamur V. Sridhar who hailed from Nelvoy village near Maduranthakam was of Telugu origin. A prodigy, he wrote plays even as a school student and staged them in nearby Chengalpattu.
In 1951, when he was only 18, his play Ratha Pasam was staged by the famous T.K.S. Brothers led by T.K. Shanmugam. Its huge success prompted TKS to make it as a movie in 1954 with himself and his brother T.K. Bhagavathi reprising their roles. Anjali Devi and Vidyavathi (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha’s maternal aunt) played the female lead. Sridhar made his debut as a screen writer and the film’s success soon landed him with plum offers from other production houses.
The business acumen of Venus Pictures bosses, S. Krishnamurthy and T. Govindarajan made them take Sridhar as a partner. After producing blockbuster hits like Amaradeepam and Uthmaputhiran , both penned by Sridhar and directed by T. Prakasa Rao with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead, Sridhar decided to wear the director’s hat for their next production.
By then he was the first choice to pen dialogues for the Tamil versions of most of A. Nageswara Rao’s starrers starting with Latchadhipathi (dubbed from Parivarthana ) and later for the bilinguals — Enga Veettu Mahalakshmi ( Thodikodallu ), Manjal Mahimai ( Mangalyabalam ) and Kalaivanan ( Jayabheri ) to name a few.
Perhaps this association coupled with Nageswara Rao’s popularity among the Tamil audience made Sridhar to choose ANR to play a key role in his debut directorial, Venus Pictures Kalyana Parisu (1959) which had Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi in the lead. A triangle love story, it was a huge hit all over the Madras State (renamed in 1969 as Tamil Nadu). Its success prompted Venus Pictures to remake it in Telugu, titled Pellikanuka .
The story : Two sisters — Vasanthi (B. Saroja Devi) and Geetha (Krishnakumari) — fall in love with the same man, Bhaskar (ANR). Vasanthi sacrifices her love to felicitate Geetha’s marriage with Bhaskar. The subsequent events lead to Geetha’s suspicion and her repentance when she learns about Vasanthi’s sacrifice, her own illness and dying declaration to leave her son under the care of Vasanthi who by then agrees to marry Raghu (Jaggaiah), her past manager. Just as the marriage is being performed, Bhaskar enters the wedding hall, leaves his son as a wedding gift to Vasanthi, and leaves the place, without anybody noticing him.
Cast & Crew : As a playwright Sridhar had excelled and as a screen writer he was awesome. His characters behave naturally and even in melodramatic situations they do not go overboard. The way he blended humour in an otherwise serious subject such as this one speaks volumes for his expertise in screen writing. The scenes flow smoothly and the dissolves need particular mention.
Ace lens man Aloysius Vincent was the backbone of Sridhar. Vincent was ably assisted by operative cameraman P.N. Sundaram. N.M. Shankar’s crisp editing also helped.
Sridhar signed Acharya Athreya to pen the dialogues as Athreya was also known for his simple prose, soul stirring dialogues, apt and to the point.
It was the 82nd movie for ANR and caricaturing the playful youth and essaying the dejected lover was by then a cakewalk for the superstar. B. Saroja Devi acted as Vasanthi in both the versions showcasing her talent in dealing with a vortex of emotions in her role as the sacrificing lover and the tormented woman.
Krishnakumari was paired for the first time in this film with ANR. The two later acted as lovers and spouses in some more films including Bharya Bharthalu . Jaggaiah stepped into ANR’s shoes when he replicated ANR’s role of Raghu from Kalyana Parisu . Gummadi Venkateswara Rao made a special appearance as his father.
The Pathalabhairavi heroine Malati acted as Geetha and Vasanthi’s mother. The comic scenes involving Thangavelu and M. Saroja contributed largely to the success of Kalyana Parisu . The roles were enacted by Relangi and Girija in Pellikanuka and they were as hilarious as the Tamil star comedians.
A.M. Raja’s super hit music was another factor for both the versions success. The popular songs include A.M. Raja and P. Susheela’s renditions — ‘ Vaaduka marachedavela… ’ (Lyrics: Athreya) ‘ Kannulatho palakarinchu valapulu ’ (Arudra), ‘ Pulakinchani madi pulakinchu ’ (Athreya; Jikki) and the two different lyrics for the same tune ‘ aade paade pasivada… ’ one on a happy note (lyrics: Cheruvu Anjaneya Sastry under the pseudonym Karthik; P. Susheela) and the other a sad song (Athreya; A.M. Raja).
Trivia : Interestingly, AVM Productions who rejected the story of Ratha pasam when Sridhar approached them first later made its Hindi version, Bhai Bhai with Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar in the lead.
Sridhar also debuted in Hindi when he remade Pellikanuka as Nazrana (1961) starring Raj Kapoor, Vyjayanthimala and Gemini Ganesan.
Released on April 29, Pellikanuka celebrated a silver jubilee run.
