The film Irulum Oliyum was based on a popular Kannada novel written by the famed writer Aryamba Pattabhi. The novel was first made in Kannada by the leading Indian filmmaker Puttanna Kanagal; he then made it in Tamil and Telugu.
In the film, Vanisri plays the dual role of Banu and Chandra, cousin sisters who look alike. They switch places for a few days to escape from each of their family problems. How their lives change after the switch forms the rest of the story. One of the identical cousins, Chandra, is dark and old-fashioned, whereas the other, Banu, is modern and fair, who takes life easy and meets the poor but well-educated young man (Muthuraman) who falls in love, but she does not respond at first, and disappointed he commits suicide. She realises her folly later, and in the final climax, she too commits suicide. The dark girl, Chandra, is ill-treated by her stepmother (Sundari Bai), and her loving father (Subbaiah) loses money in business and also his job, and after getting his job back thanks to his daughter, he dies later of heart failure, leaving the daughter orphaned. Soon, the twin cousins switch identities, which is the main crux of the story, and how the problems are solved forms the second half of the film, with a somewhat predictable climax.
The music for the film was composed by the maestro composer K.V. Mahadevan. The lyrics for the songs are by Kavignar Kannadasan.
Vanisri in a double role deserves full credit and steals the thunder; she gets ample scope to exhibit her talent. Rama Prabha and Nagesh contribute the comedy track in the film.
The handsome AVM Rajan, who plays the rich man who wants to work in villages and qualifies himself in agriculture, also performs well in a minor but important role. Muthuraman is seen only in a few scenes where he does well as usual. S.V. Subbaiah and S.V. Ranga Rao as the two fathers of the girls are their usual veteran selves, well-supported by the self-centred stepmother Sundari Bai.
The Tamil version dialogue was written by noted writer ‘Vietnam Veedu’ Sundaram, while the screenplay was by Puttanna Kanagal.
The film was photographed at Gemini Studios by cinematographer S. Maruthi Rao and was edited by M. Umanath Rao. The film fared fairly well at the box office.
Remembered For : The excellent performance by Vanisri in a dual role.
