One of the many successful live-action movies of Walt Disney is The Parent Trap (1961), featuring famed Hollywood star Maureen O'Hara and noted British actor Hayley Mills (as the twins; she was then 15). The movie, which was all about family sentiment and twin girls bringing together their separated parents, had a long and successful run in India.
Noted actor and screenwriter ‘Javert' N. Seetharaman adapted the Hollywood movie in Tamil, making changes in the screenplay to suit the local milieu. It was produced by AV. Meiyappan in more than one Indian language.
Titled
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
One of the major factors contributing to the success of the movie was its melodious music composed by M. S. Viawanathan. Many of the songs became hits and are still remembered today. The hits include ‘Kozhi oru koottiley' (lyrics: Kannadasan; voice: M. S. Rajeswari), ‘Pazhamudhir solaiyiley' (Kannadasan, P. Susheela), ‘Anbulla mannavaney' (Vali, Susheela, T. M. Soundararajan), ‘Kuzhandaiyum deivamum' (Kannadasan, Susheela), ‘Naan nandri solven' (Vali, Susheela) and ‘Enna vegam sollu bhamaaa (Vali, Soundararajan, A. L. Raghavan and chorus).
The film was remade in Telugu as Letha Manasulu (1966) with Jamuna, Haranath and Kutti Padmini in lead roles. Directed by the same duo, it, however, did not enjoy the same success as the Tamil original.
But Meiyappan hit the bull's eye with the Hindi version,
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Krishnan-Panju had many hits in many languages, including Hindi, to their credit. Both of them began in a modest manner in Coimbatore, with Krishnan working as a laboratorian and Panju (Panchapakesan) as an assistant director and script assistant. Panju had also worked with Ellis R. Dungan as one of his assistants. He was also a talented film editor and edited all his films and signed his name as ‘Panjabi!'
Remembered for the interesting storyline, Kutti Padmini's performance and melodious songs.