Dowry Kalyanam (transl. Dowry Marriage) is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by Visu and produced by S. Suseela. The film stars Visu, Vijayakanth, Srividya, S. Ve. Shekher and Viji. It is based on Visu's play Dowry Kalyana Vaibhogame.[1] The films depicts the relationship between two best friends. One of them is financially struggling, and he increasingly depends financially on his friend. When an arranged marriage between his friend and his sister is proposed, the impoverished friend tries to collect the necessary dowry on his own. The film was released on 1 July 1983.The film was remade in Kannada as Madhuve Madu Tamashe Nodu (1984).
| Dowry Kalyanam | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Visu |
| Written by | Visu |
| Based on | Dowry Kalyana Vaibhogame by Visu |
| Produced by | S. Suseela |
| Starring | Visu Vijayakanth Srividya M. N. Nambiar Viji S. Ve. Shekher Mucherla Aruna |
| Music by | M. S. Viswanathan |
Production company | Charuchithra Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
editGaneshan and Ethiraj are best friends and colleagues. Ethiraj is a widower and an alcoholic while Ganeshan is married and has a sister and a brother. Ganeshan does not earn enough and borrows from Ethiraj and Rowthar, a Muslim man who runs a grocery shop, frequently.
A misunderstanding arises when Ethiraj's mother proposes marriage between Ganeshan's sister and Ethiraj, leading to a rift in their friendship. He challenges that he would get his sister married in a pompous manner.
However, the groom's family is behind dowry. The mother of the groom runs the family tyrannically. How Ganeshan struggles to make ends meet with many subplots makes it an interesting movie to watch.
In the end, with help from many people, he gets his sister married, only for his own sister to ask him about the remainder of the dowry thereby denoting the cycle of dowry will forever continue.
Cast
edit- Visu as Ganesan
- Vijayakanth as Ethiraj
- Srividya as Uma
- S. Ve. Shekher as Manggupathi
- Mucherla Aruna as Meena
- Viji as Gowri
- Kishmu as Acharapakkam Raja Kalavai
- Pushpalatha as Arcot Rushyendramani
- M. N. Nambiar as Rowthar
- Manorama as Seethalatchmi
- Vennira Aadai Moorthy as Karar Kandhasamy
- V. K. Ramasamy as Jalandhar Subbudu
- V. Gopalakrishnan as DIG Kuselan
- Delhi Ganesh as Kuselan
- Gundu Kalyanam as Kalyanam
- Omakuchi Narasimhan as Gundurao
- M. R. Rajamani as Neelaganda Sastrigal
- S. R. Janaki as Ganesan's grandmother
- R. Dilip as Thief
- T. P. Gajendran as villager (uncredited role)
Production
editThe film was shot at a village near Tiruvallur.[2]
Soundtrack
editThe music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Vaali.[3]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sreeraman Sreedevi" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam | |
| 2. | "Enthan Kannana Kannatti" | P. Jayachandran, S. P. Sailaja | |
| 3. | "Andavane Kanthirandu" | M. S. Viswanathan |
Release and reception
editDowry Kalyanam was released on 1 July 1983.[4] Kalki praised the performances of Visu, Nambiar and Srividya while also praising Visu for his direction and avoiding the influence of making it look like a stage play but panned Viswanathan's music.[5]
Censorship controversies
editVisu mentioned that the censor board wanted 87 cuts for the film as they were not impressed with the portrayal of the Rowther character speaking in Hindi mixed with Tamil because Rowthers speak pure Tamil. Visu then developed the scene where Rowther explains why he speaks like that, after which the film was cleared with no cuts.[6]
References
edit- ^ Bhatt, Karthik (12 April 2016). "Pattinapravesam : From Stage to Celluloid". The Cinema Resource Centre. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ விஜயகாந்த் (22 January 2006). "வலி... வருத்தம்... வாழ்க்கை!" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 88–91. Retrieved 11 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Dowry Kalyanam Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "நட்சத்திர படப் பட்டியல்". Cinema Express (in Tamil). 1 December 2002. pp. 41–43. Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ "டௌரி கல்யாணம்". Kalki (in Tamil). 24 July 1983. p. 42. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Director Visu Interview : Censor asked me to make 87 cuts for my film". IndiaGlitz. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2022.