Meendum Savithri (transl. Savithri, Again) is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Visu and produced by Nagi Reddi. It stars Revathi, Saranya Ponvannan, Nizhalgal Ravi and Raja, with Ramesh Aravind, Visu, Nagesh, Jai Ganesh, Annapurna, Seetha and Pandu playing supporting roles. The film, released on 9 February 1996,[1] is based on Visu's novel of the same name that was serialised in Ananda Vikatan,[2][3] and bombed at the box-office.[4][5] It was simultaneously made in Telugu as Neti Savithri (transl. Today's Savithri) with Gollapudi Maruti Rao replacing Visu.[6]
| Meendum Savithri | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Visu |
| Written by | Visu |
| Based on | Meendum Savithiri (novel) by Visu |
| Produced by | Nagi Reddi |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | N. Balakrishnan |
| Edited by | Ganesh Kumar |
| Music by | Devendran |
Production company | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 140 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Languages | Tamil Telugu |
Plot
editManju is an outspoken woman and she works in a small company. She lives with her father Narayana Moorthy who tries to reform the people as much as possible. Belonging to a middle-class family, she cannot provide a dowry for the potential grooms. One day, Manju comes across an innovative advertisement : a groom is looking for a bride without any dowries. The groom is Vasudevan who seems to be the perfect future husband. When Manju and Narayana Moorthy meet his family, Narayana Moorthy is shocked. Vasudevan's father Ramamoorthy became mentally ill when his business failed, his sister Gayathri became mentally ill when someone raped her, his brother Bhaskar is a drunkard and his mother is an asthma patient. Finally, Manju and Vasudevan get married. During the first night, Vasudevan beats her and falls down unconscious.
Vasudevan's family was, in fact, acting, they are perfectly all right but they are scared of something. The truth is that Vasudevan was already married to Uma. Uma was initially in love with Narasimman, a do-gooder however she later rejects him after discovering that he is a con man, she marries Vasudevan. Narasimman in order to extract money from her creates photographs showing him and Uma being married which leads to Vasudevan assume that Uma had cheated him. Vasudevan gets affected psychologically due to her absence in order to make him normal his whole family pretends to be suffering from problems.
Manju then plans to expose Narasimman's cruel ways. She and Vasudevan's family disguise themselves as a rich family from Mumbai with Bhaskar disguising himself as broker Ananthakrishnan. Narayana Moorthy who learns of the plan also joins the act as her rich father. Narayana Moorthy though not happy with the developments has to go along with the act after Manju threatens to commit suicide. During the engagement between Manju and Narasimman, Narasimman's evil ways are exposed and he is arrested by the police.
In the end, Manju unites Vasu and Uma by throwing her thali inside the temple hundi and resumes her daily routine.
Cast
edit| Cast (Tamil) | Cast (Telugu) | Role (Tamil) | Role (Telugu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revathi | Manju | ||
| Saranya Ponvannan | Uma | ||
| Nizhalgal Ravi | Narasimman | ||
| Raja | Vasudevan | ||
| Ramesh Aravind | Anandakrishnan | Anandakrishna | |
| Gollapudi Maruti Rao | Visu | Narayana Moorthy | Minor Babu |
| Nagesh | Ramamoorthy | ||
| Jai Ganesh | Chandramouli | ||
| Annapurna | Vasudevan's mother | ||
| Seetha | Gayathri | ||
| Pandu | Rallapalli | Gajendran | Gajendra |
| Jamuna Srinivasan | Meenatchi | ||
| Omakuchi Narasimhan[a] | Pugazhenthi | Pullaiah | |
- Tamil cast
- Telugu cast
- Chitti Babu
- K. K. Sarma
Soundtrack
editThe music was composed by Devendran, with lyrics written by Piraisoodan for the Tamil version.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Naatukulla Romba" | Mano, Chorus | 4:31 |
| 2. | "Pethava Unnai" | K. J. Yesudas | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Avaravar Thalai" | K. S. Chithra | 3:58 |
| 4. | "Indha Naal" | Mano | 4:58 |
| 5. | "Vel Murugan" | Mano | 3:48 |
| Total length: | 21:34 | ||
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Evare Kannavaru" | K. J. Yesudas | 4:24 |
| 2. | "Jeevitham Nekankitham" | Mano | 5:04 |
| 3. | "Nee Kothurudi" | K. S. Chithra | 4:18 |
| 4. | "Kailasagirini" | Mano | 1:18 |
| 5. | "Andariki Thalaratha" | K. S. Chithra | 4:05 |
| Total length: | 19:09 | ||
Reception
editK. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote, "With Visu's strong dialogues and his customary wisecracks, Meendum Savithri proves to be an entertaining movie, teaching proper values at the same time".[9] Kalki wrote the film was interesting and realistic in first half which went in a flow but felt Visu struggled and stuttered in second half.[10] D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote that Visu "translated the spirit and content of the theme on the screen in an appreciable manner. He has avoided the tiresome fights and double meaning dialogue and kept his ``mind twisting'' arguments to just a couple".[11] Zamin Ryot gave Neti Savithri a negative review, saying it has disappointed the women audience, and the subject is not reflecting the actual society. The critic added that there are no crowd pleasing elements suitable to Telugu audiences, as the director tried to imitate Tamil nativity in some of the scenes, and went overboard by creating situations like throwing the thaali inside the temple.[6]
Notes
edit- ^ Credited in Telugu as Juttu Narasimham.
References
edit- ^ "Meendum Savithri ( 1996 )". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 27 December 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ Manian, Aranthai (15 November 2020). திரைப்படங்களான இலக்கியங்களும் நாடகங்களும் (in Tamil). Pustaka Digital Media. p. 1922.
- ^ "காலப்பெட்டகம்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "The Immortal Visu". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ^ Sunder, Sankar (22 February 1996). "Tamil cinema "Meendum Savithri" – 03/03 at Framingham, MA". Google Groups. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ^ a b అల్లూరు రహీం (8 March 1996). "చిత్రసమీక్ష: నేటి స్త్రీ వ్యక్తిత్వాన్ని ప్రతిబింబిచలేకపోయిన నేటి సావిత్రి" [Neti Savithri fails to reflect the personality of today's woman] (PDF). Zamin Ryot (in Telugu). pp. 10–11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ "Karuppu Roja – Meendum Savithri". lakshmimusicshop.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Neti Savitri". JioSaavn. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ Vijiyan, K. (4 March 1996). "Visu at his best in a well-crafted story". New Straits Times. pp. Arts 4. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2022 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "மீண்டும் சாவித்திரி". Kalki (in Tamil). 17 March 1996. pp. 16–17. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Ramanujam, D. S. (16 February 1996). "Cinema: Meendum Savithri/Mahaprabhu/Amman Koil Vasalilae/Yuddham". The Hindu. p. 27. Archived from the original on 21 December 1996. Retrieved 12 July 2023.