by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai. The screenplay followed the stage play with just a few minor changes. The film was shot in Udaya Studios. A. Shanmugham and P. K. Madhavan Nair were the cinematographers, V. Dakshinamoorthy was the composer and the film was edited by S. Williams. Casting Thresiamma had earlier done a dance in Udaya's first film Vellinakshatram. Struck by her appearance and screen presence Kunchacko and Koshy cast her in the title role. She was rechristened Miss Kumari on the sets of the film. Augustine Joseph, the founder of the Udaya Kerala Natana Kala Samithi was asked to play the main lead. He had already established himself as a matinee idol in Kerala through his music operas based on Biblical and Mythological stories. Vaikom Mani had previously acted in various Tamil films. Kunchacko cast him due to his popularity in Tamil Nadu. Soundtrack The soundtrack consists of a total of 15 songs. The film score and all the songs were composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy, with lyrics from Abhayadev. Reception Nalla Thanka was released on 14 January 1950. The film was a major success both at the box-office and with the critics. It was Udaya Studio's breakthrough and was one of the earliest commercially successful films in Malayalam cinema. According to Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen in the book Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Nalla Thanka was the first "big hit" in Malayalam cinema. In 2010, B. Vijayakumar of The Hindu wrote that: "The performances of Augustine Joseph, Vaikom Mani, Miss Kumari and Miss Oamana were impressive. In fact, Miss Omana's character became so popular that the name Alankari became a synonym for a wicked woman. The special effect scenes was another highlight." Concluding he wrote, "Will be remembered as the first mega hit in Malayalam cinema and for its good music." The film was remade in Tamil in 1955 as Nalla Thangal. External links References 1950 films 1950s Malayalam-language films Indian black-and-white films