using a look-alike, named Pushpa, a group dancer. Apart from a few scenes involving the female lead, the climax portions were fully shot using Pushpa. Tirulokchandar was not fully convinced with the idea to shoot with a look-alike as Pushpa slightly resembled Rani. However, Viswanath Rai, the cinematographer encouraged him to go with the idea of look-alike and used different camera angles and long shots for scenes involving Pushpa. The character's voice was dubbed by Soundaram. Soundtrack The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and the lyrics were written by Vaali. The song "Kettele" was banned at All India Radio because its lyrics were perceived as anti-Brahmin. Release and reception Bhadrakali was released on 10 December 1976, received unanimous acclaim and became a box office success. Rani Chandra's portrayal as a Brahmin housewife was well received. Ananda Vikatan said, "It is a daring effort to bring out the script of a Tamil writer in a high quality film format. Dialogues by Aroor Das have depth and the film deserves our appreciation!" References Bibliography External links 1970s Tamil-language films 1976 films Films about mental disorders Films based on Indian novels Films directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian black-and-white films Indian psychological drama films Tamil films remade in other languages