one-night stand. When he recollects the experience, he feels upset that Ganga is still not settled in life. Prabhu says he thought she was a consenting partner and did not realise he was imposing himself on her. Ganga and Prabhu's subsequent meetings result in friendship; their friendship matures into love. The new relationship is, however, unacceptable to both families; unable to transcend the society's norms, Prabhu advises her to marry someone else. When all attempts to convince Prabhu fail, Ganga is forced to part ways with him; she chooses to live with Prabhu's memories. Cast Lakshmi as Ganga Srikanth as Prabhakar C. K. Nagesh as R. K. Viswanatha Sarma Y. G. Parthasarathy as Vengu Mama R. Neelakantan as Ganesan Sukumari as "Anni" (Ganesan's wife) S. Sundari Bai as Kanagam Rajasulochana as Padma Jayageetha as Manju Bhuvanadevi as Immanuel Production Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal is based on the novel of the same name, by Jayakanthan which was a detailed version of his short story Agnipravesam. A. Bhimsingh decided to adapt the novel into a feature film. Jayakanthan wrote the screenplay for the film discarding the traditional commercial elements. R. Muthuraman and J. Jayalalithaa initially gave their dates to act in the film, but Jayakanthan wanted Lakshmi and Srikanth. Since the film took considerable days of time to complete, Lakshmi did not cooperate during the time and she did not dub entirely for the film; instead another actress who appeared as an Anglo-Indian woman in the film had dubbed her voice. Soundtrack The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. There are only two songs in the film: "Veru Idam Thedi" and "Kandathai Sollugiren Ungal". Release and reception Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal was released on 1 April 1977. In a review dated 17 April 1977, Ananda Vikatan was positive towards the film, particularly Lakshmi's performance. Kanthan of Kalki lauded Lakshmi's performance, the relatively less use of dialogues compared to other Tamil films, the absence of unnecessary sets, Vittal Rao's cinematography and Jayakanthan's dialogues. The film became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres. At the 24th National Film Awards, Lakshmi won the National Film Award for Best Actress, the film's only win at the ceremony. Legacy Historian G. Dhananjayan considered Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal an important film in Tamil cinema for being "a searing criticism at the way marriage, sex and women were treated by society". The film, has,