Naanum Oru Penn

Naanum Oru Penn () is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars S. S. Rajendran and R. Vijayakumari, with S. V. Ranga Rao, M. R. Radha, S. V. Subbaiah, C. K. Nagesh, Rajan and C. S. Pushpalatha in supporting roles. It revolves around a dark complexioned and uneducated girl and how she convinces everyone that more than appearance and education, it is the character which is important for a woman.
"Naanum Oru Penn" is a remake of the Bengali film "Kala Bou", which was an adaptation of Sri Shailash Dey's Bengali play "Bodhu". The film is the second production of Murugan Brothers, a subsidiary of AVM Productions, and the feature film debut of Rajan. The soundtrack and background score were composed by R. Sudarsanam, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Kannadasan, Panchu Arunachalam, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam and V. Seetharaman. 
"Naanum Oru Penn" was released on 7 June 1963. The film earned positive critical feedback and went on to become a commercial success. It won many awards, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film and Cinema Fans Award for Best Film. The film was remade in Telugu as "Naadi Aada Janme" and in Hindi as "Main Bhi Ladki Hoon" (1964). Both the versions were directed by Tirulokachander with Ranga Rao reprising his role.
Plot.
Bhaskar and Balu are brothers living with their father, the "zamindar" of Selvapuram, who prefers that his sons marry fair-skinned daughters. Things escalate when the illiterate, dark-skinned Kalyani visits Rajendran who falls in love with her. Even as the "zamindar" begins to warm up to Kalyani, she becomes the victim of a nefarious plot concocted by the brothers' uncle and is cast out of the house.
Production.
Development.
After watching the Bengali play "Bodhu", A. V. Meiyappan of AVM Productions was impressed and decided to adapt it into a Tamil film. A. C. Tirulokchandar was selected to direct the film, titled "Naanum Oru Penn". It was produced by Meiyappan's sons Murugan, Saravanan and Kumaran under Murugan Brothers, a subsidiary of AVM. "Naanum Oru Penn" was the second production of Murugan Brothers, and Tirulokchandar also served as screenwriter.
Casting.
C. K. Nagesh portrayed the brother of two girls in this film. Most people had concerns about whether Nagesh, generally known as a comedian, would be accepted by audience in a serious character. However his acting in the film was accepted and he became a good character artiste apart from being a comedian. The crew initially wanted Gemini Ganesan and Savitri as the lead pair, however Tirulokchandar was adamant and chose S. S. Rajendran and R. Vijayakumari instead. The make-up for Vijayakumari was done by Kini. Vijayakumari initially had apprehension of portraying the character since many people warned her not to spoil her career by doing this character, but Sivaji Ganesan encouraged her to act in this film. This was the feature film debut of Rajan, who later prefixed AVM to his name. Rajan and C. S. Pushpalatha met during the film's production, fell in love and got married.
Filming.
The song "Yemara Sonnadhu" was shot at Bangalore. It was later reshot at Vijaya Garden in Madras as the Censor Board objected to the scene where Rajan and Pushpalatha's characters are shown dancing in NCC costumes. The final length of the film's prints were long.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack and musical score for "Naanum Oru Penn" were composed by R. Sudarsanam, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan, Panchu Arunachalam, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam and V. Seetharaman. The soundtrack was released under the label of Saregama. Regarding the development of the song "Kanna Karumai", Saravanan recalled, "another poet gave us a lyric which matched our tune. But I was not happy with it. So we brought Kannadasan in. He said the lyric should precede the music, and also insisted that the pallavi should present the basic theme of the film. Thus was born ‘Kanna karumai nira Kanna,’ which we then set to tune."
Release.
"Naanum Oru Penn" was released on 7 June 1963. It became a commercial success, completing a theatrical run of 25 weeks, and becoming a silver jubilee film. The film was remade in Telugu as "Naadi Aada Janme" and in Hindi as "Main Bhi Ladki Hoon" (1964). Both versions were directed by Tirulokachander and featured Rangarao reprising his role.
Reception.
The Tamil magazine "Ananda Vikatan", in its original review of the film dated 30 June 1963 mentioned that though many had acted well, S. V. Ranga Rao deserved the first prize for acting in the film for making viewers cry in a few places. T. M. Ramachandran, writing for "Sport and Pastime", also praised the film.
Awards.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at 11th National Film Awards. It also won Filmfare Award for Best film and Filmfans Award for Best film. S. V. Ranga Rao won the Rashtrapati Award.
Legacy.
The song "Kanna Karumai" was considered as one of the memorable songs of P. Susheela. The song was rendered thrice by the contestants of the television contest show, "Airtel Super Singer 4", and once each by the contestants of the second and third season of its junior version, "Airtel Super Singer Junior".