Alaigal (film)

Alaigal (transl. Waves) is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language film written, produced and directed by Sridhar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan and Chandrakala. It was the first Tamil film of Vishnuvardhan.^[1][2]

Alaigal
Title card
Directed by	Sridhar
Written by	Sridhar
Produced by	Sridhar
Starring	Vishnuvardhan Chandrakala
Cinematography	U. Rajagopal
Edited by	N. M. Shankar
Music by	M. S. Viswanathan
Production company	Chithralaya
Release date	1973 (1973)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Cast

• Vishnuvardhan as Inspector Raju
• Chandrakala as Lakshmi
• Cho
• Manorama as Nalina
• Selvakumar
• Thengai Srinivasan
• Suruli Rajan
• Rama Rao
• Typist Gopu
• Sundari Bai
• Kumudhini
• Seethalakshmi

Production

After the average response to his previous film Avalukendru Or Manam (1971), Sridhar decided to make a Tamil-Telugu bilingual titled Thulasi (transl. Basil) with A. V. M. Rajan starring in Tamil and Sobhan Babu in Telugu.^[3] Sridhar developed a story from the Hindi film Aadmi (1939) and the American film Waterloo Bridge (1931), retaining only the basic premise.^[4] However, after canning 4,000 feet (1,200 m), he decided to drop the film, uncertain whether the audience would accept a film with anti-sentimental elements. Sridhar restarted the same film with changes in the script and cast. The title was changed to Alaigal, with Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan in the lead which marked his debut in Tamil cinema.^[4]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Oomai Pennai"	S. Janaki
2.	"Ponnenna Poovenna"	P. Jayachandran
3.	"Pachai Ilai"	L. R. Eswari
4.	"Vaangaiya"	L. R. Eswari

Reception

Kumudham called the story ordinary, criticising it for lack of originality.^[6] Kalki praised Sridhar for directing a film with a different kind of plot without including any cinematic elements.^[7] However the film failed at the box office.^[4]