Anaadhai Penn

Anaadhai Penn (transl. Orphan Girl) is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language film directed by R. Prakash. The film stars M. K. Radha and T. A. Sundarambal. P. U. Chinnappa, who was a budding artiste then, featured as a villain. Kothamangalam Subbu was cast in a comedy role.^[2] The film is based on the novel of the same name by Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal.^[3]

Anaadhai Penn
Directed by	Raghupathi Prakash
Written by	Somayajulu (Dialogues)
Screenplay by	Raghupathi Prakash
Story by	Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal
Produced by	M. Somasundaram, Mohideen
Starring	M. K. Radha T. A. Sundarambal P. U. Chinnappa Kothamangalam Subbu
Cinematography	Kamal Ghosh
Edited by	Dharmveer
Production company	Jupiter Pictures
Release date	26 November 1938 (1938-11-26)[1]
Running time	3 hrs. 25 mins. (18500 ft.)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

The story is of an orphan young girl who falls in love with a young man from a rich family. The young man leaves for England for higher studies and the girl undergoes many hardships. However, finally the young man returns and both are happily united.^[2]

Cast

The following list is compiled from The Hindu article^[2] and from the database of Film News Anandan.^[1]

• M. K. Radha
• T. A. Sundarambal
• P. U. Chinnappa
• S. M. Subramaniam
• L. Narayana Rao
• T. S. Krishnaveni
• P. R. Mangalam
• M. R. Swaminathan
• P. G. Azhvar Kuppusami
• E. Krishnamurthi

Production

Anaadhai Penn was first published as a novel. Jupiter Pictures sought to film the novel and booked M. K. Radha as the hero. Author Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal insisted that she should be informed from time to time, of the developments in the making of the film. M. K. Radha fully suited his role and was in fact proud of it. After the release of the film, many young people started imitating him. Kothamangalam Subbu was credited as S. M. Subramaniam.^[2]

Soundtrack

During the 1930s most of the films did not have a separate music composer. The lyricist set the tune and the artistes sang the songs while the company orchestra provided the background music.

Lyrics for this film were penned by Papanasam Sivan.^[1]

No.	Song	Singer/s	Duration (m:ss)
1	Yaararivaar	P. U. Chinnappa	03:18
2	Premai Adhey"	M. K. Radha, T. A. Sundarambal	03:17

Reception

The film was a success at the box office. Film historian Randor Guy wrote that the film is "Remembered for: Radha’s performance and his sartorial elegance which became a craze those days, and Kothamangalam Subbu’s comedy."