Enippadigal

This article is about the 1979 Tamil film. For the 1964 Malayalam novel, see Enippadikal (novel). For the 1973 Malayalam film, see Enippadikal (film).

Enippadigal (transl. Ladder Steps) is a 1979 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. Madhavan and produced by K. S. Sethumadhavan. It is a remake of the 1978 Telugu film Seetamalakshmi. The film stars Sivakumar and Shoba. It was released on 16 February 1979.

Enippadigal
Film poster
Directed by	P. Madhavan
Story by	K. Viswanath
Produced by	K. S. Sethumadhavan
Starring	Sivakumar Shoba
Cinematography	A. Somasundaram
Edited by	T. R. Srinivasalu
Music by	K. V. Mahadevan
Production company	Ramya Chitra
Release date	16 February 1979 (1979-02-16)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Chella Kannu, a young sweeper becomes a popular movie star known as Kamala Devi. Her lover and fellow sweeper Manickam is the ladder to her success, but the villainy of her brother Muthu separates them.^[1][2]

Cast

• Sivakumar as Manickam
• Shoba as Chella Kannu (Kamala Devi)
• Sathyaraj as Muthu^[3]
• Manorama as Jayanthi^[1]
• Vadivukkarasi as Rani
• T. M. Sami Kannu as Samykannu
• A. Sakunthala as Chokkamma (Muthu's wife)
• P. T. Sivam as Ramalingam
• G. Srinivasan as Chella Kannu's father^[1]
• Mohan Sharma (cameo appearance)^[4]

Cameo appearances

• V. S. Raghavan as himself
• Kannan as Sambath
• V. Gopalakrishnan as himself
• S. Rama Rao as Singaram

Production

Ennaipadigal, a remake of the Telugu film Seetamalakshmi (1978),^[2] was directed by P. Madhavan^[1] and produced by K. S. Sethumadhavan under Ramya Chitra.^[5][6] The dialogues were written by Mahendran.^[2] Cinematography was handled by A. Somasundaram, and the editing by T. R. Srinivasalu.^[6] N. Seshadri worked as sound engineer.^[7] The film was launched at AVM Studios.^[8]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan,^[9] while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.^[10] The song "Kannizhantha" is set in the Carnatic raga known as Hamir Kalyani.^[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Yenunga Maappillai"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela	4:49
2.	"Poonthenil" (Male)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	4:41
3.	"Kannizhantha"	P. Susheela	4:26
4.	"Poonthenil Kalanthu" (Female)	P. Susheela	4:35
Total length:			18:31

Release and reception

Enippadigal was released on 16 February 1979.^[12] Koushikan of Kalki appreciated the film for various aspects, including the cinematography and direction.^[13] Naagai Dharuman of Anna praised the acting of the cast, Mahendran's dialogues, Soman's cinematography, Mahadevan's music and Madhavan's direction.^[14] The film became a commercial success.^[15]

Legacy

Sujatha Narayanan, writing for The New Indian Express, named Enippadigal as one of her favourite films starring Sivakumar.^[16] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu said that Shoba set "a new trend in realistic portrayals" through her performances in films like Enippadigal.^[17]