Lakshmi Kalyanam (1968 film)

Lakshmi Kalyanam (transl. Lakshmi's Marriage) is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by G. Or. Nathan and produced by A. L. Srinivasan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Sowcar Janaki, Vennira Aadai Nirmala, K. Balaji and M. N. Nambiar. It was released on 15 November 1968.^[1] The film was remade in Telugu as Pelli Koothuru (1970).^[2]

Lakshmi Kalyanam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	G. Or. Nathan
Written by	A. L. Narayanan (dialogues)
Story by	Kannadasan
Produced by	Krishnalaya
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Sowcar Janaki Vennira Aadai Nirmala K. Balaji M. N. Nambiar
Cinematography	G. Or. Nathan
Edited by	P. Bakthavachalam
Music by	M. S. Viswanathan
Production company	ALS Productions
Release date	15 November 1968 (1968-11-15)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

As the title suggests, the story is about the efforts Kathirvel and his father, Egambaram, go through to solemnize the marriage of Lakshmi to whom they act as guardian and is daughter of a single mother Parvathi. Trouble comes in the form of constant influx of people and circumstances ruining their attempts including that of the old lecherous Suruttu who wants to marry her; Maragatham who wants Lakshmi to marry her idiot son Gnanapalam; V.S Raghavan who first agrees and reneges for the marriage of Lakshmi with his son among others.

It is compounded by the fact that Parvathi's husband and Lakshmi's father, Ragunathan, is a fugitive from justice thereby not allowing Parvathi to reveal who or where her husband is not wanting to cause more trouble to the possibility of her daughter's marriage.

Cast

• Sivaji Ganesan as Kathirvel
• Sowcar Janaki as Parvathi
• Vennira Aadai Nirmala as Lakshmi
• K. Balaji as Ramu
• M. N. Nambiar as Suruttu Sundaram Pillai^[3]
• Major Sundarrajan as Ragunathan
• V. K. Ramasamy as Egambaram
• V. S. Raghavan as Rajankam
• S. V. Ramadas as Rajadurai
• V. Gopalakrishnan as Balu
• Cho as Seenu
• A. Karunanidhi as Ganesan Pillai
• C. K. Saraswathi as Maragatham
• S. N. Lakshmi as Rajadurai's mother
• Shanmugasundari as Balu's mother
• P. D. Sambandam as Iyer
• S. Ramarao as Neelakanda Sastri
• Shanmuga Sundaram as Police Sub-Inspector
• "Periyar" Rajavel as Police Inspector

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.^[4][5] The song "Raman Ethanai Ramanadi" is set in Sindhu Bhairavi raga,^[6][7] and symbolises "the role of Ram in the popular imagination and in the arts".^[8] "Brindavanathukku", like many other songs by Kannadasan, extols Krishna.^[9]

Song	Singers	Length
"Brindavanathukku"	P. Susheela	04:35
"Yaaradaa Manithan Inge"	T. M. Soundararajan	03:27
"Raman Ethanai Ramanadi"	P. Susheela	04:33
"Thanga Therodum"	T. M. Soundararajan, Seerkazhi Govindarajan	05:24
"Poottale Unnaiyum"	T. M. Soundararajan, A. L. Raghavan, L. R. Eswari	04:18
"Vettaveli pottalile"	T. M. Soundararajan	03:10

Release and reception

Lakshmi Kalyanam was released on 15 November 1968.^[10][11] The film won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil,^[12] and four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards: Best Music Director (Viswanathan), Best Male Playback Singer (Soundararajan), Best Female Playback Singer (Susheela) and Best Lyricist (Kannadasan).^[13]