Maragatham

Maragatham (transl. Emerald) is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film produced, directed and co-written by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu.^[2] It is an adaptation of the novel Karunkuyil Kunrathu Kolai by T. S. D. Sami. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini. It was released on 21 August 1959.

Maragatham
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	S. M. Sriramulu Naidu
Screenplay by	S. M. Sriramulu Naidu Murasoli Maran (dialogues)
Based on	Karunkuyil Kunrathu Kolai by T. S. D. Sami
Produced by	S. M. Sriramulu Naidu
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Padmini
Cinematography	Sailen Bose
Edited by	Velusamy
Music by	S. M. Subbaiah
Production company	Pakshiraja Studios
Release date	21 August 1959 (1959-08-21)
Running time	203 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Based on an interesting crime thriller by T.S.D. Sami, the film has a sub-title ‘Karunkuyil Kunrathu Kolai' within brackets.

Cast

Male Cast Sivaji Ganesan as Varendran T. S. Balaiah Chandrababu as Gundan S. Balachander as Anandar, Maranamarthanda Zamindar T. S. Durairaj O. A. K. Thevar Narayana Pillai Santhanam Kanaiah Pakkirisamy Natarajan

Female Cast Padmini as Maragatham, Alamu Sandhya as Karpagavalli Gnanam Muthulakshmi Lakshmiprabha Lakshmirajam Saraswathi

Production

Maragadham was directed by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu, who also produced it under Pakshiraja Studios.^[3] The film was based on Karunkuyil Kunrathu Kolai, a novel by T. S. D. Sami. Naidu wrote the screenplay and Murasoli Maran wrote the dialogues. Cinematography was handled by Sailen Bose, art direction by A. K. Sekhar,^[4] and editing by Velusamy.^[3]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu.^[5] "Kunguma Poovey Konjum Puraavey" became a hit song. However, there is a controversy about this song. It is said that the tune for this song was composed by T. G. Lingappa for the film Sabaash Meena. However, for some reason, Chandrababu refused to sing the song for that film. Later he gave this tune to Subbaiah Naidu and it was included in this film.^[6]

Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
"Kunguma Poove Konjum Puraave"	J. P. Chandrababu & K. Jamuna Rani	Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam	03.27
"Aadinaal Nadanam Aadinaal"	Radha Jayalakshmi	Ra. Balu	03.12
"Kannukkulle Unnai Paaru"	T. M. Soundararajan & Radha Jayalakshmi	Ra. Balu	03.32
"Kaviri Paayum"	T. M. Soundararajan	Ra. Balu	03.27
"Maalai Mayangukindra Neram"	Radha Jayalakshmi	Shuddhananda Bharati	04.08
"Punnagai Thavazhum Madhimugamo"	T. M. Soundararajan & Radha Jayalakshmi	Papanasam Sivan	03.54
"Pachchai Kili Pola"	P. Leela & K. Jamuna Rani

Release and reception

Maragadham was released on 21 August 1959,^[3] and failed commercially.^[7]