Pachhai Vilakku (1964 film)

Pachhai Vilakku (transl. Green Light) is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by A. Bhimsingh and produced by Rama. Arangannal, A. R. Hassan Khan and T. S. Aadhi Narayanan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, C. R. Vijayakumari, S. S. Rajendran and S. V. Ranga Rao. It was released on 3 April 1964,^[1] and became a box-office success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

Pachhai Vilakku
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	A. Bhimsingh
Written by	G. K. Suriyam Rama. Arangannal (dialogues) Ko. Iraimudi Mani (dialogues)
Screenplay by	A. Bhimsingh
Story by	G. K. Suriyam
Produced by	Rama. Arangannal A. R. Hassan Khan T. S. Aadhi Narayanan
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Sowcar Janaki S. S. Rajendran C. R. Vijayakumari
Cinematography	G. Vittal Rao D. Balakrishnan Rm. Sedhu
Edited by	A. Bhimsingh Paul Duraisingam Thirumalai
Music by	Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy
Production company	Vel Pictures
Release date	3 April 1964 (1964-04-03)
Running time	154 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Cast

• Sivaji Ganesan as Sarathy
• Sowcar Janaki as Parvathi
• S. S. Rajendran as Pasupathy
• C. R. Vijayakumari as Sumathi
• A. V. M. Rajan as Mani
• Pushpalatha as Latha
• S. V. Ranga Rao as Ponnambalam
• M. R. Radha as Rajabaadhar
• Nagesh as Joseph
• V. Nagayya as Gopalaiya
• S. R. Janaki as Annammal
• K. K. Soundar as Balu's henchman
• Sriram as Balu
• Karuppu Subbiah as Karim

Production

Saravanan who was doing a film on engine driver was on search of suitable title while crossing railway gate at T. Nagar.^[2][3] He stuck posters with green light as main feature in a wall near the railway gate which led Bhimsingh to name his film as Pachhai Vilakku.^[4] The film was initially shot in 8,000 feet (2,400 m) which left Meiyappan unimpressed and decided to reshoot with different story on the same backdrop with the additional cast involving Rajan and Pushpalatha.^[2][5]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy and lyrics for the songs were written by Kannadasan.^[6] The songs "Olimayamaana Ethirkaalam" and "Kelvi Pirandhadhu" attained popularity.^[2][5]

Song	Singers	Length
"Olimayamaana Ethirkaalam"	T. M. Soundararajan	5:25
"Kuththu Vilakkeria"	T. M. Soundararajan & P. Susheela	3:42
"Thoothu Solla"	P. Susheela & L. R. Eswari	5:15
"Aval Melai Sirithaal"	P. Susheela	3:57
"Kelvi Piranthathu"	T. M. Soundararajan	5:53
"Olimayamaana"	T. M. Soundararajan	4:48
"Kanni Venduma"	P. B. Sreenivas & L. R. Eswari	3:27

Release and reception

Pachhai Vilakku was released on 3 April 1964.^[7] The Indian Express called it "a frothy, headlong musical melodrama, designed only to entertain."^[8] P. S. Mani of Kalki gave the film a positive review, primarily for the cinematography and audiography.^[9] T. M. Ramachandran of Sport and Pastime praised the cast performances, particularly Ganesan's, but called the story unreal although he praised the location photography of the train sequences and railway yard.^[10] The film ran for over 100 days in theatres.^[11][12]