Shankar's father dies due to lack of medical assistance. His mother, with great difficulty, educates him to be a surgeon. One day, his visit to treat Mahalakshmi develops into love for each other. Subbaiah, a rich man and father of Mahalakshmi, objects to this, but finally agrees, saying that she must leave his house. After some time, Mahalakshmi begets a child, but the child dies in a fire accident. This causes a misunderstanding between Shankar and Mahalakshmi. Shankar feels that his hands cannot perform surgery any more. He opts for a service with tribals at Senjipuram. There, he gets affected by viral fever. What happens from there is the rest of the film.
The film marked the acting debut of Sivakumar, then known by his name at birth Palaniswamy. He had already signed a film titled Chithrapournami, but that was shelved. Its directors Krishnan–Panju recommended him to AVM Productions for their film Kaakum Karangal.[1] Tirulokchandar, who was searching for the second lead actor to pair with Vijayakumari, selected Palaniswamy, who was rechristened Sivakumar by AVM founder A. V. Meiyappan.[2][3] The film was produced by Murugan Brothers, a subsidiary of AVM.[4] Saravanan revealed he had to reduce Sivakumar's portions because the actress who played his love interest him could not do justice to the acting.[5]
Due to the success of Naanum Oru Penn (1963), Meiyappan wanted its lead actors S. S. Rajendran and C. R. Vijayakumari to star. Saravanan felt Rajendran looked ill-suited for a sophisticated character, but Meiyappan remained adamant about casting him for the role.[6]S. P. Muthuraman, who worked as one of the assistant directors in the film revealed that the crew had a tough time to make a small baby walk.[7] Cinematography was handled by T. Muthusamy, and the editing by R. G. Gop.[8] According to Randor Guy, the film's plot was inspired by the novel The Painted Veil by British writer W. Somerset Maugham.[9]
Kaakum Karangal was released on 19 June 1965.[12][13] T. M. Ramachandran of Sport and Pastime wrote, "The central theme is familiar to some extent, some of the sequences follow the beaten track and there is an overdose of melodrama. The picture, however manages to win the sympathy and appreciation of the audience on account of the poignancy and dignity with which the whole story has been told on screen".[4]Kalki appreciated the performances of Rajendran and Vijayakumari in the first half, but felt the latter slipped in the film's second half.[14] According to Saravanan, the film failed at the box office due to miscasting.[6]
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