Kasturi Thilakam

Kasturi Thilakam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMalliyam Rajagopal
Screenplay byMalliyam Rajagopal
Based onAalamaram
by Bilahari
Produced byRaju M. Mathan
StarringSowcar Janaki
Major Sundarrajan
Nagesh
Music byG. Devarajan
Production
company
Kavitha Arts
Release date
  • 8 August 1970 (1970-08-08)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Kasturi Thilakam (transl. Holy mark of musk) is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Malliyam Rajagopal. The film stars Sowcar Janaki, Major Sundarrajan and Nagesh. It is based on the play Aalamaram by Bilahari.[1][2] The film was released on 8 August 1970.[3]

Plot

Pannaiyar arranges the marriage of his sister Kasturi to Minor Mohanasundaram. Over the years, the couple have three children – Somu, Balu and Thangam. Pannaiyar has one daughter, Thilagam. Pichhai works for the families. While Minor does care for his family, his priority is gambling. Due to this, the family loses most of their money and good name. Somu is a lazy layabout. Balu studies well and gets a job in the city. He is also in love with Thilagam. Pannaiyar approves of their eventual marriage but is disappointed by the state of his sister's family. He shoulders all of the financial burdens of his sister's family and also arranges for the marriages of Somu and Thangam. Due to Pichhai's inability to lie or hold his tongue, the future in-law family learns the truth of Minor's as well as Somu's behavior and calls off the wedding. An embarrassed Somu blames Pannaiyar for lying while arranging the marriages and setting him up for humiliation. In defending himself, Pannaiyar points out Minor's many failures. The ever-loyal Kasturi defends her husband and the situation descends into chaos. Somu leaves the family after demanding his share of whatever is left of the family fortune. Pannaiyar decides to cut off all contact with Kasturi's family – including ending Balu and Thilagam's engagement. Pichhai's constant revealing of utterances made by the two families to each other only fuels the resentments further. Somu manages to land a job in the same office as Balu and as his brother's manager to boot. He insists that Balu not reveal their family connection. Somu is attracted Roopa, a typist at work, and assaults her. Balu is blamed for this and fired. Minor falls even further into debt, forcing Kasturi to ask Pannaiyar for help. Thilagam and Balu clearly still love each other but are also loyal to their respective families and allow misunderstandings to fester. The film follows the twists and turns of these two families' journey to its conclusion.

Cast

Production

Kasturi Thilakam was written and directed by Malliyam Rajagopal, and produced by Raju M. Mathan under Kavitha Arts.[3] Although Sivakumar and Srividya usually played lovers in films, this was the only film where they played siblings.[4] The final length of the film was initially 4,876.18 metres (15,998.0 ft), but this was reduced to 4,441.00 metres (14,570.21 ft).[5]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by G. Devarajan.[6]

References

  1. ^ Manian, Aranthai. திரைப்படங்களான இலக்கியங்களும் நாடகங்களும் (in Tamil). Pustaka Digital Media. p. 1979.
  2. ^ "Daaham 1965". The Hindu. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Kasturi Thilakam". The Indian Express. 8 August 1970. p. 8. Retrieved 19 March 2019 – via Google News Archive.
  4. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (27 October 2006). "Subtle portraits, eloquent eyes". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Kasthuri Thilagam". The Gazette of India. 22 May 1971. p. 1315. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "தமிழ்த்திரை இசையில் ராகங்கள் : [ 18 ] : T.சௌந்தர்". Inioru (in Tamil). 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.