Kalyana Parisu

Baskar and Vasanthi are college mates. When Baskar sends a love letter to Vasanthi, she complains to the dean, who dismisses Baskar from college. Baskar later manages to obtain employment at a tea company with the help of his friend Sampath, who also shelters him since Baskar is homeless. Vasanthi approaches Baskar and apologises for her earlier actions. Baskar forgives her, and they both fall in love. Vasanthi lives with her mother and unmarried elder sister Geetha. Baskar rents the vacant portion of their house. One day when Baskar falls ill, Geetha nurses him and in the process, falls in love with him. She confides her love to Vasanthi who is heartbroken but decides to sacrifice her love out of respect for her sister. Since Geetha was responsible for raising Vasanthi, she is granted her wish, and Vasanthi convinces Baskar to marry Geetha. After Baskar and Geetha marry, they shift to Coimbatore where Baskar has been transferred. Meanwhile, Vasanthi has obtained employment as a typist. Her manager Raghu falls in love with her and expresses his desire to marry her, but she is unable to respond to his feelings. Baskar is unable to lead a happy life as he often thinks about his disappointment in love. Vasanthi writes to Baskar advising him to forget about the past and lead a happy life with Geetha; he relents. Shortly thereafter, Geetha becomes pregnant and returns to her original home where she delivers a son named Babu. Raghu again meets Vasanthi and proposes to her, but she tells him about her past and expresses her inability to respond to his love. Heartbroken, Raghu leaves her and resigns from his job. Vasanthi joins Geetha at their Coimbatore house following her mother's death. When Geetha falls ill, Vasanthi attends to all the household work. Baskar spends more time with Vasanthi than his wife, who suspects them of being in a relationship, and berates them both. Due to this, Vasanthi leaves them. Geetha, having realised that Baskar and Vasanthi loved each other, dies in guilt, leaving Baskar alone to bring up Babu, making him promise that he will find Vasanthi and make her the child's mother. He searches for Vasanthi all over the city, to no avail. Meanwhile, Vasanthi meets with an accident but is saved by a wealthy old man who allows her to stay in his house. The man's son arrives and is revealed to be Raghu, who Vasanthi agrees to marry. Through Sampath, Baskar learns about Vasanthi's impending marriage and rushes to the marriage hall with Babu. However, by the time they arrive, Vasanthi is already married. Baskar then leaves Babu to her as a wedding gift and walks away. == Cast ==

Development After the success of the Venus Pictures production Uthama Puthiran (1958), its screenwriter Sridhar was keen on creating the story for his next film. He thought of various stories, eventually finalising on a triangular love story where two sisters fall in love the same man, with one sister sacrificing her love for the other's sake; he believed this sacrifice would be a strength. This story would eventually evolve into the film Kalyana Parisu, Sridhar's directorial debut. It was produced by Sridhar and his Venus partners S. Krishnamurthi and T. Govindarajan. T. A. Sadagoppan (later known as Chitralaya Gopu) a childhood friend of Sridhar, joined as an associate writer for the film, thereby making his cinematic debut. Gopu recalled that Sridhar turned up at his office and said, "Quit this job now and come with me. I will be directing a film soon," and Gopu readily agreed. He was chosen to write the film's comedy subplot. Although Ganesan had contracted typhoid fever, Sridhar felt only he could do "justice to the role" and decided to wait for him to get better before casting him. K. A. Thangavelu and M. Saroja were signed for the comedy sequences. The scene where Sampath lies to Malini about his profession was filmed in a single take. Gopu has stated that Sampath was inspired by his school friend Venkatesh, "a compulsive liar." He described himself as the inspiration behind Mannar and Co, a faux company invented by Sampath. Gopu said that since he came from an orthodox family, he could not tell his in-laws that he was working in films; he would lie to them that he was working at a shipping firm named "Mannar and Co". The final length of the film was , While watching the preview of the film, Govindarajan was dissatisfied with the climax but opted against changing it. == Soundtrack ==

The soundtrack was composed by A. M. Rajah, his first Tamil film as music composer, The Diwali-themed song "Unnaikkandu Naanada" is set in Bilahari, a Carnatic raga. The song "Tea Tea Tea", sung by Sirkazhi Govindarajan, is picturised on Sampath, a tea seller, and deviated from the divine, philosophical songs Govindarajan was generally known for. The film follows a then convention of Tamil cinema to feature the same song sung twice: once in joy and once in sorrow. A version of the soundtrack released by Odeon Records in 1983 includes only four songs: "Thullatha Manamum", P. Susheela's version of "Unnaikkandu Naanada" (listed as "Unnaikandu"), "Vaadikkai Maranthathum" and "Mangayar Mugathil" (listed as "Akkalukku Valaikappu"). A version released by EMI in 1995 includes all songs except "Tea Tea Tea", and "Mangayar Mugathil" is listed as "Mangayar Mugathil (Akkalukku)". The songs "Kaathalile Tholviyutraal" and "Kaathalile Tholviyutraan" are listed as two separate tracks in this version; however, in the tracklist released by Saregama in 2015, they are listed as a single merged track. == Release ==

Kalyana Parisu was released on 9 April 1959. Despite facing competition from another Gemini Ganesan film Nalla Theerpu, released on the same day, Kalyana Parisu became a major box office success, running for over 25 weeks in theatres, Historian S. Theodore Baskaran attributed the film's success "in large part to its music composed by [A. M. Raja], who was at his peak as a playback singer." Ganesan visited the theatre Thirumalai Talkies for the film's 75-day celebrations. On the film's 100th day celebrations, Thangavelu and M. Saroja were married at the Murugan Temple in Madurai. Critical reception Kalyana Parisu received critical acclaim. It was praised for eschewing long dialogues in favour of short verses with simple words to touch the heart, and Vincent's camera mobility instead of being fixed to one point like many Tamil films then. Sekar of the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, in its 26 April 1959 issue, appreciated the fact that the film had no villain, and everyone had a good heart. He praised the performances of Ganesan and Saroja Devi, writing that the latter showed the three emotions – love, sacrifice and duty – excellently. Sekar concluded that in totality, the film deserved a prize for its story, a prize for its acting and a prize for its dialogues. Later reviews have been less positive. S. Krishnaswamy of the magazine Film Word, in 1970, called it "an otherwise imperfect and aesthetically crude film". In his 1996 book The Eye of The Serpent, Theodore Baskaran said the comedy subplot did not fit into the main storyline and was not cinematic. Accolades At the 7th National Film Awards, Kalyana Parisu won the Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Tamil. == Legacy ==

Kalyana Parisu emerged a milestone in Tamil cinema, The success of its songs made Susheela a leading female playback singer of Tamil cinema. Kalyana Parisu also set the pattern for Sridhar's later works in which he repeated the motif of the eternal triangle and unrequited love. It also set a precedent for Tamil films where "a friend, brother or sister sacrifices their love for another". According to French film historian Yves Thoraval, it established Sridhar's reputation as a director of melodramatic films focusing on "star-crossed love affairs involving three persons". The comedy subplot gained popularity, and was sold separately on audio cassettes and vinyl records. The term "Mannar and Company" (or "Mannar and Co") later entered Tamil vernacular, with it meaning a hoax job, while also referring to an unemployed husband. == In popular culture ==

In a scene from Avvai Shanmughi (1996), when Viswanatha Iyer (Gemini Ganesan) is shocked to hear that Shanmugi (Kamal Haasan) is married, "Kaathalile Tholviyutraan" is played in the background. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu, in her review of Parthiban Kanavu (2003) mentioned that comedy track performed by Vivek in the film "has touches of the Thangavelu-M. Saroja track in Sridhar's Kalyana Parisu". == Other versions ==

Sridhar remade Kalyana Parisu in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1960). Saroja Devi returned as Vasanthi, while Nageswara Rao replaced Ganesan as Baskar. Sridhar also directed the Hindi remake Nazrana (1961), which had Ganesan in the role originally played by Nageswara Rao in Tamil. The film was remade in Malayalam by J. Sasikumar as Sammanam (1975). Kalyana Parisu also inspired the Telugu film Devata (1982) and its Hindi remake Tohfa (1984), both directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. == Notes ==