அந்த காலத்தில் மட்டும் அல்ல இன்றும் கூட மிகவும் சிந்திக்க வேண்டிய கருத்துக்களை இந்த படம் முன்வைத்தது. இது படமாக்கிய விதமோ உண்மையில் ஒரு சர்வதேச தரத்தில் இருந்தது. அந்த காலத்தில் அவ்வளவு தூரம் முன்னேறியிருந்த தமிழ் சினிமா உலகம் பின்பு ஏனோ பின்தங்கி விட்டது.
மகாத்மா காந்தியின் சுதேசி போராட்டத்தில் மறைக்கபட்டிருந்த பல வரலாற்று உண்மைகளை இந்த படம் தொட்டிருக்கிறது.
ஒரு திரைப்படம் மக்களுக்கு சரியான பாதையை சரியான வரலாற்றை
காட்டவேண்டும் என்ற சமுக நோக்கில் இந்த படம் அன்றைய காலகட்டத்தில் ஒரு பெரிய புரட்சி படம் என்றுதான் சொல்லவேண்டும்.
அன்றைய சமுகத்தில் நிலவி வந்த போலி தேசாபிமானம் அல்லது குருட்டு தேச பக்தி எல்லாவற்றையும் வெளிச்சம் போட்டு காட்டியது.தேசபக்தி கூச்சல் போடப்பட்ட அன்றைய காலகட்டத்தில் அது உண்மையில் வெறும் வேஷம்தான் என்பதை இந்த திரைப்படம் ஒன்றுதான் அன்று வெளிச்சம் போட்டு காட்டியது .அந்த வகையில் இது ஒரு வரலாற்று ஆவணமாகும்,
11 October 1943 அன்று இரவு ஜப்பான் சென்னை மீது குண்டு வீசியது. இந்த சம்பவத்தின் பின்னணியில் பின்னப்பட்டதுதான் கதை,
அன்று திருவல்லிகேணியில் மிகவும் துடிப்புள்ள ஒரு ரேடியோ என்ஜினியர்.இந்தியாவில் உள்ள ஏழைகளுக்கும் மலிவான விலையில் ரேடியோ செய்ய முயற்சி செய்து அதில் வெற்றியும் கண்டார்.ஆனால் அவருக்கு பக்கபலமாக அன்று யாருமே இல்லை.இதனால் வெறுப்படைந்த அந்த இளைஞர் எடுத்த அடுத்த அடி..மிகவும் புரட்சிகரமானது அல்லது சர்ச்சைக்கு இடமானது. அவர் துப்பாக்கியால் சுட்டு கொல்லப்பட்டார் ! அவர்தான் கதையின் நாயகன்.அவர் எப்படி கொல்லப்பட்டார் ஏன் கொல்லப்பட்டார். என்பதை சுற்றி பல Flashback காட்சிகளால் கதை நகர்கிறது இல்லை இல்லை ஓடுகிறது.
அந்த ரேடியோ என்ஜினியரை யார் கொன்றது என்பதை தேடிகண்டு பிடிக்கும் முயற்சியில் புலனாய்வு அதிகாரியாக ஜவஹர் சீதாராமன் நடித்திருக்கிறார்.
பலவிதமான நோக்கத்தில் கொலையை பற்றி புலனாய்வு செய்யும் கதையமைப்பு அந்த காலத்தில் மிக மிக புதுமை ஏன் இந்த காலத்திலும் அது மிக தத்ருபமாக இருக்கிறது.
வெறும் குற்றவியல் சம்பவமாக இந்த கொலை இடம்பெறாமல் மிகபெரும் சமுக அல்லது நாட்டு சுதந்திரம் உலகயுத்தம் போன்ற பெரிய சமாசாரங்களை உள்ளடக்கிய ஒரு சம்பவமாக அமைந்துவிடுகிறது.
படத்தின் ஒரு கட்டத்தில் இதில் சிவாஜி கதையின் அத்திவாரமாக இருக்கிறார்.அவர் நல்லவரா கெட்டவரா என்பதற்கு பதில் இன்று கூட கண்டு பிடிக்க முடியாது. சமுகத்தின் ஒரு புரட்சி காரனை அன்றைய சமுக அரசியல் அமைப்பு எப்படி நோக்கியது என்பது மிகவும் துன்பம் தரும் உண்மையாகும்.
இந்த படத்தில் அது காட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது. தேசதுரோக குற்றச்சாட்டுக்கு ஆளானவன் உண்மையில் தேசத்தின் தவறான போக்கினால் மனம் உடைந்து தனக்கு சரியென பட ஒரு பாதையை தேர்ந்தெடுக்கிறான். இந்த இடத்தில் அந்த கதா பாத்திரம் கொஞ்சம் தடம் புரள்கிறதோ என்கின்ற சந்தேகம் வருவது இயல்புதான் .
உண்மையில் எண்ணி பார்க்கும் போது அன்று அவன் தேர்ந்தெடுத்த பாதையைத்தான் நாம் இன்று கண்முன்னே பார்க்கிறோம், அப்படியாயின் அவன் நல்லவனா கெட்டவனா?
அவன் ஒரு சாதாரண மனிதன் அல்ல . பேட்டை ரவுடிகளையே கதாநாயகனாக காட்டும் இன்றைய சினிமாவுக்கு அவனது கதாபாத்திரம் உண்மையான கதாநாயகன் எப்படி இருக்கவேண்டும் என்று பாடம் எடுக்கிறது.
இதைபற்றி விபரமாக விக்கிபீடியாவில் பார்க்கலாம்
On the night of 11 October 1943, the Japanese bomb the Indian city of Madras (now Chennai). The next morning in Triplicane, Rajan, a radio engineer and communications researcher, is found murdered with his own hand gun. His neighbour Chinnaiah Pillai hears the gunshot and makes a complaint to the police. Purushothaman Naidu, a local police inspector, arrives at Rajan's house and starts investigating the murder. In the meantime, Crime Investigation Department (C.I.D.) officer Sivanandam joins Naidu to help the investigation. Naidu suggests that the killer could be a thief who must have killed Rajan for the money found at the crime scene. However, Sivanandam is unconvinced with Naidu's idea because the sum of money present matches the withdrawal entry in the bank passbook found in the same room. Rajan was about leave Madras in anticipation of the bombings.
The two policemen question five people in and around Rajan's house, most of whom are family members or friends of Rajan. The first person to be questioned is Rajan's wife Usha, who is unable to speak during the inquiries. Sivanandam and Naidu feel embarrassed and are reluctant to question her further and they begin interrogating their next suspect, Chinnaiah Pillai, who reported the murder. Pillai proposes that the killer is probably Pattabi, Rajan's younger brother, and recalls a confrontation between Pattabi and Rajan. Pattabi asked for his share of the family property to be apportioned and given to him. Rajan refused to give Pattabi his share, feeling that he and his wife would squander it. Pillai concludes that this may have prompted Pattabi to kill Rajan.
Sivanandam and Naidu decide to interrogate Pattabi, who feels remorse for Rajan's death and states that he did not treat his brother well and failed to understand his good intentions. He recounts an incident in which Pattabi's wife Hema had fought with Rajan for not apportioning the property. Pattabi states that Hema could have killed Rajan for money as she loses sanity when overpowered by anger. Sivanandam briefly leaves Naidu to interrogate Hema. She is initially impudent and refuses to give a statement about the crime, but she later yields when threatened that her husband will be arrested. She reveals Rajan's extramarital affair with a dancer named Ambujam, who is pregnant with Rajan's child. As Rajan treated the news with a reckless attitude, Hema proposes that Ambujam could have killed Rajan. When questioned, Ambujam accuses Pillai of the murder, saying that he was her foster father who wanted her to stay away from Rajan, after the three met during a picnic. As their relationship continued, Pillai became infuriated and wanted to end the affair.
Sivanandam inquires Usha, who tells him how she and Rajan fell in love. Sivanandam tricks Usha using a leaky fountain pen to collect her fingerprints. That evening, Sivanandam meets all the suspects along with Naidu at Rajan's house and carries out an exercise in which the suspects—including Usha—must shoot Sivanandam as though he is Rajan using revolvers loaded with dummy bullets. All the suspects shoot, but Usha bursts into tears and fails to shoot. Sivanandam then orders an apparent arrest of Pattabi and Hema. Unable to bear the torture, Usha reveals the truth. The story goes into a flashback. Rajan is a radio engineer who wants to sell radios to the poor at an affordable price. Unable to get any support from the government, he goes to Japan where his work is appreciated. He becomes a spy, selling India's military secrets to the Japanese. Usha learns about this and tries to reform him. But Rajan does not mind betraying India. Usha cannot stop Rajan and tries to shoot him. She changes her decision but pulls the trigger accidentally, killing Rajan. After revealing the truth, Usha commits suicide.
Cast
- Sivaji Ganesan as Rajan, a renegade radio engineer
- Pandari Bai as Usha, Rajan's wife
- Javar Seetharaman as C.I.D. Officer Sivanandam
- P. D. Sambandam as Chinniah Pillai
- S. V. Venkatraman as Inspector Purushothaman Naidu
- T. K. Balachandran as Pattabi, Rajan's younger brother
- Menaka as Hema, Rajan's sister-in-law
- Suryakala as Ambujam, Rajan's mistress
Production
Sundaram Balachander, a "multi-faceted" film personality entered films as an actor in 1934 and apprenticed under director Krishna Gopal for the film Idhu Nijama (1948), a supernatural thriller.[7][8][9] Following the success of Idhu Nijama, Balachander directed En Kanavar (1948) and Kaidhi (1951), both made on similar themes. After acting in a few more films, he decided to make a film based on his own story. He approached A. V. Meiyappan to produce the film and told him that he wanted no scenes featuring songs or stunts.[10] Meiyappan was opposed to Balachander's idea of not having songs in the film; he wanted to include at least one song. However, Balachander responded, "either the film should have six songs or none".[11] Meiyappan eventually agreed to finance the film because he liked the story.[10] Andha Naal thus became the first Tamil film that did not have any songs.[12][13] The film was initially titled Oru Naal, but was later retitled Andha Naal.[14]The lead role of Rajan the radio engineer was initially offered to S. V. Sahasranamam, who was removed after some days of shooting because Balachander and Meiyappan were not satisfied with his performance and felt he looked "too old" to play the role.[15][16] The filmmakers then engaged newcomer N. Viswanathan, a Tamil professor from Calcutta. After some footage featuring him was shot, the makers were again unconvinced with Viswanathan's work;[16][17] they dismissed him and replaced him with Ganesan.[18] Meiyappan had introduced Ganesan in Parasakthi (1952), and was very keen to have him play the lead role. Balachander was initially hesitant to approach Ganesan because he was unsure whether the latter would accept a negative role.[10] In his autobiography, Ganesan stated that the film was almost completed before he was approached.[19] He agreed to be a part of the film because he found the story interesting and thought portraying a variety of characters would interest the audience.[10] Andha Naal was one of the earliest films in which Ganesan portrays an anti-hero.[b] The screenplay and dialogue were written by Seetharaman, who also appeared in the film as a C.I.D. officer.[22] Pandari Bai was selected to play Rajan's wife.[23] Malayalam actor T. K. Balachandran, Suryakala, Menaka and P. D. Sambandam formed the rest of the cast.[16]
Muktha Srinivasan, who would later become one of Tamil cinema's established directors, assisted Balachander with this film.[22] Cinematography was handled by Maruthi Rao and the editor was S. Surya. The background score was performed by Saraswathy Stores Orchestra, AVM Productions' music troupe.[24] The photography of the film was markedly different from most earlier films in Tamil cinema. Rao used the "painting with light" technique, which captures the shadow of the actors to reflect their "mood and character".[8] The film's final cut was less than 12,500 feet (3,800 m)—shorter than most contemporaneous Tamil films.[c]
Themes and influences
The film is set in the milieu of South-East Asian theatre of World War II where the Japanese bombed the Indian city of Madras in 1943. Residents of the city moved to nearby hill stations in order to protect themselves from further bombings and invasions.[25] Besides being inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon (1950),[19][26] Andha Naal was also adapted from the 1950 British film The Woman in Question directed by Anthony Asquith.[22][24] It is regarded as the first film noir in Tamil cinema.[27]The main theme of Andha Naal is patriotism. It tells how unemployment and desolation of youngsters will lead to them becoming traitors. If a country does not appreciate talented young men for their efforts, they could turn against the nation.[19] Rajan, a talented young man turns into a traitor as he does not get any support in any form from his country which fails to recognise his efforts. A dejected Rajan goes to Japan where his talents are well recognised. He becomes Japan's secret agent in order to betray his own nation.[24] Ganesan's role as a traitor who leaks India's military secrets through radio was influenced from one of the characters in the 1946 Tamil film Chitra.[28]
The film uses a Tamil saying "Kolaiyum Sival patthini" (a virtuous wife may even kill her own husband) as a clue to the identity of the culprit.[24] The story of the blind men and an elephant is referenced in the narrative, when Sivanandam notes how each suspects' account of Rajan's death contradicts that of the others.[29] Usha is depicted as a virtuous wife and a patriot who loves her country. When she discovers that her husband has betrayed India, she does not hesitate to kill him.[19] G. Dhananjayan, in his 2014 book Pride of Tamil Cinema, says that T. V. Kumudhini's character in Mathru Bhoomi (1939) who disowns her husband after realising that he is a traitor, was an influence on the character of Usha.[30] The Directorate of Film Festivals describes Naidu as a conscientious officer, and Sivanandam as a "brilliant, eccentric but not so serious" man.[31]
Reception
"Andha Naal is for the higher classes of audience and they
loved it. But it failed to elicit the interest of the average masses who
just go to see a film with all the usual trappings. Yet it was a film
that exceeded expectations in all respects."
—Producer Meiyappan, on the film's reception[32]
Andha Naal won critical praise, in spite of its poor performance at the box-office.[16] At the 2nd National Film Awards, the film won a Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film in Tamil, and a "Best Film" Award from the Madras Filmfans' Association in 1955.[32][31] Contemporary critics lauded Meiyappan and Balachander for the experimental film.[16][34] Ganesan's role as an anti-hero won critical acclaim;[18] many critics said that Pandari Bai's role as his patriotic wife "overshadowed" Ganesan's performance.[35] Many contemporary critics expected the film to be a "trendsetter" but it failed to inspire many thematically similar films in Tamil.[16]
In May 1954, a meeting was organised by the "Film Fans Association" in Madras to congratulate Meiyappan, Balachander, the actors and other crew members of the film. V. C. Gopalaratnam, the president of the association, said "Meiyappa Chettiar [Meiyappan] had displayed his pioneering spirit and zeal in producing a novel type of Tamil picture, without either songs or dances, relying for its success purely on the story and the portrayal of characters".[36]
Legacy
Andha Naal is considered one of Sundaram Balachander's best works.
The film is regarded by many critics as Balachander's best work.[41][7] Encouraged by the film's critical success, Balachander went on to direct and act in several more films of the same genre — Avana Ivan (1962), Bommai (1964) and Nadu Iravil (1965).[8] Andha Naal inspired several later whodunit films — including Puthiya Paravai (1964), Kalangarai Vilakkam (1965), Sigappu Rojakkal (1978), Moodu Pani (1980) and Pulan Visaranai (1990) — and several song-less films in Tamil — including Pasi (1979), Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu (1987) and Kuruthipunal (1995).[11]
The film was screened in the "Tamil Retrospective Section" of the 14th International Film Festival of India in 1991.[42] In 2008, film historian Randor Guy praised Andha Naal for "being the first Tamil film which had no dance, song or stunt sequence and for Balachandar’s impressive direction and fine performances by Sivaji Ganesan and Pandari Bai".[22] In a 2013 interview with the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan listed Andha Naal as one of his earliest favourites in Tamil cinema.[43] In April 2013, Andha Naal was included in CNN-IBN's list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time".[44] On 13 April 2014, the film was screened at the Russian Cultural Centre, Chennai to mark its diamond jubilee anniversary.[45]
Film Heritage Foundation announced in March 2015 that they would be restoring Andha Naal along with a few other Indian films from 1931 to 1965 as a part of their restoration projects carried out in India and abroad in accordance to international parameters. The foundation, however, stated that they would not colourise any of the films as they "believe in the original repair as the way the master or the creator had seen it."[46]
