Andha Naal
Encyclopedia
Andha Naal is a 1954 Tamil
crime
mystery
film directed by Veenai S. Balachander. It is arguably the first film-noir in Tamil cinema and is the first Tamil film to be made without songs. The film was inspired by the 1950 Akira Kurosawa
film Rashômon
. However, in contrast to Rashômon
, the film's climax provides a solution to the murder using an Indian proverb as a vital clue.
The film revolves around a murder of Radio Engineer Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan
), with suspects being five characters: Rajan's wife Usha (Pandari Bai
), Chinnaiah Pillai, Rajan's brother Pattabi, Rajan's sister-in-law Hema, and dancer Ambujam (also Rajan's Mistress). Each one recounts an incident which points to a new suspect. Sivanandam then uses clues in the victim's room, serendipitous leads, and understands the characters' persona, and uses the knowledge to identify the culprit.
and the 1950 Anthony Asquith
's film, The Woman in Question
. It was produced by AVM Studios
and directed by Veenai S. Balachander. The screenplay was written by Javar Seetharaman who also acted in the movie as a CID officer investigating a murder case. Muktha. V. Sreenivasan was the assistant director and Maruthi Rao was the cinematographer. The film was short (12,431 feet or 130 Minutes) when compared to other Tamil films of the 1950s (when 15000 feet was considered as normal length for films).
ese bombed the India
n city of Madras
(now known as Chennai
), causing commotion all over the city. In Triplicane
the next morning, Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan
), a radio engineer and communications researcher, is found murdered with his own hand gun. His neighbour Chinnaiah Pillai (P. D. Sambandam) hears the gunshot and complains to the police. A local Police Inspector named Purushothaman Naidu arrives and investigates the scene. He is joined by C.I.D. officer Sivanandam (Javar Seetharaman) there. He concludes that the killer is some petty thief who must have shot Rajan for the lump of money found in the same room of the crime scene. However, Sivanandam states that to be a bad solution, as the amount of money matches exactly with the withdrawal entry in the bank passbook found in the same room, without a single rupee
's difference. Nonetheless, it was clear Rajan was making plans to leave Chennai in anticipation of the bombings. Rajan's wife Usha (Pandari Bai
) is almost dumbstruck and unable to speak during any inquiries. Sivanandam and Naidu feel reluctant and embarrassed to do any questioning to her.
The two decide to investigate the case by questioning the people in and around the house, who are the family members or friends of Rajan. They first do their inquiry with Chinnaiah Pillai, the neighbour as he is the first to inform them. He tells that the killer could probably be Pattabi, Rajan's younger brother (T. K. Balachandran). He recounts an incident (as flashback), in which Pattabi confronts Rajan at the house's garage to ask for his share of the family property to be apportioned and given to him. Rajan, in good faith, denies to give Pattabi his share, feeling that he and his wife might squander it. Chinnaiah concludes that this would have kindled Pattabi to kill Rajan.
Sivanandam and Naidu decide to inquire Pattabi. However, Pattabi had rushed to the Beach
before their arrival, probably to commit suicide. They rush there themselves to inquire him. When questioned, Pattabi feels remorseful of his brother's death. He states that he did treat his brother well when he was alive and did not understand his good intentions. He recounts another incident where his wife Hema, had fought with him herself, during dinner for the apportionment of property herself. She is also a person who loses sanity when overpowered by anger. Pattabi believes of a very good possibility, that Hema used the Rajan's gun to shoot him for the money.
Sivanamdam parts to meet Hema soon after, to do his inquiry. Hema was initially impudent and refusing to give her statement of the crime, but later gives in when threatened to be arrested for the same. She reveals a secret of Rajan. Rajan has had extramarital affair with a dancer named Ambujam (Suryakala). She knew this when she once found and overheard Rajan and Ambujam speaking together a week before the murder, where Ambujam unveils that she is pregnant. Rajan treats the news with a reckless attitude, infuriating Ambujam. Hema had received a letter addressed to Rajan from Ambujam, that had the address "No.15, Thoni Street". Hema proposes that Ambujam could have killed Rajan in retaliation to Rajan's lack of concern for her.
Fatigued with the case's complicated nature, Naidu compares it with a supposed "Peruvala Vaikal" in Trichy, a river that has a lot of twists and turns. Sivanandam makes a better analogy of the case, to the story of "blind men and an elephant", where each suspect has a different and contrasting opinion to offer. In Thoni Street, Ambujam has made preparations to leave Chennai, at the news of Rajan's death. Half-an-hour after her departure Sivanandam and Naidu arrive there to find the house locked. They take with them Shanmugam, a boy in the street to the Police Station to inquire him on the physical features of Ambujam, to locate and recognize her. The boy knows and has seen her leave from Thoni Street. In a coincidence, Ambujam's bullock-cart and another car strike each other in a road accident, right in front of the very same police station. They identify and inquire Ambujam.
Ambujam accuses Chinnaiah (Rajan's neighbour whom they had inquired as the very first suspect) of the murder. She explains that Chinnaiah was her foster father, who wanted her to stay away from Rajan. She started loving after the trio's meeting on a picnic. When their relationship started deepening, Chinnaiah got infuriated and wanted put an end to the affair. Ambujam gives a strong opinion that it must have been Chinnaiah who killed Rajan.
Sivanandam does his homework by developing the film roll found in Rajan's camera, collecting and comparing all of the suspects' and others' fingerprints with those found in Rajan's shoes, finding a teardrop mark in Rajan's shoes and finding broken bangle
pieces on the crime scene. He finds them further complicating the case and coming nowhere near the conclusion. He gets small clue at a sharbat
shop, apparently making no sense. He make inquiries to Rajan's college (Victoria College
) principal Ranganathan, who has a high opinion of both Rajan and Usha, his wife, both being his alumni. He says Rajan once broke into the college at night, to complete an experiment, for which he never felt guilty and also Usha once put up the Indian flag as part of Freedom Movement
and she accepted doing it herself. This emphasizes her patriotism.
Sivanandam inquires finally, Usha. She narrates an incident during college where Rajan spoke of individualistic needs that are equally as important as the country's freedom. He managed to convince the entire crowd of his viewpoint, who previously opined the opposite. However, he was bullied and disdained when Usha took over and changed the crowd back to "giving your life for the nation". Usha further tells Sivanandam on how she and Rajan came to love each other. In the process, he tricks into collecting Usha's fingerprints with a leaky fountain pen
.
On that eve, Sivanandam meets all the suspects along with Naidu at Rajan's residence. He caries our an exercise wherein the suspects including Usha must shoot Sivanandam, assuming that he is Rajan. They are given revolver's with false bullets. Usha is unable to shoot. Then Sivanandam orders an (apparent) arrest of Pattabi and Hema. Unable to bear the torture, Usha comes out with the truth. On the day of the murder when she entered the room she found Rajan working with something meticulously, with a radio equipment, powered by a generator. She doubts of something suspicious. The second time she enters she discovers that he is part of the terrorist activity of bombing Chennai, communicating to the Japanese bombers. He is a key part, of the bombing. Out of her extreme patriotism for her nation, and unable to bear the injustice she tries to talk and mend Rajan's ways. However, Rajan feeling that he should help the Japanese (who helped him with his Radio business), and does not mind betraying his own country. Usha attempts to shoot Rajan whose plan is to escape to Japan in a submarine after the bombing, for which he had packed the money. However, in an accident, fighting for the gun, the trigger is accidentally pressed killing Rajan. She has cried at his boots later, holding them, explaining the fingerprints and teardrop stain.
Sivanandam and Naidu ask for the papers Rajan used to hatch the bombing plan. She goes inside to fetch them. Sivanandam tells Naidu that the fingerprints on the boots and hers which he collected, matched, which led him to suspect her. Also, her failure to shoot during the exercise confirms the fact. When Usha takes a long time to come back, the two hear a long silence followed by a gunshot and run inside. Sivanandam shouts "Usha!" followed by a screen closing behind them.
in 1955.
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
mystery
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
film directed by Veenai S. Balachander. It is arguably the first film-noir in Tamil cinema and is the first Tamil film to be made without songs. The film was inspired by the 1950 Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
film Rashômon
Rashomon
Rashomon may refer to:* Rashōmon, the former main city gate in two Japanese capital cities, Heijokyō and Heiankyō * Rashōmon , a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa first published in 1915...
. However, in contrast to Rashômon
Rashomon
Rashomon may refer to:* Rashōmon, the former main city gate in two Japanese capital cities, Heijokyō and Heiankyō * Rashōmon , a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa first published in 1915...
, the film's climax provides a solution to the murder using an Indian proverb as a vital clue.
The film revolves around a murder of Radio Engineer Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan
Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
), with suspects being five characters: Rajan's wife Usha (Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai was a prominent heroine of South Indian languages films mostly in Kannada and Tamil during the 1950s and 60s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Dr. Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan...
), Chinnaiah Pillai, Rajan's brother Pattabi, Rajan's sister-in-law Hema, and dancer Ambujam (also Rajan's Mistress). Each one recounts an incident which points to a new suspect. Sivanandam then uses clues in the victim's room, serendipitous leads, and understands the characters' persona, and uses the knowledge to identify the culprit.
Production
Andha naal (lit. That day) was the first Tamil film to have no song or stunt sequences. The film was inspired by RashomonRashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
and the 1950 Anthony Asquith
Anthony Asquith
Anthony Asquith was a leading English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on The Winslow Boy and The Browning Version , among other adaptations...
's film, The Woman in Question
The Woman in Question
The Woman in Question is 1950 British mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum...
. It was produced by AVM Studios
AVM Productions
AVM is the oldest and largest film production studio in India. It is currently owned by M. Saravanan and his son, M. S. Guhan. The most recent film they have produced since their opening with Nam Iruvar in 1947, is Vettaikkaaran and Leader. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai....
and directed by Veenai S. Balachander. The screenplay was written by Javar Seetharaman who also acted in the movie as a CID officer investigating a murder case. Muktha. V. Sreenivasan was the assistant director and Maruthi Rao was the cinematographer. The film was short (12,431 feet or 130 Minutes) when compared to other Tamil films of the 1950s (when 15000 feet was considered as normal length for films).
Plot
On the night of 11 October 1943, the JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese bombed the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n city of Madras
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(now known as Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
), causing commotion all over the city. In Triplicane
Triplicane
Triplicane also has the famous powerful Ellamman temple in SMV Koil street. A beautiful Sundaramurthy Vinayagar temple is right opposite to the Ellamman Temple....
the next morning, Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan
Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
), a radio engineer and communications researcher, is found murdered with his own hand gun. His neighbour Chinnaiah Pillai (P. D. Sambandam) hears the gunshot and complains to the police. A local Police Inspector named Purushothaman Naidu arrives and investigates the scene. He is joined by C.I.D. officer Sivanandam (Javar Seetharaman) there. He concludes that the killer is some petty thief who must have shot Rajan for the lump of money found in the same room of the crime scene. However, Sivanandam states that to be a bad solution, as the amount of money matches exactly with the withdrawal entry in the bank passbook found in the same room, without a single rupee
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
's difference. Nonetheless, it was clear Rajan was making plans to leave Chennai in anticipation of the bombings. Rajan's wife Usha (Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai was a prominent heroine of South Indian languages films mostly in Kannada and Tamil during the 1950s and 60s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Dr. Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan...
) is almost dumbstruck and unable to speak during any inquiries. Sivanandam and Naidu feel reluctant and embarrassed to do any questioning to her.
The two decide to investigate the case by questioning the people in and around the house, who are the family members or friends of Rajan. They first do their inquiry with Chinnaiah Pillai, the neighbour as he is the first to inform them. He tells that the killer could probably be Pattabi, Rajan's younger brother (T. K. Balachandran). He recounts an incident (as flashback), in which Pattabi confronts Rajan at the house's garage to ask for his share of the family property to be apportioned and given to him. Rajan, in good faith, denies to give Pattabi his share, feeling that he and his wife might squander it. Chinnaiah concludes that this would have kindled Pattabi to kill Rajan.
Sivanandam and Naidu decide to inquire Pattabi. However, Pattabi had rushed to the Beach
Marina Beach
Marina Beach is a beach in the city of Chennai , India, along the Bay of Bengal, part of the Indian Ocean. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of , making it the longest urban beach in the country and the world's second longest...
before their arrival, probably to commit suicide. They rush there themselves to inquire him. When questioned, Pattabi feels remorseful of his brother's death. He states that he did treat his brother well when he was alive and did not understand his good intentions. He recounts another incident where his wife Hema, had fought with him herself, during dinner for the apportionment of property herself. She is also a person who loses sanity when overpowered by anger. Pattabi believes of a very good possibility, that Hema used the Rajan's gun to shoot him for the money.
Sivanamdam parts to meet Hema soon after, to do his inquiry. Hema was initially impudent and refusing to give her statement of the crime, but later gives in when threatened to be arrested for the same. She reveals a secret of Rajan. Rajan has had extramarital affair with a dancer named Ambujam (Suryakala). She knew this when she once found and overheard Rajan and Ambujam speaking together a week before the murder, where Ambujam unveils that she is pregnant. Rajan treats the news with a reckless attitude, infuriating Ambujam. Hema had received a letter addressed to Rajan from Ambujam, that had the address "No.15, Thoni Street". Hema proposes that Ambujam could have killed Rajan in retaliation to Rajan's lack of concern for her.
Fatigued with the case's complicated nature, Naidu compares it with a supposed "Peruvala Vaikal" in Trichy, a river that has a lot of twists and turns. Sivanandam makes a better analogy of the case, to the story of "blind men and an elephant", where each suspect has a different and contrasting opinion to offer. In Thoni Street, Ambujam has made preparations to leave Chennai, at the news of Rajan's death. Half-an-hour after her departure Sivanandam and Naidu arrive there to find the house locked. They take with them Shanmugam, a boy in the street to the Police Station to inquire him on the physical features of Ambujam, to locate and recognize her. The boy knows and has seen her leave from Thoni Street. In a coincidence, Ambujam's bullock-cart and another car strike each other in a road accident, right in front of the very same police station. They identify and inquire Ambujam.
Ambujam accuses Chinnaiah (Rajan's neighbour whom they had inquired as the very first suspect) of the murder. She explains that Chinnaiah was her foster father, who wanted her to stay away from Rajan. She started loving after the trio's meeting on a picnic. When their relationship started deepening, Chinnaiah got infuriated and wanted put an end to the affair. Ambujam gives a strong opinion that it must have been Chinnaiah who killed Rajan.
Sivanandam does his homework by developing the film roll found in Rajan's camera, collecting and comparing all of the suspects' and others' fingerprints with those found in Rajan's shoes, finding a teardrop mark in Rajan's shoes and finding broken bangle
Bangle
Bangles or churi are traditional ornaments worn mostly by South Asian women in India and Bangladesh, especially Hindus. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks...
pieces on the crime scene. He finds them further complicating the case and coming nowhere near the conclusion. He gets small clue at a sharbat
Sharbat
Sharbat or Sherbet is a popular Middle Eastern and South Asian drink that is prepared from fruits or flower petals. It is sweet and served chilled...
shop, apparently making no sense. He make inquiries to Rajan's college (Victoria College
Victoria College
Victoria College is or was the name of several institutions of secondary or higher education, including:* [Victoria College, Chulipuram], Sri Lanka* Victoria College, Alexandria, Egypt* Victoria College in Victoria, Texas...
) principal Ranganathan, who has a high opinion of both Rajan and Usha, his wife, both being his alumni. He says Rajan once broke into the college at night, to complete an experiment, for which he never felt guilty and also Usha once put up the Indian flag as part of Freedom Movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
and she accepted doing it herself. This emphasizes her patriotism.
Sivanandam inquires finally, Usha. She narrates an incident during college where Rajan spoke of individualistic needs that are equally as important as the country's freedom. He managed to convince the entire crowd of his viewpoint, who previously opined the opposite. However, he was bullied and disdained when Usha took over and changed the crowd back to "giving your life for the nation". Usha further tells Sivanandam on how she and Rajan came to love each other. In the process, he tricks into collecting Usha's fingerprints with a leaky fountain pen
Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...
.
On that eve, Sivanandam meets all the suspects along with Naidu at Rajan's residence. He caries our an exercise wherein the suspects including Usha must shoot Sivanandam, assuming that he is Rajan. They are given revolver's with false bullets. Usha is unable to shoot. Then Sivanandam orders an (apparent) arrest of Pattabi and Hema. Unable to bear the torture, Usha comes out with the truth. On the day of the murder when she entered the room she found Rajan working with something meticulously, with a radio equipment, powered by a generator. She doubts of something suspicious. The second time she enters she discovers that he is part of the terrorist activity of bombing Chennai, communicating to the Japanese bombers. He is a key part, of the bombing. Out of her extreme patriotism for her nation, and unable to bear the injustice she tries to talk and mend Rajan's ways. However, Rajan feeling that he should help the Japanese (who helped him with his Radio business), and does not mind betraying his own country. Usha attempts to shoot Rajan whose plan is to escape to Japan in a submarine after the bombing, for which he had packed the money. However, in an accident, fighting for the gun, the trigger is accidentally pressed killing Rajan. She has cried at his boots later, holding them, explaining the fingerprints and teardrop stain.
Sivanandam and Naidu ask for the papers Rajan used to hatch the bombing plan. She goes inside to fetch them. Sivanandam tells Naidu that the fingerprints on the boots and hers which he collected, matched, which led him to suspect her. Also, her failure to shoot during the exercise confirms the fact. When Usha takes a long time to come back, the two hear a long silence followed by a gunshot and run inside. Sivanandam shouts "Usha!" followed by a screen closing behind them.
Cast and crew
- Sivaji GanesanSivaji GanesanViluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
- Rajan - Javar Seetharaman - CID Officer Sivanandam (he also wrote the script)
- Pandari BaiPandari BaiPandari Bai was a prominent heroine of South Indian languages films mostly in Kannada and Tamil during the 1950s and 60s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Dr. Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan...
- Usha (Rajan's wife) - T. K. Balachandran - Pattabi, Rajan's younger brother
- P. D. Sambandam - Chinniah Pillai
- Menaka
- Suryakala
- Veenai S. Balachander - Director
- Muktha. V. Sreenivasan - Assistant Director
- Maruti Rao - Cinematographer
- S. Surya - Editor
Reception
Andha naal was released on 13 April 1954 and received critical and public acclaim. But it was a commercial failure. Its failure to generate revenues meant no such film (without songs or stunts) was made again in Tamil for a long time. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in TamilNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil
The following lists the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. The year in the header refers to the date when the film was censored and submitted for the awards, without of regard of when the award was presented. Apart from the Silver Lotus Award "Certificate of Merit" was also given...
in 1955.