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Annakili

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Annakili is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, directed by Devaraj–Mohan and written by Panchu Arunachalam from a story by R. Selvaraj. The film stars Sivakumar and Sujatha with S. V. Subbaiah, Srikanth, Thengai Srinivasan and Fatafat Jayalaxmi in supporting roles. It was produced by S. P. Thamizharasi under the production banner SPT Films. The film's soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, who made his debut in film. A. Somasundaram and Kandasamy handled cinematography and editing respectively.

Annakili
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDevaraj–Mohan
Screenplay byPanchu Arunachalam
Story byR. Selvaraj
Produced byP. Thamizharasi
StarringSivakumar
Sujatha
CinematographyA. Somasundaram
Edited byB. Kandasamy
Music byIlaiyaraaja
Production
company
S. P. T. Films
Release date
  • 14 May 1976 (1976-05-14)
Running time
134 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

A black-and-white film, Annakil was released on 14 May 1976, and became a commercial success. It attained cult status in Tamil cinema. The film won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil, and was screened at the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India in 1978. It was remade in Telugu as Rama Chilaka (1978).[citation needed]

Plot

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In Thengumarada, a village in the region of Sathyamangalam, a young woman named Annakili falls in love with Thyagarajan, the newly arrived local teacher. But as he has to support his mother and sister financially, Thyagarajan marries another girl, Annakili's friend Sumathi, son of a wealthy landowner. Azhagappan, a womaniser, director of the local cinema theatre, then wants to marry Annakili but she refuses. In retaliation and in order to blackmail Annakili into marrying him, he later kidnaps Thyagarajan's young son and spreads rumours about Annakili among the villagers. Annakili manages to save the child from the cinema building that has caught fire during her struggle with Azhagappan. She escapes with the child, and dies in Thyagarajan's arms.

Cast

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Production

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When Ilaiyaraaja met Panchu Arunachalam, the latter asked if the former had composed any songs; Ilaiyaraaja casually sang a bunch of songs, one of which was "Annakkili Unnai Theduthe".[4] An impressed Panchu Arunachalam decided to write a screenplay based on these songs and on the story Marathuvechi written by R. Selvaraj to accommodate these songs;[5] the film would be titled Annakili.[6][7] While scouting for various locations, it was Sivakumar who finally zeroed in and suggested a village Thengumarahada situated at Kovai district which had only 10 homes and mostly has huts where they primarily shot the film except for the climax which was shot in Chennai and Salem Ratna Studios.[7][8] The filming was completed within a month.[8] The film was made on a shoestring budget under ₹4 lakh (worth ₹4.7 crore in 2021 prices) The climax, featuring a theatre being set on fire, was inspired by the 1942 film Kannagi.[9]

Soundtrack

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Main article: Annakili (soundtrack)

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, who made his debut as composer with this film, and the lyrics were written by Panchu Arunachalam.[1][10] Ilaiyaraaja used the techniques of modern film music orchestration, fusing Indian and Western classical music with Tamil folk.[11][7] The soundtrack became hugely popular and its success established Ilaiyaraaja as a leading composer in Tamil cinema.[1][12] "Machanai Paartheengala"—which Ilaiyaraaja composed and sung at a marriage before the film's release—eventually became a huge success.[13]

Release and reception

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Annakili was released on 14 May 1976.[14] Many distributors refused to buy the film as they felt it looked like an art film, which led Arunachalam to sell the film to new distributors at a lower price.[8] Ananda Vikatan, in a review dated 30 May 1976, was positive towards the film, particularly the performances of Sujatha, Sivakumar and Srikanth, but felt it would have been better in colour.[15] According to Sivakumar, the response for first two shows were poor, it picked up only on the third day due to positive word-of-mouth.[7][12] According to an article in the magazine Link, the film "took Tamil audiences by storm".[16] The film ran successfully for 25 weeks and celebrated silver jubilee and it ran for 205 days in Irudhaya Theatre at Kovai.[12] It won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil,[17] and also received ₹1 lakh (equivalent to ₹30 lakh or US$36,000 in 2023) subsidy from the government of Tamil Nadu.[13]

Legacy

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Annakili attained cult status in Tamil cinema.[18] Writing for The News Minute, Nandhu Sundaram noted that the film, "Made during the first wave of feminism in Tamil cinema heralded by directors Bharathiraaja, K Balachander, Balu Mahendra and Mahendran, Annakili came as a powerful crash course in gender equality".[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Guy, Randor (11 June 2016). "Annakili (1976)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Dhananjayan 2014, p. 236.
  3. ^ a b Sundaram, Nandhu (11 May 2019). "43 years of 'Annakili': Devaraj-Mohan's film is still a riveting watch". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  4. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (16 August 2018). "Southern Lights: The Man Who Made (And Named) Ilayaraja". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. ^ அருணாசலம், பஞ்சு (9 June 2016). "திரைத்தொண்டர் – 11". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  6. ^ Srinivasan, Sudhir (26 May 2019). The DEFINITIVE Ilaiyaraaja interview by Sudhir Srinivasan | Isai Celebrates Isai (in Tamil). Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ a b c d சிவகுமார் (16 April 2021). "திரைப்படச்சோலை 23: அன்னக்கிளி". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b c அருணாசலம், பஞ்சு (16 June 2016). "திரைத்தொண்டர் – 12". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  9. ^ Baskaran 1996, p. 147.
  10. ^ "Annakili Tamil EP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraaja". Banumass. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  11. ^ Greene 2001, pp. 171–172.
  12. ^ a b c "இளையராஜா இசை அமைத்த முதல் படம் அன்னக்கிளி மாபெரும் வெற்றி". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  13. ^ a b Dhananjayan 2014, p. 237.
  14. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (21 May 2016). "A king and his times". Baradwaj Rangan. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  15. ^ "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: அன்னக்கிளி". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 30 May 1976. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Tamil cinema—it's evolution". Link. United India Periodicals. 1980. p. 38. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  17. ^ The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who. Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. 1984. p. 234.
  18. ^ "Ilayaraja's debut film Annakkili was a super hit". The Hindu. 11 June 2016. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2024.

Bibliography

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