Dowry Kalyanam
| Dowry Kalyanam | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Visu |
| Written by | Visu |
| Based on | Dowry Kalyana Vaibhogame by Visu |
| Produced by | S. Suseela |
| Starring | Visu Vijayakanth Srividya M. N. Nambiar Viji S. Ve. Shekher |
| Music by | M. S. Viswanathan |
Production company | Charuchithra Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Dowry Kalyanam (transl. Dowry Marriage) is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film, directed by Visu and produced by S. Suseela. The film stars Visu, Vijayakanth, Srividya, S. Ve. Shekher and Viji. It is based on Visu's play Dowry Kalyana Vaibhogame.[1] The film was released on 31 May 1983.
The films depicts the relationship betweet two best friends. One of them is financially struggling, and he increasingly depends financially on his friend. When an arranged marriage between his friend and his sister is proposed, the impoverished friend tries to collect the necessary dowry on his own. The film was remade in Kannada as Maduve Madu Thamashe Nodu (1984).[citation needed]
Plot
Ganeshan and Ethiraj are best friends and colleagues. Ethiraj is a widower and an alcoholic while Ganeshan is married and has a sister and a brother. Ganeshan does not earn enough and borrows from Ethiraj and Rowthar, a Muslim man who runs a grocery shop, frequently.
A misunderstanding arises when Ethiraj's mother proposes marriage between Ganeshan's sister and Ethiraj, leading to a rift in their friendship. He challenges that he would get his sister married in a pompous manner.
However, the groom's family is behind dowry. The mother of the groom runs the family tyrannically. How Ganeshan struggles to make ends meet with many subplots makes it an interesting movie to watch.
In the end, with help from many people, he gets his sister married, only for his own sister to ask him about the remainder of the dowry thereby denoting the cycle of dowry will forever continue.
Cast
- Visu as Ganesan
- Vijayakanth as Ethiraj
- Srividya as Uma
- S. Ve. Shekher as Manggupathi
- Viji as Gowri
- Kishmu as Acharapakkam Raja Kalavai
- Pushpalatha as Arcot Rushyendramani
- M. N. Nambiar as Rowthar
- Manorama as Seetha Latchmi
- Vennira Aadai Moorthy as Karar Kandhasamy
- V. K. Ramasamy as Jalandar Subbudu (Ganesan's uncle)
- V. Gopalakrishnan as Kuselan (Ganesan's maternal uncle)
- Delhi Ganesh as Kuselan
- Gundu Kalyanam as Kalyanam
- M. R. Rajamani as Neelaganda Sastrigal
- S. R. Janaki as Ganesan's grandmother
Soundtrack
The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Vaali.[2]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sreeraman Sreedevi" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam | |
| 2. | "Enthan Kannana Kannatti" | P. Jayachandran, S. P. Sailaja | |
| 3. | "Andavane Kanthirandu" | M. S. Viswanathan |
Release and reception
Dowry Kalyanam was released on 31 May 1983.[3] Kalki praised the performances of Visu, Nambiar and Srividya while also praising Visu for his direction and avoiding the influence of making it look like a stage play but panned Viswanathan's music.[4]
Censorship controversies
Visu mentioned that the censor board wanted 87 cuts for the film as they were not impressed with the portrayal of the character Rowther (M. N. Nambiar) speaking in Hindi mixed with Tamil because Rowthers speak pure Tamil. Visu had to come up with the scene where he explains about his portrayal.[5]
References
- ^ Bhatt, Karthik (12 April 2016). "Pattinapravesam : From Stage to Celluloid". The Cinema Resource Centre. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Dowry Kalyanam Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "டௌரி கல்யாணம் / Dowry Kalyanam (1983)". Screen4Screen (in English and Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "டௌரி கல்யாணம்". Kalki (in Tamil). 24 July 1983. p. 42. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ "Director Visu Interview : Censor asked me to make 87 cuts for my film". IndiaGlitz. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2022.