Madras to Pondicherry is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language road comedy thriller film, directed by Thirumalai–Mahalingam and written by Usilai Somanathan. The film stars Ravichandran and Kalpana. It was released on 16 December 1966, became a commercial success, and was remade in Hindi as Bombay to Goa (1972).[2]

Madras to Pondicherry
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThirumalai–Mahalingam
Written byUsilai Somanathan
Produced byT. S. Adhinarayanan
P. M. Nachchimuthu
S. Sivaraman
G. K. Selvaraj
StarringRavichandran
Kalpana
CinematographyG. Vittal Rao[1]
Edited byA. Paul Duraisingam[1]
Music byT. K. Ramamoorthy
Production
company
Sri Venkateswara Cinetone
Release date
  • 16 December 1966 (1966-12-16)
Running time
121 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

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Mala, an aspiring film actress, leaves home because of her interest in this which is kindled by a group of thugs. One of them shoots a member of his gang, which she witnesses. To escape them, she jumps onto a running bus going from Madras to Pondicherry. The thugs hire an assassin to board the bus Mala is in to kill her. However, a man named Baskar also gets into the bus. Realising that Mala is in danger, he voluntarily saves her and ends up falling in love with her. Ultimately, it is revealed that Baskar is Mala's prospective bridegroom whom she tried to avoid by leaving her home.

Cast

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Production

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Madras to Pondicherry was directed by the duo Thirumalai–Mahalingam, written by Usilai Somanathan,[2] and produced under the banner Sri Venkateswara Cinetone by four people: T. S. Adhinarayanan, P. M. Nachimuthu, S. Sivaraman and G. K. Selvaraj.[1] It was among the earliest road films in Tamil cinema.[3]

Soundtrack

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The music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy.[2][4]

Song Singer Lyrics Length
"Enna Enthan" T. M. Soundararajan P. Susheela Namakkal Varadarajan 4:05
"Engey Payanam" Alangudi Somu 4:07
"Malar Ponndra Paruvame" T. M. Soundararajan Panchu Arunachalam 3:18
"Hello My Friend Nenjathil Enna" P. Susheela Thanjai Vaanan 3:26

Release and reception

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Madras to Pondicherry was released on 16 December 1966.[5] Kalki appreciated Nagesh and Karunanidhi's performances, but felt the saloon comedy sequence was unnecessary, and criticised the film's story.[6] Despite this, it became a commercial success.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Madras To Pondicherry (motion picture) (in Tamil). Sri Venkateswara Cinetone. 1966. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 3:24.
  2. ^ a b c d Guy, Randor (29 September 2012). "Madras To Pondicherry 1966". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  3. ^ Anantharam, Chitradeepa (2 December 2017). "The French film city". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Madras to Pondichery". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  5. ^ "1966 – மெட்ராஸ் டூ பாண்டிசேரி – விவிதபாரதி" [1966 – Madras to Pondicherry – Vidyabharathi]. Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  6. ^ "மதராஸ் டு பாண்டிச்சேரி". Kalki (in Tamil). 1 January 1967. p. 21. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
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