Apoorva Raagangal ( ) is a 1975 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by K. Balachander. It stars Kamal Haasan, Sundarrajan, Srividya and Jayasudha, while Nagesh and Rajinikanth, in his feature film debut, play supporting roles. The film revolves around Prasanna (Haasan) who falls in love with the much older Bhairavi (Srividya) while Bhairavi's daughter Ranjani (Jayasudha) is drawn to Prasanna's father Mahendran (Sundarrajan).
Apoorva Raagangals theme was based on a riddle featured in the Indian folktale collection Vetala Panchavimshati about a king marrying a woman and his son marrying her mother, and Vetala, the riddler asking Vikramaditya what would be their kinship relations if these couples were to beget children. The film was produced by V. Govindarajan and J. Duraisamy under the Kalakendra Films banner, photographed by B. S. Lokanath and edited by N. R. Kittu; the music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. Unlike many contemporaneous Tamil films, it was shot entirely in actual houses for their interiors without building sets, as Balachander wanted to convey a more authentic narration.
Apoorva Raagangal was released on 15 August 1975. Despite exploring the concept of relationships between people with wide age gaps, which challenged Indian social mores, it received critical acclaim and became a commercial success, and a breakthrough for Srividya and Haasan. The film won three National Film Awards, including Best Feature Film in Tamil, and three Filmfare Awards South in the Tamil branch: Best Feature Film, Best Director for Balachander and Best Actor for Haasan, and a Special Award for Srividya. It was remade in Telugu as Thoorpu Padamara (1976) where Srividya and Nagesh reprised their roles, and in Hindi by Balachander as Ek Nai Paheli (1984) where Haasan reprised his role.
Plot Prasanna is a young man involved in revolutionary activities against the wishes of his widowed father, Mahendran. After Prasanna admits that he stole rice from a lorry because of rising prices, distributed it to the poor and set the lorry on fire before the police arrived, Mahendran, disgusted by his actions, helps the police arrest him, deepening their estrangement. After his release, Prasanna leaves his hometown, Bangalore, for Madras.
Prasanna is later beaten after abusing passengers whose car splashed water on him. Carnatic singer Bhairavi finds him unconscious after returning from a katcheri, takes him home and has her doctor friend Suri treat him. At her request, Prasanna remains in her house after recovering and gradually develops romantic feelings for her despite their considerable age difference.
Meanwhile, Ranjani, a young soap seller, meets Mahendran in Bangalore during a play and notices him crying rather than responding like the other audience members. She follows him until he explains that he longs for his estranged son and deceased wife. At his request, she stays at his house for several days. Moved by his devotion to his late wife and his concern for Prasanna, as well as his willingness to help her, Ranjani proposes marriage despite Mahendran being old enough to be her father.
Bhairavi tells Prasanna that she has a daughter born out of wedlock whose father abandoned her. She shows him a photograph of the daughter, who is revealed to be Ranjani. Bhairavi explains that, fearing social disgrace, she initially considered abortion but instead raised Ranjani as her adopted daughter. After learning the truth from the household maids, Ranjani confronted Bhairavi, refused to remain with her as a daughter and left home.
Bhairavi and Mahendran initially reject Prasanna and Ranjani's proposals because of the age differences and their circumstances, but both eventually agree after being persuaded that the marriages can succeed. Prasanna abandons his revolutionary activities and becomes a mridangam player to satisfy Bhairavi. After she accepts his proposal, her former lover Pandiyan, Ranjani's father, arrives to apologise. Prasanna prevents him from meeting Bhairavi and takes him, who is dying of blood cancer, for treatment. He tells Pandiyan of his intention to marry Bhairavi, and Pandiyan agrees not to see her.
Mahendran, having seen Bhairavi's advertisement seeking her missing daughter, visits her home and discovers Prasanna's photograph, realising their relationship. He subsequently advertises for his missing son. Bhairavi sees the advertisement and insists that Prasanna obtain Mahendran's consent. When they meet Mahendran, he introduces Ranjani as his future wife and, consequently, Prasanna's future mother. This creates a riddle in which Ranjani would become her own mother's mother-in-law and Mahendran his own son's son-in-law.
At Bhairavi's next katcheri, where Prasanna accompanies her on mridangam, she sings "Kelviyin Nayagane, Indha Kelvikku Badhil Edhayya?" (Oh hero of the question, what is the answer to this question?). Ranjani changes her mind and joins Bhairavi in singing, prompting Prasanna to reconcile with Mahendran. During the concert, Pandiyan sends Bhairavi a note. After the performance, she finds him dead, holding a note wishing her happiness with Prasanna. She erases the kumkuma from her forehead, declaring herself a widow, and leaves with Ranjani, while Prasanna leaves with Mahendran.
Cast
Kamal Haasan as Prasanna Sundarrajan as Mahendran Srividya as M. R. Bhairavi Jayasudha as Ranjani Nagesh as Suri / Hari Rajinikanth as Pandiyan Thideer Kannaiah as Mahendran's friend
Kannadasan, Jaishankar and members of the Madras-based United Amateur Artistes make "friendly appearances".
Production Development The Indian folktale collection Vetala Panchavimshati features many stories where the ghost-like being Vetala poses many riddles to Vikramaditya. In the final riddle, a king marries a woman and his son marries her mother; Vetala asks, "If these couples were to beget children, what would be their kinship relations?" and Vikramaditya keeps quiet since it does not have an answer. This riddle inspired K. Balachander to write the script of Apoorva Raagangal, which he would also direct. V. Govindarajan and J. Duraisamy produced the film under their production banner, Kalakendra Films. B. S. Lokanath was chosen as the cinematographer, N. R. Kittu as the editor, and Ramasamy as the art director. The film was launched in August 1974 at Vauhini Studios with A. V. Meiyappan switching on the camera.
Before the film's release, author N. R. Dasan accused Balachander of plagiarising Verum Mann, a story he had written for the magazine Kannadasan. The matter was taken to the Madras High Court, and Dasan won the case. Although Dasan did not seek money, the judge ordered Balachander to pay him as a fine.
Casting
Kamal Haasan was cast as the protagonist Prasanna. He spent seven months learning to play the mridangam required for the role. The film was the debut of Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, who later became one of Tamil cinema's biggest stars, Rajinikanth. He was a student at the Madras Film Institute, when Balachander, who came there, met him. Balachander was impressed by his appearance: his "fragile" health, "powerful" eyes, "chiselled" face and dark skin and did not view them as negatives. He sought to "give him a good role, and see what can be drawn out of him". The script of Apoorva Raagangal had been readied, and Balachander wanted Gaekwad to play a "small but interesting part", which he agreed to. The part was that of Bhairavi's (Srividya) ex-lover Pandiyan.
As Gaekwad, who primarily spoke Kannada and his native Marathi, was only "tangentially familiar" with Tamil, Balachander advised him to learn the language. Gaekwad practised by speaking only Tamil with his friend Raja Bahaddur, a native Tamil speaker; he mastered the language in 20 days. After meeting Balachander again, and impressing him with his Tamil, he was given the part. When it came to giving Gaekwad a screen name, Balachander chose Rajinikanth, the name of A. V. M. Rajan's character from his 1966 film Major Chandrakanth; the name means "colour of night", referring to Gaekwad's skin colour, though it was misspelled in the credits as "Rajanikanth". The name Shivaji could not be chosen to avoid confusion with the actor Sivaji Ganesan.
Filming Unlike many contemporaneous Tamil films, Apoorva Raagangal was shot entirely in actual houses for interiors without building sets, as Balachander wanted a more authentic narration to be conveyed. With Lokanath's help, he found houses which belonged to A. V. Meiyappan's family members, one of which was Meiyappan's house, Chettiar Bungalow. For Prasanna's look, Haasan kept his moustache thin and hair long, and had him sporting bell-bottoms and polo shirts. According to historian G. Dhananjayan, the song "Athisaya Raagam" was filmed at the cashew farms of VGP Golden Beach; however, Roshne Balasubramanian of The Indian Express says it was filmed at the Theosophical Society Adyar. The camera was moved manually by the cameraperson at this time, without the use of a dolly. In a 2000 interview with Rediff, Jayasudha, who portrayed Bhairavi's daughter Ranjani, recalled that it was hard portraying a girl in love with the much older Mahendran (Sundarrajan): "Balachander Sir was a very tough taskmaster. He would not be satisfied unless he got 100 per cent from you. He used to reprimand me and shout at me if I messed up." She also had to wear a sari and needed help since she had never worn one before.
The scene where Pandiyan opens the gate of Bhairavi's house was filmed at a house in 1st Crescent Park Road, Gandhi Nagar. The scene was shot on 27 March 1975, the same day that Balachander gave Rajinikanth his name; it was approved after only five or six takes. For the character's looks, Rajinikanth sported stubble and wore a loose-fitting suit consisting of a dusty coat, loosely worn tie, untucked shirt and trousers; his make-up was done by R. Sundaramoorthy. During the initial stages of principal photography, Rajinikanth found Balachander's directing methods very difficult to follow. Nagesh, who portrayed the doctor Suri who lives a double life as a drunkard named Hari, observed his difficulty and told him, "Don't get tensed up. Just imitate whatever Balachander is doing. That's what I'm doing as well!" After listening to Nagesh's advice, it became easier for Rajinikanth to complete his portions in the film. For the scene where Suri speaks to his own shadow, it was Nagesh's idea by making the character utter "Cheers" and throw the glass at his own shadow. The final reel length of the film was .
Themes Apoorva Raagangal explores the concept of relationships between couples with a large disparity in their ages, which challenged Indian social mores. Although it is based on a Vetala Panchavimshati riddle, it has frequently been compared to the American film 40 Carats (1973), which tells the story of a widow who falls in love with a much younger man. In Apoorva Raagangal, Ranjani often poses the riddle "Ennudaya appa yaarukku maamanaro, avarudaya marumagalin appa en maganukku maamanar. Appa avarukkum enakkum enna uravu?" (My father is father-in-law to someone; that person's daughter-in-law's father is my son's father-in-law. What is the relationship between him and me?), summing up the film's theme. While the source riddle in Vetala Panchavimshati does not have an answer, G. Dhananjayan believes the answer to the film's riddle is, "for a husband, the relation is his wife and for the wife, the relation is her husband".