Annakili

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

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". An impressed Panchu Arunachalam decided to write a film story to accommodate these songs, which became Annakili. The film was released on 14 May 1976 and became a commercial success. It 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).

Plot

The movie revolves around Annakili, who falls in love with teacher Thyagarajan. Due to circumstances, Thyagarajan marries another girl. Azhagappan, a womaniser creates a misunderstanding about Annakili among the villagers; the rest of the film shows how Annakili proves her innocence.

Cast

Production

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 film Kannagi.[9]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, who made his debut as composer with this film,[1] and the lyrics were written by Panchu Arunachalam.[10] When Arunachalam was in search of new composer who could deliver new kind of music, it was Selvaraj who suggested Raaja's name.[5] Arunachalam added "Ilaiya" (Ilaiya means younger in Tamil) as prefix in his name Raaja and he named as "Ilaiyaraaja" to differentiate from the already established composer A. M. Rajah. For the soundtrack, Ilaiyaraaja applied the techniques of modern popular film music orchestration to Tamil folk poetry and folk song melodies, which created a fusion of Western and Tamil idioms.[11]

The song "Machanai Paartheengala" was originally composed and sung at a marriage by Ilaiyaraaja and his orchestra even before the film's release.[12] The song "Sonthamillai Banthamillai" is based on Nadanamakriya raga.[13] Arunachalam revealed he wrote lyrics for the song "Sondhamillai" even before its tune was composed while lyrics for songs "Machanai", "Annakili Unnai" and "Suttha Samba" were written after its tunes were composed.[5] When the song "Annakili Unnai" was being recorded, during the first take the studio faced a power cut though it was recorded in second take but the song was not recorded clearly as the recorder's assistant forgot to plug in the switch but it was finalised in third take.[8] The song "Sonthamillai Banthamillai" was deleted during the first release of the film; however after fans demanded the song it was later again added into the film.[7][14]

The soundtrack became hugely popular and its success established Ilaiyaraaja as a leading composer in Tamil cinema.[1] The violin portions of the title song were used by K for the "Bar Anthem" in Mugamoodi (2012).[15]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Adi Raakayi"S. Janaki4:11
2."Annakili" (happy)S. Janaki4:49
3."Annakili" (sad)T. M. Soundararajan3:17
4."Machaana Pathingala"S. Janaki4:26
5."Sontham Illai"P. Susheela4:02
Total length:20:45

Release and reception

After the completion, many of the distributors refused to buy this film as they felt like a art film which led Arunchalam to sell the film to new distributors on a low price.[8] Annakili was released on 14 May 1976.[16] 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.[17] According to Sivakumar, the response for first two shows were poor, it picked up only in third day due to positive word-of-mouth.[7][14] The film ran successfully for 25 weeks and celebrated silver jubilee and it ran for 205 days in Irudhaya Theatre at Kovai.[14]

The film won the FilmFare Best Film Award of the year and also received ₹1 lakh subsidy from the Government of Tamil Nadu.

References
  1. Guy, Randor (11 June 2016). "Annakili (1976)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. Dhananjayan 2014, p. 236.
  3. 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. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  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. 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. 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. Dhananjayan 2014, p. 237.
  13. Kolappan, B. (25 December 2012). "In tune with nativity and modernity". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  14. "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.
  15. "Mugamoodi". The Hindu. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  16. Rangan, Baradwaj (21 May 2016). "A king and his times". Baradwaj Rangan. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  17. "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: அன்னக்கிளி". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 30 May 1976. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.

Bibliography
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