Pava Mannippu

Paava Mannippu is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and edited by A. Bhimsingh, who co-produced it under his banner Buddha Pictures, with AVM Productions. The film features an ensemble cast of Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Savitri, Devika and M. R. Radha. M. V. Rajamma, V. Nagayya, S. V. Subbaiah and T. S. Balaiah play supporting roles. It revolves around four children who are separated from their parents in childhood, then found and raised by foster parents of different religious backgrounds. Bhimsingh initially began work on a film titled Abdullah, starring J. P. Chandrababu who narrated the story to him. Though some scenes were filmed, Bhimsingh was unconvinced with the results; after AVM volunteered to co-produce the film, Bhimsingh redeveloped the script as Paava Mannippu, with Chandrababu replaced by Sivaji Ganesan. The soundtrack and score were composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy while Kannadasan was the lyricist. Paava Mannippu was released on 16 March 1961. The film became a commercial success and a silver jubilee film. It received the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film, becoming the first South Indian film to do so. The film achieved cult status in Tamil cinema and was remade into Telugu as Oke Kutumbham (1970) by Bhimsingh. Plot Aalavandhar is a jeweller who lives with his wife Maragatham and two sons Ramu and Rajan. Out of greed, Aalavandhar kills a fellow jeweller who comes to sell him diamonds. When the police interrogate him, he smartly puts the blame on one of his workers named Manickam Pillai. Manickam lives with his wife and daughter Thangam. His wife, on learning that he is implicated in the murder, dies of shock immediately after delivering a baby girl. A sympathetic neighbour leaves the baby in Maragatham's custody and takes the elder daughter with her. Maragatham hands over the child to their family friend, James.