Manmadha Leelai (1976 film)

{{More plot|date=April 2023}}

The film explores the life journey of a wannabe womaniser Madhu and his attempted affairs with various women where he fails invariably, including those who are married.

The main conflict is between Madhu and his wife Rekha. The many women he flirts with and those who flirt with him are doing so for many different reasons. One has a drunkard husband who has no interest in her; another is merely living her fantasy of being in an extramarital relationship through phone; and another is an ultra-modern hippie cultured woman. Madhu, however, does not manage to consummate with any of them. He confesses all his problems to his secretary Iyer, who resigns, unable to bear his torture. In the end, the now-pregnant Rekha finds out about Madhu's attempted philandering and decides to leave him, only to find out that her role-model father has had a lifelong affair with their long term maidservant, which her mother has chosen to ignore. Seeing that men are no better and considering that her husband is yet to consummate, she decides to go back to her husband, who vows to become a reformed man.

{{Cast listing|

• Kamal Haasan as Madhu
• Halam as Rekha
• Hema Chaudhary as Madhavi
• Jaya Prada as Kannagi
• Y. Vijaya as Bhargavi (Ms. Wrong Number)
• Reena as Anju
• Y. G. Mahendran as Petition Kodhandam
• Y. G. Parthasarathy as Rekha's father
• Radha Ravi (credited as M. R. R. Ravi)
• T. D. Kusalakumari as Rekha's mother
• Praveena Bhagyaraj (uncredited role)

}}

M. R. Radha's son Radha Ravi made his acting debut with the film.{{Cite news |last=Rangarajan |first=Malathi |date=8 March 2012 |title=Refrains, old and new |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/refrains-old-and-new/article2973933.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417115209/http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/refrains-old-and-new/article2973933.ece |archive-date=17 April 2014 |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=The Hindu}}{{Cite news |last=Raman |first=Mohan |date=3 January 2015 |title=KB: Kollywood's Discovery Channel |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/kb-kollywoods-discovery-channel/article6751541.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501063135/http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/kb-kollywoods-discovery-channel/article6751541.ece |archive-date=1 May 2015 |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=The Hindu}} The coat that Kamal Haasan wears prominently in the film was actually his brother Charuhasan's.{{Cite web |date=8 May 2020 |title='மன்மத லீலை' கோட் குறித்த சுவாரசியப் பின்னணி: கமல் பகிர்வு |url=https://www.hindutamil.in/news/cinema/tamil-cinema/553461-kamal.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605170559/https://www.hindutamil.in/news/cinema/tamil-cinema/553461-kamal.html |archive-date=5 June 2020 |access-date=23 June 2021 |website=Hindu Tamil Thisai |language=ta}}

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.{{Cite web |title=Manmatha Leelai Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan |url=https://mossymart.com/product/manmatha-leelai-tamil-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-m-s-viswanathan-3/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331062955/https://mossymart.com/product/manmatha-leelai-tamil-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-m-s-viswanathan-3/ |archive-date=31 March 2023 |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=Mossymart}}{{Cite web |title=Manmatha Leelai |url=https://gaana.com/album/manmatha-leelai |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200329052354/https://gaana.com/album/manmatha-leelai |archive-date=29 March 2020 |access-date=29 March 2020 |website=Gaana}} The song "Naadham Ennum" is set in Shree ranjani raga,{{Cite news |last=Mani |first=Charulatha |author-link=Charulatha Mani |date=26 October 2012 |title=Six-note splendour |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/sixnote-splendour/article4034523.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129094848/http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/sixnote-splendour/article4034523.ece |archive-date=29 November 2014 |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=The Hindu}} while "Hello My Dear" is set in Dharmavati.{{Cite news |last=Mani |first=Charulatha |author-link=Charulatha Mani |date=9 November 2012 |title=Twice as nice |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/twice-as-nice/article4081104.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823092407/https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/twice-as-nice/article4081104.ece |archive-date=23 August 2019 |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=The Hindu}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Track listing

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| total_length = 26:39

| title1 = Manaivi Amaivathellam

| extra1 = K. J. Yesudas

| length1 = 4:29

| title2 = Naathamenum

| extra2 = Vani Jairam

| length2 = 4:12

| title3 = Hello My Dear Wrong Number

| extra3 = K. J. Yesudas, L. R. Eswari

| length3 = 4:22

| title4 = Manmadha

| extra4 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

| length4 = 5:02

| title5 = Netru Oru Menagai

| extra5 = A. V. Ramanan

| length5 = 4:38

| title6 = Sugam Thanaa

| extra6 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela

| length6 = 3:56

}}

The film struggled to get a censor certificate.{{Cite news |last=S |first=Srivatsan |date=10 July 2019 |title=When K Balachander wanted to write for OTT platforms |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kavithalayaa-productions-launches-its-youtube-channel/article28348625.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20191105060030/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kavithalayaa-productions-launches-its-youtube-channel/article28348625.ece |archive-date=5 November 2019 |access-date=5 November 2019 |work=The Hindu}} Kanthan of Kalki called it a problematic story but gets specialised by skill in creating characters and added there is nothing special about it as a screenplay but Balachander has added innovation to the film by sticking the scenes quickly.

After Vijaya Bapineedu acquired the rights to dub the film in Telugu, he edited it down by more than {{convert|250|feet}}. Though Balachander was disappointed with the dubbed version, titled Manmadha Leela, it fared better than the Tamil original.{{Cite web |last=Sri |date=14 November 2007 |title=Exclusive : Interview with Vijayabapineedu |url=http://www.telugucinema.com/c/publish/stars/vijayabapineedu_interview_2.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202083646/http://www.telugucinema.com/c/publish/stars/vijayabapineedu_interview_2.php |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=26 March 2021 |website=Telugucinema.com |page=2}} This was the first of many dubbed Telugu films where Haasan's voice was dubbed by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.{{Cite web |last=Pradeep |first=K. |date=26 March 2009 |title=Chit chat with S. P. Balasubramaniam |url=http://andhravilas.com/movienews.asp?id=90961&curPage=18 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707141241/http://andhravilas.com/movienews.asp?id=90961&curPage=18 |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date=1 October 2021 |website=Andhravilas}}{{Cite news |last=Murali |first=S. |date=25 September 2020 |title=S.P. Balasubrahmanyam: The end of an era |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/sp-balasubrahmanyam-the-end-of-an-era/article32695994.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130195815/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/sp-balasubrahmanyam-the-end-of-an-era/article32695994.ece |archive-date=30 January 2021 |access-date=26 March 2021 |work=The Hindu}} The film was dubbed in Hindi as Meethi Meethi Baatein (1977),{{Cite news |last=Narayan |first=Hari |date=21 November 2016 |title=Some lesser known SPB magic for you |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/Some-lesser-known-SPB-magic-for-you/article16670806.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201202321/http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/Some-lesser-known-SPB-magic-for-you/article16670806.ece |archive-date=1 December 2016 |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=The Hindu}}{{Cite magazine |date=28 October 1979 |title=சினி மசாலா |url=https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1979/oct/28-10-1979/p7.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220728035559/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1979/oct/28-10-1979/p7.jpg |archive-date=28 July 2022 |access-date=1 December 2022 |magazine=Kalki |page=7 |language=ta}} which fared reasonably well.{{Cite magazine |last=Piousji |date=12 August 1979 |title=Khaas Baat |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99456/page/n705/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230220064105/https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99456/page/n705/mode/2up |archive-date=20 February 2023 |access-date=21 February 2023 |magazine=Sunday |pages=51 |via=Internet Archive}} In the late 2000s, K. Balachander reached out to Siddharth about remaking the film. The actor's refusal meant that the project was dropped.{{Cite web |date=5 June 2023 |title=Takkar star Siddharth calls Kamal Haasan, the first and original pan-India star |url=https://www.ottplay.com/news/takkar-star-siddharth-calls-kamal-haasan-the-first-and-original-pan-india-star/5186da3d9c621 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612135618/https://www.ottplay.com/news/takkar-star-siddharth-calls-kamal-haasan-the-first-and-original-pan-india-star/5186da3d9c621 |archive-date=12 June 2023 |access-date=11 July 2023 |website=OTTPlay}}

Even though the film stirred up controversies when it was released, it later became a cult classic,{{Cite news |last=Lakshmi |first=V |date=8 July 2012 |title=New twist to old tales |url=https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/regional/tamil/news-interviews/New-twist-to-old-tales/articleshow/14732716.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616030833/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-08/news-interviews/32578169_1_kamal-haasan-thillu-mullu-films |archive-date=16 June 2013 |access-date=29 March 2020 |work=The Times of India}} and is considered a trendsetter.{{Cite news |last=Suganth |first=M |date=8 August 2012 |title=The '80s are back! |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-08/news-interviews/33084599_1_sattam-oru-iruttarai-thillu-mullu-film |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616030816/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-08/news-interviews/33084599_1_sattam-oru-iruttarai-thillu-mullu-film |archive-date=16 June 2013 |access-date=29 March 2020 |work=The Times of India}} Kamal Haasan said, "it was an interesting subject. For that period it was unusual, a breaking down of the fidelity stereotypes".{{Cite news |last=Shivkumar |first=S. |date=25 August 2005 |title=Set to score a perfect ten |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/08/25/stories/2005082501070100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515114858/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/08/25/stories/2005082501070100.htm |archive-date=15 May 2006 |access-date=29 March 2020 |work=The Hindu}}

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{{Cite magazine |last=காந்தன் |date=21 March 1976 |title=மன்மத லீலை |url=https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1976/mar/21-03-1976/p63.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220728035609/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1976/mar/21-03-1976/p63.jpg |archive-date=28 July 2022 |access-date=28 July 2022 |magazine=Kalki |page=63 |language=ta}}

}}

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{{K. Balachander}}

Category:1970s Indian films

Category:1970s sex comedy films

Category:1970s Tamil-language films

Category:1976 films

Category:1976 romantic comedy films

Category:Films about adultery in India

Category:Films directed by K. Balachander

Category:Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan

Category:Films with screenplays by K. Balachander

Category:Indian romantic comedy films

Category:Indian sex comedy films

Category:Tamil-language Indian films