Meendum Savithri
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| image = Meendum Savithri.jpg
| caption = Poster
| director = Visu
| writer = Visu
| based_on = {{based on|Meendum Savithiri (novel)|Visu}}
| producer = Nagi Reddi
| starring = {{ubl|Revathi|Saranya Ponvannan|Nizhalgal Ravi|Raja}}
| cinematography = N. Balakrishnan
| editing = Ganesh Kumar
| music = Devendran
| studio = Vijaya Pictures
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1996|02|09|Tamil|1996|03|01|Telugu}}
| runtime = 140 minutes
| country = India
| language = {{ubl|Tamil|Telugu}}
}}
Meendum Savithri ({{translation|Savithri, Again}}) is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Visu and produced by Nagi Reddi. It stars Revathi, Saranya Ponvannan, Nizhalgal Ravi and Raja, with Ramesh Aravind, Visu, Nagesh, Jai Ganesh, Annapurna, Seetha and Pandu playing supporting roles. The film, released on 9 February 1996,{{Cite web |title=Meendum Savithri ( 1996 ) |url=http://www.cinesouth.com/cgi-bin/filmography/allCast.cgi?id=2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041227173736/http://www.cinesouth.com/cgi-bin/filmography/allCast.cgi?id=2000 |archive-date=27 December 2004 |access-date=7 July 2022 |website=Cinesouth}} is based on Visu's novel of the same name that was serialised in Ananda Vikatan,{{Cite book |last=Manian |first=Aranthai |title=திரைப்படங்களான இலக்கியங்களும் நாடகங்களும் |date=15 November 2020 |publisher=Pustaka Digital Media |pages=1922 |language=ta}}{{Cite web |date=3 November 2010 |title=காலப்பெட்டகம் |url=https://www.vikatan.com/arts/nostalgia/36678--2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707102012/https://www.vikatan.com/arts/nostalgia/36678--2 |archive-date=7 July 2022 |access-date=7 July 2022 |website=Ananda Vikatan |language=ta}} and bombed at the box-office.{{Cite web |title=The Immortal Visu |url=http://behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-column/the-immortal-visu.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407180923/http://behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-column/the-immortal-visu.html |archive-date=7 April 2015 |access-date=4 April 2015 |website=Behindwoods}}{{Cite web |last=Sunder |first=Sankar |date=22 February 1996 |title=Tamil cinema "Meendum Savithri" – 03/03 at Framingham, MA |url=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.music.indian.misc/qL_-cTYIB1Q/BD6Szt4ojJ8J |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707102005/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.indian.misc/c/qL_-cTYIB1Q/m/BD6Szt4ojJ8J |archive-date=7 July 2022 |access-date=4 April 2015 |website=Google Groups}} It was simultaneously made in Telugu as Neti Savithri ({{translation|Today's Savithri}}) with Gollapudi Maruti Rao replacing Visu.{{Cite news |last=అల్లూరు రహీం |date=8 March 1996 |title=చిత్రసమీక్ష: నేటి స్త్రీ వ్యక్తిత్వాన్ని ప్రతిబింబిచలేకపోయిన నేటి సావిత్రి |trans-title=Neti Savithri fails to reflect the personality of today's woman |url=http://www.zaminryot.com/pdf/1996/Mar/8-mar-1996.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111005840/http://www.zaminryot.com/pdf/1996/Mar/8-mar-1996.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2022 |access-date=10 March 2023 |work=Zamin Ryot |pages=10–11 |language=Te}}
Plot
Manju is an outspoken woman and she works in a small company. She lives with her father Narayana Moorthy who tries to reform the people as much as possible. Belonging to a middle-class family, she cannot provide a dowry for the potential grooms. One day, Manju comes across an innovative advertisement : a groom is looking for a bride without any dowries. The groom is Vasudevan who seems to be the perfect future husband. When Manju and Narayana Moorthy meet his family, Narayana Moorthy is shocked. Vasudevan's father Ramamoorthy became mentally ill when his business failed, his sister Gayathri became mentally ill when someone raped her, his brother Bhaskar is a drunkard and his mother is an asthma patient. Finally, Manju and Vasudevan get married. During the first night, Vasudevan beats her and falls down unconscious.
Vasudevan's family was, in fact, acting, they are perfectly all right but they are scared of something. The truth is that Vasudevan was already married to Uma. Uma was initially in love with Narasimman, a do-gooder however she later rejects him after discovering that he is a con man, she marries Vasudevan. Narasimman in order to extract money from her creates photographs showing him and Uma being married which leads to Vasudevan assume that Uma had cheated him. Vasudevan gets affected psychologically due to her absence in order to make him normal his whole family pretends to be suffering from problems.
Manju then plans to expose Narasimman's cruel ways. She and Vasudevan's family disguise themselves as a rich family from Mumbai with Bhaskar disguising himself as broker Ananthakrishnan. Narayana Moorthy who learns of the plan also joins the act as her rich father. Narayana Moorthy though not happy with the developments has to go along with the act after Manju threatens to commit suicide. During the engagement between Manju and Narasimman, Narasimman's evil ways are exposed and he is arrested by the police.
In the end, Manju unites Vasu and Uma by throwing her thali inside the temple hundi and resumes her daily routine.
Cast
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Cast (Tamil) !Cast (Telugu) !Role (Tamil) !Role (Telugu) |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Revathi
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Manju |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Saranya Ponvannan
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Uma |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Nizhalgal Ravi
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Narasimman |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Raja
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Vasudevan |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Ramesh Aravind
| style="text-align:center;"| Anandakrishnan | style="text-align:center;"| Anandakrishna |
| style="text-align:center;"|Visu
| style="text-align:center;"|Gollapudi Maruti Rao | style="text-align:center;"| Narayana Moorthy | style="text-align:center;"| Minor Babu |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Nagesh
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Ramamoorthy |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Jai Ganesh
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Chandramouli |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Annapurna
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Vasudevan's mother |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Seetha
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Gayathri |
| style="text-align:center;"|Pandu
| style="text-align:center;"|Rallapalli | style="text-align:center;"|Gajendran | style="text-align:center;"|Gajendra |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Kumarimuthu
| | |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Jamuna Srinivasan
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Meenatchi |
| style="text-align:center;"|Oru Viral Krishna Rao
|style="text-align:center;"|Chitti Babu | | |
| style="text-align:center;"|Idichapuli Selvaraj
|style="text-align:center;"|K. K. Sharma | | |
| style="text-align:center;"|Ganga
|style="text-align:center;"|Dham | | |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Omakuchi Narasimhan{{efn|Credited in Telugu as Juttu Narasimham.}}
| style="text-align:center;"|Pugazhenthi | style="text-align:center;"|Pullaiah |
| style="text-align:center;" |—
| style="text-align:center;"| Saakshi Siva | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Auto driver |
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Devendran, with lyrics written by Piraisoodan for the Tamil version.
{{Track listing
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Naatukulla Romba
| extra1 = Mano, Chorus
| length1 = 4:31
| title2 = Pethava Unnai
| extra2 = K. J. Yesudas
| length2 = 4:19
| title3 = Avaravar Thalai
| extra3 = K. S. Chithra
| length3 = 3:58
| title4 = Indha Naal
| extra4 = Mano
| length4 = 4:58
| title5 = Vel Murugan
| extra5 = Mano
| length5 = 3:48
| total_length = 21:34
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Telugu{{Cite web |title=Neti Savitri |url=https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/neti-savitri/m,DVGFcWiOI_ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128002629/https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/neti-savitri/m,DVGFcWiOI_ |archive-date=28 November 2022 |access-date=21 April 2023 |website=JioSaavn}}
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Evare Kannavaru
| extra1 = K. J. Yesudas
| length1 = 4:24
| title2 = Jeevitham Nekankitham
| extra2 = Mano
| length2 = 5:04
| title3 = Nee Kothurudi
| extra3 = K. S. Chithra
| length3 = 4:18
| title4 = Kailasagirini
| extra4 = Mano
| length4 = 1:18
| title5 = Andariki Thalaratha
| extra5 = K. S. Chithra
| length5 = 4:05
| total_length = 19:09
}}
Reception
K. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote, "With Visu's strong dialogues and his customary wisecracks, Meendum Savithri proves to be an entertaining movie, teaching proper values at the same time".{{Cite news |last=Vijiyan |first=K. |date=4 March 1996 |title=Visu at his best in a well-crafted story |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8_1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qh4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5348%2C1528806 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608034949/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8_1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qh4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5348%2C1528806 |archive-date=8 June 2024 |access-date=7 July 2022 |work=New Straits Times |pages=Arts 4 |via=Google News Archive}} Kalki wrote the film was interesting and realistic in first half which went in a flow but felt Visu struggled and stuttered in second half.{{Cite magazine |date=17 March 1996 |title=மீண்டும் சாவித்திரி |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki1996-03-17/page/n17/mode/2up? |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240304141359/https://archive.org/details/kalki1996-03-17/page/n17/mode/2up? |archive-date=4 March 2024 |access-date=4 March 2024 |magazine=Kalki |pages=16–17 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}} D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote that Visu "translated the spirit and content of the theme on the screen in an appreciable manner. He has avoided the tiresome fights and double meaning dialogue and kept his
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|6713424}}
{{Visu}}
Category:1996 multilingual films
Category:1990s Tamil-language films
Category:1990s Telugu-language films
Category:Films based on Tamil novels
Category:Films directed by Visu
Category:Films scored by Devendran
Category:Films with screenplays by Visu