Nathayil Muthu

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Madhu, the foreign-educated son of a Brahmin lawyer Varadhachari and his wife, falls in love with Chelakannu, an impoverished woman who looks after their cows. While bathing, Chelakannu's sari is washed away and Madhu lends her his clothes. The slum dwellers misconstrue the situation and force Madhu to marry Chelakannu right away, which he willingly does, going to live with her in the slums. However, Chelakannu realises the unfairness of inflicting such discomfort on her husband while his mother schemes to break up the marriage by suggesting Chelakannu is unfaithful to him. Events culminate in a Panchayat which judges in Chelakannu's favour, but when the Panchayat leaders try to abuse Madhu's sister, Chelakannu saves her and this act of generosity persuades Madhu's family that their son's wife is a worthy member of the group.

{{Cast listing|

• K. R. Vijaya as Chelakannu
• R. Muthuraman as Madhu
• V. S. Raghavan as Varadhachari
• S. Varalakshmi as Varadhachari's wife
• M. R. R. Vasu
• S. V. Subbaiah as Ammasi
• Typist Gopu
• Chandrakantha
• S. Rama Rao
• Kuladeivam Rajagopal
• Indira
• S. R. Janaki

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Nathayil Muthu was directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan, who also produced and wrote it under the banner Chitra Productions.{{Cite web |title=1973-ல் வெளியான படப்பட்டியல் - தயாரிப்பாளர்கள் |trans-title=List of films released in 1973 – Producers |url=http://www.lakshmansruthi.com/cineprofiles/1973.asp |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180309054110/http://www.lakshmansruthi.com/cineprofiles/1973.asp |archive-date=9 March 2018 |access-date=9 March 2018 |website=Lakshman Sruthi |language=Tamil}} It was publicised as K. R. Vijaya's 100th film as an actress,{{Cite news |last=Ashok Kumar |first=S.R. |date=6 July 2006 |title=Actor K.R. Vijaya's smile illuminated her acting career |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/actor-kr-vijayas-smile-illuminated-her-acting-career/article3101063.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220040733/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/actor-kr-vijayas-smile-illuminated-her-acting-career/article3101063.ece |archive-date=20 December 2019 |access-date=24 September 2021 |work=The Hindu}}{{efn|Kungumam claims Nathayil Muthu is the 100th film of Muthuraman, and Dheerga Sumangali (1974) as the 100th film of Vijaya.{{Cite web |date=3 Feb 2017 |title=100 வது படம்! |url=http://kungumam.co.in/VArticalinnerdetail.aspx?id=7390&id1=40&issue=20170203 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330143726/http://kungumam.co.in/VArticalinnerdetail.aspx?id=7390&id1=40&issue=20170203 |archive-date=30 March 2018 |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=Kungumam}}}} and cinematography was handled by P. Ramaswamy.

The soundtrack was composed by Shankar–Ganesh, while the lyrics were written by Vaali.{{Cite web |date=7 June 2007 |title=பயாஸ்கோப் பேசிய பாலிடிக்ஸ் – 20 |url=http://old.thinnai.com/?p=70706072 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226045346/http://old.thinnai.com/?p=70706072 |archive-date=26 December 2022 |access-date=26 December 2022 |website=Thinnai |language=ta}}

Nathayil Muthu was released on 25 October 1973.{{Cite web |title=நத்தையில் முத்து / Nathayil Muthu (1973) |url=https://screen4screen.com/movies/nathayil-muthu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924084002/https://screen4screen.com/movies/nathayil-muthu |archive-date=24 September 2021 |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=Screen 4 Screen |language=}} Playing on the title, Kanthan of Kalki said the film had the "nathai" (snail) but no "muthu" (pearl).{{Cite magazine |last=காந்தன் |date=18 November 1973 |title=நத்தையில் முத்து |url=https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1973/nov/18-11-1973/p61.jpg |url-status=dead |magazine=Kalki |language=ta |page=61 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220727085225/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1973/nov/18-11-1973/p61.jpg |archive-date=27 July 2022 |access-date=28 July 2022}}

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{{Cite book |last1=Rajadhyaksha |first1=Ashish |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema |last2=Willemen |first2=Paul |publisher=British Film Institute and Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-563579-5 |pages=418 |author-link=Ashish Rajadhyaksha |author-link2=Paul Willemen |orig-date=1994}}

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• {{IMDb title|0216024}}

{{K. S. Gopalakrishnan}}

Category:1970s Indian films

Category:1970s Tamil-language films

Category:1973 films

Category:Films directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan

Category:Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh

Category:Films with screenplays by K. S. Gopalakrishnan

Category:Tamil-language Indian films

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