Manmadha Leelai (1976 film) explained

Manmadha Leelai
Director:K. Balachander
Producer:P. R. Govindarajan
J. Duraiswamy
Starring:
  • Kamal Haasan
  • Halam.
Music:M. S. Viswanathan
Cinematography:B. S. Lokanath
Editing:N. R. Kittu
Studio:Kalakendra Movies
Runtime:161 minutes[1]
Country:India
Language:Tamil

Manmatha Leelai is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language romantic sex comedy film written and directed by K. Balachander. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Aalam. A number of actresses debuted on Tamil industry through this film, including Hema Chaudhary, Jaya Prada, Y. Vijaya among others. It was released on 27 February 1976.[2] Though the film was criticised for its bold content when it released, it has received cult status with passing years and is considered a trendsetter.

Plot

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.

Production

M. R. Radha's son Radha Ravi made his acting debut with the film.[3] [4] The coat that Kamal Haasan wears prominently in the film was actually his brother Charuhasan's.[5]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.[6] [7] The song "Naadham Ennum" is set in Shree ranjani raga,[8] while "Hello My Dear" is set in Dharmavati.[9]

Reception

The film struggled to get a censor certificate.[10] 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.

Other versions

After Vijaya Bapineedu acquired the rights to dub the film in Telugu, he edited it down by more than . Though Balachander was disappointed with the dubbed version, titled Manmadha Leela, it fared better than the Tamil original.[11] This was the first of many dubbed Telugu films where Haasan's voice was dubbed by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.[12] [13] The film was dubbed in Hindi as Meethi Meethi Baatein (1977),[14] [15] which fared reasonably well.[16] In the late 2000s, K. Balachander reached out to Siddharth about remaking the film. The actor's refusal meant that the project was dropped.[17]

Legacy

Even though the film stirred up controversies when it was released, it later became a cult classic,[18] and is considered a trendsetter.[19] Kamal Haasan said, "it was an interesting subject. For that period it was unusual, a breaking down of the fidelity stereotypes".[20]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rajadhyaksha . Ashish . Ashish Rajadhyaksha . Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema . Willemen . Paul . Paul Willemen . . 1998 . 0-19-563579-5 . 428 . 1994.
  2. Web site: Manmadha Leelai . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210623063448/https://screen4screen.com/movies/manmadha-leelai . 23 June 2021 . 23 June 2021 . Screen 4 Screen.
  3. News: Rangarajan . Malathi . 8 March 2012 . Refrains, old and new . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140417115209/http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/refrains-old-and-new/article2973933.ece . 17 April 2014 . 5 November 2019 . The Hindu.
  4. News: Raman . Mohan . 3 January 2015 . KB: Kollywood's Discovery Channel . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150501063135/http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/kb-kollywoods-discovery-channel/article6751541.ece . 1 May 2015 . 5 November 2019 . The Hindu.
  5. Web site: 8 May 2020 . 'மன்மத லீலை' கோட் குறித்த சுவாரசியப் பின்னணி: கமல் பகிர்வு . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200605170559/https://www.hindutamil.in/news/cinema/tamil-cinema/553461-kamal.html . 5 June 2020 . 23 June 2021 . . ta.
  6. Web site: Manmatha Leelai Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230331062955/https://mossymart.com/product/manmatha-leelai-tamil-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-m-s-viswanathan-3/ . 31 March 2023 . 31 March 2023 . Mossymart.
  7. Web site: Manmatha Leelai . live . https://archive.today/20200329052354/https://gaana.com/album/manmatha-leelai . 29 March 2020 . 29 March 2020 . Gaana.
  8. News: Mani . Charulatha . Charulatha Mani . 26 October 2012 . Six-note splendour . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20141129094848/http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/sixnote-splendour/article4034523.ece . 29 November 2014 . 5 November 2019 . The Hindu.
  9. News: Mani . Charulatha . Charulatha Mani . 9 November 2012 . Twice as nice . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190823092407/https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/twice-as-nice/article4081104.ece . 23 August 2019 . 5 November 2019 . The Hindu.
  10. News: S . Srivatsan . 10 July 2019 . When K Balachander wanted to write for OTT platforms . live . https://archive.today/20191105060030/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kavithalayaa-productions-launches-its-youtube-channel/article28348625.ece . 5 November 2019 . 5 November 2019 . The Hindu.
  11. Web site: Sri . 14 November 2007 . Exclusive : Interview with Vijayabapineedu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081202083646/http://www.telugucinema.com/c/publish/stars/vijayabapineedu_interview_2.php . 2 December 2008 . 26 March 2021 . . 2.
  12. Web site: Pradeep . K. . 26 March 2009 . Chit chat with S. P. Balasubramaniam . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110707141241/http://andhravilas.com/movienews.asp?id=90961&curPage=18 . 7 July 2011 . 1 October 2021 . Andhravilas.
  13. News: Murali . S. . 25 September 2020 . S.P. Balasubrahmanyam: The end of an era . https://web.archive.org/web/20210130195815/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/sp-balasubrahmanyam-the-end-of-an-era/article32695994.ece . 30 January 2021 . 26 March 2021 . The Hindu.
  14. News: Narayan . Hari . 21 November 2016 . Some lesser known SPB magic for you . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161201202321/http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/Some-lesser-known-SPB-magic-for-you/article16670806.ece . 1 December 2016 . 8 June 2021 . The Hindu.
  15. 28 October 1979 . சினி மசாலா . dead . https://archive.today/20220728035559/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1979/oct/28-10-1979/p7.jpg . 28 July 2022 . 1 December 2022 . . 7 . ta.
  16. Piousji . 12 August 1979 . Khaas Baat . live . https://archive.today/20230220064105/https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99456/page/n705/mode/2up . 20 February 2023 . 21 February 2023 . Sunday . 51 . Internet Archive.
  17. Web site: 5 June 2023 . Takkar star Siddharth calls Kamal Haasan, the first and original pan-India star . live . 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 . 12 June 2023 . 11 July 2023 . OTTPlay.
  18. News: Lakshmi . V . 8 July 2012 . New twist to old tales . dead . https://archive.today/20130616030833/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-08/news-interviews/32578169_1_kamal-haasan-thillu-mullu-films . 16 June 2013 . 29 March 2020 . The Times of India.
  19. News: Suganth . M . 8 August 2012 . The '80s are back! . dead . https://archive.today/20130616030816/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-08/news-interviews/33084599_1_sattam-oru-iruttarai-thillu-mullu-film . 16 June 2013 . 29 March 2020 . The Times of India.
  20. News: Shivkumar . S. . 25 August 2005 . Set to score a perfect ten . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060515114858/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/08/25/stories/2005082501070100.htm . 15 May 2006 . 29 March 2020 . The Hindu.

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