Then Nilavu

Plot

Raj (Gemini Ganesan) meets Shanti (Vyjayanthimala) at a cricket match in Madras, and falls in love with her. Shanti does not reciprocate his love, and leaves to her home place Bangalore. Shanti’s father Sokkalingam (K. A. Thangavelu), a widower, marries Thangam (M. Saroja). They decide to go to Kashmir for their honeymoon, and Shanti also wants to come. Sivalingam, a friend of Sokkalingam suggests an alliance between Shanti and his nephew Raj (M. N. Nambiar) who is now in Madras. Raj-2 ditches his wife Lalitha, when he sees this new alliance and leaves for Bangalore, but misses the train. Just then Raj-1 arrives in Bangalore for a different reason, and Sokkalingam mistakes him for Sivalingam’s nephew. Sokkalingam and Thangam leave for Kashmir along with Raj-1 and Shanti, who still dislikes Raj-1, but eventually returns his love.

Raj-2 reaches Kashmir in search for Sokkalingam. Lalitha, fearing the safety of her husband, also reaches Kashmir in search for him. She meets Raj-1 and stays in his house. Lalitha meets Sokkalingam and tells that she is married to Raj. Sokkalingam misinterprets this as Raj-1 and disowns him. Meanwhile Raj-2 meets Sokkalingam and explains everything, therefore he replaces Raj-1 as Shanti's manager, despite Shanti's dislike for him. Shanti later learns that Lalitha is Raj-2's wife and reconciles with Raj-1, while Sokkalingam and Thangam are still unaware.

Raj-2 learns that Shanti loves Raj-1, and becomes jealous. At the same time, he meets Lalitha who he orders to return, else she will be killed. Lalitha flees, but secretly writes a letter to him showing her affection. Raj-2, touched by the letter, decides to take Lalitha on a boat ride, but has another plan: to kill Lalitha and frame Raj-1. When she joins Raj-2 on the boat ride, he forcefully rides the boat, causing her to fall into the lake. Subsequently, he frames Raj-1. Sokkalingam, enraged at how a man could kill his own wife, files a complaint about Lalitha's murder to the Kashmir Police, and soon they chase Raj-1, who elopes with Shanti — his only evidence of innocence.

Raj-1 and Shanti run into a forest for shelter, where they discover that Lalitha is still alive, but kept under custody by a group of terrorists. Raj-1 and Shanti are also put into the same prison as Lalitha, who reveals what happened: she was washed ashore and was discovered by one of the terrorists. He started torturing her, and she pushed him off the cliff to his death, hence imprisoned for murder. Suddenly, a gypsy dancer from the terrorist group helps them escape secretly. But by the time they escape, the nearby guards see them and start shooting at them. The three escape onto a boat, but the boat gets a develops and starts drowning, leading to Raj-1's separation from Lalitha and Shanti. When he swims to the shore, the police capture him.

During Raj-1's trial in the high court, Shanti and Lalitha arrive, leading to his acquittal. But the letter Lalitha wrote to her husband is discovered and after reading the last line (in which Lalitha advised her husband to kill her if wanted), the court suspects Raj-2 of the attempted murder. Lalitha saves him by claiming that she fell by herself into the lake, and does not reveal Raj-2 as her husband. The case is dismissed, and Sokkalingam and Thangam continue their honeymoon.

Cast

Production

Then Nilavu was the first ever film produced by C. V. Sridhar through his Chitralaya Films. This is also the first Tamil and South Indian film to be shot in Jammu and Kashmir. The first scene of the film was shot during an India-Pakistan cricket match at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. The cricket match scene was also used as the background for the film's introduction credits. Film News Anandan was Chitralaya's public relations man for the film. While filming a sequence at Dal Lake, Vyjayanthimala almost drowned but was rescued by the cameraman.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by A. M. Rajah with the lyrics were penned by Kannadasan. The song "Oho Endhan Baby" is set in the Keeravani raga. "Nilavum Malarum Paaduthu" is set in Mohanam. Shoba Narayan, writing for Mint, claimed that "Kaalaiyum Neeye" was set in the Hamsanandi raga, but singer Charulatha Mani says it only has "Hamsanandi-like phrases", and is not strictly based on the raga itself. "Paattu Padava" was remixed into an entirely different song in Goli Soda (2014), titled "All Your Beauty".

Reception

V. Balasubramaniam of The Hindu said, "A. M. Rajah's tryst with composing includes super duper hit songs from the films "Kalyana Parisu," "Aadi Perukku" and "Then Nilavu." Film critic Baradwaj Rangan said, "Oh, the songs... Chinna Chinna Kannile, Kaalayum Neeye, Nilavum Malarum Paadudhu... I’m misting up as I write this!"

Critical reception

Baradwaj Rangan said, "People from an older era may claim that the definitive Gemini romance was Missiamma, which reportedly was our grandmothers’ Titanic, what with the actor wooing a charmingly young Savitri to the strains of Vaarayo Vennilaave. I, however, go with Then Nilavu, if only for the too-cool image of him in swimming trunks, water-skiing alongside the charmingly young Vyjayanthimala." Mohan V. Raman of The Hindu praised M. N. Nambiar's villainous performance, calling it "unforgettable." BBC labelled the film as one of Gemini Ganesan's "memorable films".

Box office

Then Nilavu was a huge success at the box office, and became one of C. V. Sridhar's biggest hits.