Thirumbi Paar

Synopsis

Inspired from the story of Ahalya, the film had Sivaji Ganesan playing a womaniser. T. P. Muthulakshmi played the role of a "dumb wife" married to a much older husband (K. A. Thangavelu). Sivaji Ganesan seduces her in the absence of her husband and continues this act with other women. Pandari Bai played the role of Sivaji Ganesan's sister.

Crew

Background and theme

Thirumbi Paar was produced and directed by T. R. Sundaram. M. Karunanidhi, the story and dialog writer, was then a prominent member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

The story of the film was inspired from the story of Ahalya. Music for the film was composed by G. Ramanathan. Karunanidhi's witty dialogues were mainly targeted at Indian National Congress, the ruling party. Ganesan who made his debut through Parasakthi played "anti-hero" roles in most of the films during this period. He continued to act in such roles in films such as Rangoon Radha and Andha Naal, both in 1954. Thirumbi Paar was one of the earliest films written by M. Karunanidhi who belonged to the DMK. Apparently, the film's dialogues were known to be a political satire on Indian National Congress, the ruling party then.

Reception

The film was a moderate success at the box-office. It was lauded mainly for its witty dialogues and political satire. It had a 100-day run in theatres. Sivaji Ganesan's character in—negative role—the film was well received. Years later, in an interview he mentioned Thirumbi Paar was one of the best films that he had acted in his career. S. Viswanathan in his Industrial Economist described the film as "one of the powerful movies M Karunanidhi [MK] scripted".

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan. Lyrics by Bharathidasan & Kannadasan. Playback singers are A. M. Rajah, Thiruchi Loganathan, S. C. Krishnan, D. B. Ramachandra, P. Leela, Jikki, T. S. Bagavathi, K. Rani, Gajalakshmi & Swarnalatha.