Vilaiyaattu Pillai

Plot

Muthiah (Ganesan) manages to tame Neelamani, a bull owned by Maragatham (Padmini), the daughter of a wealthy man (V. S. Raghavan). After Muthiah's victory, Maragatham challenges him to participate in a Rekla race. Muthiah participates and emerges victorious, and Maragatham falls in love with him. Muthiah's mother (Lakshmi), while happy about the accolades her son has won, believes he is too playful and advises him to marry and live more responsibly. Muthiah's relative (Balaiah) agrees to talk to Maragatham’s father and fix the marriage between Muthiah and Maragatham, but has plans of his own. Instead of Muthiah, he finalises Maragatham's marriage with his spoilt son (Cho Ramaswamy). On the day Maragatham is supposed to marry Ramaswamy, she and Muthiah elope and marry, and eventually have a son (Prabhakar). One day an elephant goes out of control, but Muthiah manages to overpower it, saving the princess (Kanchana) in the process. She develops a liking for Muthiah and invites him and his family to the palace. The butler of the royal family is jealous of Muthiah. Seeking to tarnish Muthiah's image, he spreads rumours about Muthiah and the princess. Eventually, Muthiah is forced to overpower a bull whose horns are painted with poison. Despite that, he succeeds and continues to live prosperously with his family.

Production

Vilaiyaattu Pillai was directed by A. P. Nagarajan, who also wrote the dialogues. The story was written by Kothamangalam Subbu, and the screenplay by S. S. Vasan, the owner of Gemini Studios where the film was shot. Cinematography was handled by K. S. Prasad, and the editing by M. Umanath. Film historian Randor Guy believes this was the first Tamil film to have a race of the Tamil Nadu sport Rekla as its theme. Vasan died in 1969, when the film was still in production, and the film was dedicated to his memory.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by K. V. Mahadevan, with lyrics by Kannadasan and Sankaradas Swamigal. The playback singers were T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela, and S. Janaki.

Release and reception

Vilaiyaattu Pillai was released on 20 February 1970. The film was a major commercial success, running for 100 days in theatres. Randor Guy said it would be remembered for the "interesting storyline, superb performances by Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini, TS Balaiah, VS Raghavan and Cho. Excellent direction of AP Nagarajan."