Lalitha (film)

This article is about the 1976 Tamil film. For films with similar titles, see Lalita § Film.

1976 Indian film

Lalitha (film)

Title card

Directed by| Valampuri Somanathan
Screenplay by| Valampuri Somanathan
Story by| Ashutosh Mukherjee
Produced by| S. P. Rao
Valampuri Somanathan
Starring|

* Gemini Ganesan
* Sujatha
* Kamal Haasan
* Sumithra

Cinematography| N. Balakrishnan
Edited by| M. Babu
Music by| M. S. Viswanathan

Production
company

Girnar Films

Release date

* 10 December 1976 (1976-12-10)

Country| India
Language| Tamil

Lalitha is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language drama film, written and directed by Valampuri Somanathan. Starring Sujatha in the title role, the film has Gemini Ganesan, Kamal Haasan and Sumithra playing other pivotal roles. It is a remake of the Bengali film Saat Pake Bandha (1963).[1] The film was released on 10 December 1976.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

A rich woman named Lalitha loves and marries professor Shankar. Since he is at a very low status compared to her family, Lalitha's mother continuously humiliates them on various occasions. Lalitha, one day, separates from her husband, following an argument about her mother's deeds. Days after, when she decides to reunite with her husband, he has moved far away from there. The rest of the story deals with how they reunite after a long period.

## Cast

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* Gemini Ganesan as Shankar[3]
* Sujatha as Lalitha
* Kamal Haasan as Balu[4]
* Sumithra as Vaani
* Pandari Bai as Shankar's Aunt
* N. Viswanathan as Lalitha's father
* Sukumari as Meenakshi, Lalitha's mother
* Thangavelu as Vaani's father
* Thengai Srinivasan

## Production

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Lalitha was directed by Valampuri Somanathan,[5][6][7] and produced under production banner Girnar Films. The final length of the film was 4,376.32 metres (14,358.0 ft).[8]

## Soundtrack

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All the lyrics were penned by Kannadasan and music was scored by M. S. Viswanathan.[9]

Track Title | Singers

|

"Sorgathile Mudivaanadhu" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam
"Mannil Nalla" | K. Veeramani, Lalgudi Swaminathan, V. Sreepathy
"Kalyaaname Pennoduthan" | Vani Jairam
"Ennamma" | L. R. Eswari, T. M. Soundararajan
"Vasanthangal Varum Munbe" | P. Susheela, M. S. Viswanathan

## Reception

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Kanthan of Kalki called Lalitha an old-age family story with many heartwarming scenes and concluded the film has neither innovation nor revolution.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jha, Lata (10 April 2017). "Ten Bollywood flicks remade from Bengali films". Mint. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
2. ^ "Lalitha". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
3. ^ Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 98.
4. ^ Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 116.
5. ^ "Veteran movie man passes on". The Hindu. 30 June 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
6. ^ "'வசன வல்லுநர்' வலம்புரி சோமநாதன்!". Dinamani (in Tamil). 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
7. ^ "நினைவு நாடாக்கள் ஒரு rewind". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 28 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
8. ^ "'Lalitha' (Tamil) (Colour) (35 mm) India". The Gazette of India. 22 October 1977. p. 1771\. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via Internet Archive.
9. ^ "Lalitha Tamil film EP Vinyl Record by M.S.Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
10. ^ காந்தன் (9 January 1977). "லலிதா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 55\. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. British Film Institute and Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5.

## External links

[edit]

* Lalitha at IMDb