This is K.Balachandar’s first film as director.


Neerkumizhi was a story of the happenings in a hospital, and the bright moments that a terminally ill patient, Sethu, ushers into its gloomy confines. The film has striking similarities with Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand that came a few years later, in 1971.

Sethu (KB seems to have liked this name, he repeated it for the hero of Punnagai Mannan in 1986!) was played with panache by Nagesh. Sowcar Janaki played the young doctor with plans of going abroad for further studies. Sundararajan, as the senior doctor having a soft corner for the mischievous Sethu, V.Goplakrishnan in the role of a recuperating sportsman, and Jayanthi as a pretty nurse offered firm support to the proceedings. The film notched up an uninterrupted run of 82 days in Gaiety Theatre in Madras, which was considered a grand success for a low-budget venture.

The most popular song from the film is, of course, the profoundly reflective ‘aadi adangum vaazhkkaiyada’ sung by Seergazhi Govindarajan. Lyrics were by Suradha.

‘How much land does a man need?’ wondered Leo Tolstoy, and our Tamil lyricists too repeatedly came up with the same wry question. Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram wrote ‘thattukketta manithar kaNNil pattadhellam sondham, sattappadi paarkka pOnaa ettadi thaan sondham’. Kannadasan wrote ‘ettadukku maadi vaithu, kattidathai katti vittu, ettadikkuL vandhu paduthaan’. In recent times we have heard the lines ‘nadanthaal irandadi, irundhaal naangadi, paduthaal aaradi pOdhum’ (Piraisoodan?).

Slow and melancholic, the song movingly portrays the despair of a youth whose days are inexorably numbered. The lyrics are filled with thoughts on the transience of life and the foibles of man who believes that he’s here to stay.

The other two songs were written by Alangudi Somu.


‘kanni nadhiyOram’ is a breezy TMS/PS duet, filmed on Nagesh & Jayanthi. There is a programme arranged in the hospital, and Sethu is among the audience. As the song starts, Sethu lands up on the stage suddenly, replacing the male dancer. Nagesh’s adroit dance steps were a joy to behold in this song. Kumar created a youthful exuberant duet, with stylish interludes appropriate for the dance movements. TMS and PS go all out to celebrate the entry of a talented composer into their fold. The extended postlude is an added delight; in the movie two hospital attendants forcibly remove a recalcitrant Sethu from the stage. ‘neeril neendhidum meeninamE’ is a lilting PS solo, not often heard on radio. Enchantingly rendered by PS, the song is a dreamy romantic number, the second interlude, in particular, is noteworthy.