En Kadamai

En Kadamai is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film, produced and directed by M. Natesan, and written by Ma. Ra. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi. It was released on 13 March 1964, and became a box-office bomb.

Plot

Dharmalingam, a rich landlord, is the father of two sons and a daughter. His eldest son enters into a love marriage with a poor teacher's daughter, Kamala. Dharmalingam disowns them. The son dies, and Kamala is left homeless, with a little child. Nathan, a police inspector, gives Kamala shelter in his house and decides to help her fight her case for the property. But Kamala is murdered on her way to the court hearing. Fingers point at Dharmalingam and his son Shankar. Shankar and Nathan's sister Uma are in love. Nathan comes to investigate the case and falls in love with Dharmalingam's daughter Sarasu. Now, Nathan is in a dilemma over whether he should protect Shankar as he is his sister's sweetheart, or drop the case because he loves Dharmalingam's daughter.

Cast

;Male cast

M. G. Ramachandran as Inspector Nathan
K. Balaji as Ravi
M. N. Nambiar as Shankar
M. R. Radha as Dharmalingam
Nagesh as Thrilokam

;Female cast

B. Saroja Devi as Sarasu
L. Vijayalakshmi as Uma
Manorama as Panchavarnam
C. K. Saraswathi as Maragatham
Susheela as Kamala

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy with lyrics by Kannadasan.

Release and reception

En Kadamai was released on 13 March 1964, and distributed by Emgeeyaar Pictures. T. M. Ramachandran of Sport and Pastime panned the film, calling the music its "saving grace". Playing on the film's title, Kanthan of Kalki said, "Ayyo, ennai kodumai!". En Kadamai was a box-office bomb; while many speculated this was due to it releasing shortly after M. G. Ramachandran resigned from the Madras Legislative Council, Ramachandran himself did not think so.