Thiruvilayadal (1965)
- Original title
- திருவிளையாடல்
- Directed by
- A. P. Nagarajan
- Genre
- epic film
- Country
- India
- Runtime
- 2h 34m
- Rating
- 7.6 of 10 from 9 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
The film retells four stories from a collection of Hindu myths about the god Shiva testing his devotees on Earth. It follows poets, lovers, and singers as they encounter the divine in unexpected forms.
epicdevotionalmythologicaldramaticemotionalmusicalslow-burnreverent
What happens
Thiruvilaiyadal (transl. The Divine Game) is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film written, directed and co-produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri, and K. B. Sundarambal, with T. S. Balaiah, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, T. R. Mahalingam, K. Sarangapani, Devika, Manorama, and Nagarajan in supporting roles. K. V. Mahadevan composed the film's soundtrack and score, and Kannadasan and Sankaradas Swamigal wrote the song lyrics. Thiruvilaiyadal was inspired by the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam: a collection of sixty-four Shaivite devotional, epic stories, written in the 16th century by Paranjothi Munivar, which record Shiva's actions on Earth in a number of disguises to test his devotees. Thiruvilaiyadal depicts four of the stories. The first is about the poets Dharumi and Nakkeerar; the second concerns Dhakshayani. The third recounts how Shiva's future wife, Parvati, is born as a fisherwoman; Shiva, in the guise of a fisherman, finds her and marries her. The fourth story is about the singers Banabhathirar and Hemanatha Bhagavathar. Thiruvilaiyadal was released on 31 July 1965 to critical praise for its screenplay, dialogue, direction, music and the performances of Ganesan, Nagesh and Balaiah. The film was a commercial success, running for over twenty-five weeks in many theatres and becoming a silver jubilee film. It was also responsible for a resurgence in devotional and mythological cinema, since it was released when Tamil cinema was primarily producing social films. Thiruvilaiyadal received the Certificate of Merit for the Second-Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 13th National Film Awards and the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil. A digitally-restored version was released in September 2012, which was also a commercial success. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
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Mahabharat (1965)
Sathi Savithri (1965)
Chandrahasa (1965)
Kathanayakuni Katha (1965)
Naga Pooja (1965)
Shakuntala (1965)
Satya Harishchandra (1965)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.