Madras to Pondicherry


Madras to Pondicherry is a 1966 Tamil-language road film, directed by Thirumalai Mahalingam and written by "Usilai" Somanathan. The film stars Ravichandran and Kalpana in the lead roles. It became a commercial success, and was remade in Hindi as Bombay to Goa. This in turn went on to inspire the 2004 Marathi film Navra Maza Navsacha, which was also remade in Kannada in 2007 as Ekadantha.

Plot

Mala, an aspiring film actress, leaves home because of her interest in this which is kindled by a group of thugs. One of them shoots a member of his gang, which she witnesses. To escape them, she jumps onto a running bus going from Madras to Pondicherry. The thugs hire an assassin to board the bus Mala is in to kill her. However, a man named Baskar also gets into the bus. Realising that Mala is in danger, he voluntarily saves her and ends up falling in love with her. Ultimately, it is revealed that Baskar is Mala's prospective bridegroom whom she tried to avoid by leaving her home.

Cast

Madras to Pondicherry was directed by the duo Thirumalai-Mahalingam, written by "Usilai" Somanathan, and produced under the banner Sri Venkateswara Cinetone by four people: T. S. Adhinarayanan, P. M. Nachimuthu, S. Sivaraman and G. K. Selvaraj. It was among the earliest road films in Tamil cinema.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy and the lyrics were written by Alangudi Somu, Panchu Arunachalam, Thanjai Vaanan and Namakkal Varadarajan.

Release and reception

Madras to Pondicherry was released on 16 December 1966, and became a commercial success. Film historian Randor Guy said it would be remembered for "the interesting story line, subplots that raised laughs, pleasing music and fine portrayals by Nagesh, Manorama, Kalpana, Ravichandran and 'Pakoda' Khader."

Remakes

Madras to Pondicherry was remade in Hindi as Bombay to Goa in 1972. This in turn went on to inspire the 2004 Marathi film Navra Maza Navsacha, which was also remade in Kannada in 2007 as Ekadantha.