Enippadigal

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Chella Kannu, a young sweeper becomes a popular movie star known as Kamala Devi. Her lover and fellow sweeper Manickam is the ladder to her success, but the villainy of her brother Muthu separates them.^[1][2]

Ennaipadigal, a remake of the Telugu film Seetamalakshmi (1978),^[2] was directed by P. Madhavan^[1] and produced by K. S. Sethumadhavan under Ramya Chitra.^[5][6] The dialogues were written by Mahendran.^[2] Cinematography was handled by A. Somasundaram, and the editing by T. R. Srinivasalu.^[6] N. Seshadri worked as sound engineer.^[7] The film was launched at AVM Studios.^[8]

The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan,^[9] while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.^[10] The song "Kannizhantha" is set in the Carnatic raga known as Hamir Kalyani.^[11]

Enippadigal was released on 16 February 1979.^[12] Koushikan of Kalki appreciated the film for various aspects, including the cinematography and direction.^[13] Naagai Dharuman of Anna praised the acting of the cast, Mahendran's dialogues, Soman's cinematography, Mahadevan's music and Madhavan's direction.^[14] The film became a commercial success.^[15]

Sujatha Narayanan, writing for The New Indian Express, named Enippadigal as one of her favourite films starring Sivakumar.^[16] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu said that Shoba set "a new trend in realistic portrayals" through her performances in films like Enippadigal.^[17]