| Manal Kayiru | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Visu |
| Written by | Visu |
| Based on | Modi Masthan by Visu |
| Produced by | Rajam Balachander Pushpa Kandhasamy |
| Starring | S. Ve. Shekher Shanthi Krishna |
| Cinematography | N. Balakrishnan |
| Edited by | N. R. Kittu |
| Music by | M. S. Viswanathan |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 141 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Manal Kayiru (transl. Sand Rope) is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film written and directed by Visu in his directorial debut. The film stars S. Ve. Shekher and Shanthi Krishna, with Visu, Manorama, Kishmu and Kuriakose Ranga in supporting roles. It is based on Visu's play Modi Masthan. The film was released on 7 May 1982. It was remade in Kannada as Savira Sullu, in Telugu as Pelli Chesi Chupistham and in Malayalam as Thiruthalvaadi (with the ending changed). A sequel, Manal Kayiru 2, was released in 2016 with Shekar, Visu, and Ranga reprising their roles.
Kittumani lays down eight conditions which the girl he marries should fulfill. His uncle Naradar Naidu is fed up with looking for a suitable match for him. The eight conditions are as follows-
At last, Naradar Naidu finds a girl who is very nice, but unfortunately doesn't fulfill any of Kittumani's condition. After some zig-zag work, he arranges their marriage. After four days, Kittumani finds that not a single condition has been fulfilled. He plans to send her out of his house, but Naidu, who pretends to support Kittumani, stops him. Later they realise that she is pregnant with Kittumani's child. After his sister is expelled from her husband's house as per Naidu's instructions and his wife is learning and speaking Hindi, Kittumani agrees to let her stay with him. He also has his own selfish reasons as he experiences much trouble cooking. At last they all convince, but Naidu is thrown out of the house as he is said to be the only reason behind the confusion. Naidu reveals that he did this as he, like Kittumani, had placed conditions which should be fulfilled by his fiancée and just before the marriage, he discovered that some conditions had not been fulfilled. The girl had killed herself and from then, Naidu had pledged to save people's lives from these types of issues.
Manal Kayiru is the directorial debut of Visu,[1][2] and was adapted from his own play Modi Masthan.[3][4] Maadhu Balaji was initially offered the lead role, but could not accept since his mother gave him permission to act only in stage plays.[5] The role of the character, Kittumani, later went to S. Ve. Shekher.[6]
Soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and lyrics by Vaali.[7][8]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ettu Vidha Kattalaigal" | T. M. Soundararajan | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Mandhira Punnagai" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, B. S. Sasireka | 3:20 |
| 3. | "Mappillai Sir" | Malaysia Vasudevan, Manorama, Visu | 5:49 |
| Total length: | 13:14 | ||
Manal Kayiru was released on 7 May 1982.[9] S. Shivakumar of Mid-Day gave a negative review citing the film "is full of inane situations with double meaning, taking unnecessary digs at politicians and crude insinuations at vulgarity" and also criticised the photography as "uniformly bad" and M. S. Viswanathan's music as "jarring and harsh on the ears".[10] Manjula Ramesh of Kalki criticised Shekher for not being able to emote his anger without making her laugh, but appreciated Visu's acting the most of the cast.[11]
The 2016 sequel for the film has Shekar, Visu, and Kuriakose Ranga reprising their roles, with Shekar's son Ashwin portraying the lead role.[12]
