Miss Malini is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language satirical film written and directed by Kothamangalam Subbu and produced by K. Ramnoth, based on a story by R. K. Narayan. Subbu also starred in the film alongside Pushpavalli, Sundari Bai and Subbiah Pillai. Javar Seetharaman and Gemini Ganesan made their acting debuts in the film appearing in minor supporting roles. The film focuses on Malini (Pushpavalli), an impoverished woman who joins her actress friend Sundari's (Sundari Bai) theatre company Kala Mandhiram and becomes a success. Things take a turn for the worse when she befriends a charlatan named Sampath (Subbu).

Miss Malini ridiculed aspects of life in Madras (now Chennai) during the World War II period, and was the only story written by Narayan for the screen that came to fruition. It was released on 26 September 1947, and was accompanied in theatres by Cinema Kadhambam, the first animated film produced in South Indian cinema. Miss Malini was praised by intellectuals; Subbu's performance as Sampath was widely appreciated. The songs composed by S. Rajeswara Rao and Parur S. Anantharaman became popular, and the film gained cult status in Tamil cinema.

Miss Malini marked Narayan's earliest use of story elements that would recur in some of his later novels. It was later rewritten by him as the 1949 novel Mr. Sampath – The Printer of Malgudi, which in turn was adapted into the Hindi film Mr. Sampat (1952) directed by S. S. Vasan, and a 1972 Tamil film directed by Cho Ramaswamy. Although no print of Miss Malini is known to survive, thereby making it a lost film, surviving artefacts include its songs, along with a few stills and newspaper advertisements.

Malini is an indigent woman whose father is in poor health. She is persuaded by her friend Sundari, an actress, to join her theatre company, Kala Mandhiram. Malini soon becomes very successful and popular. She is later befriended by Sampath, a charlatan, who is regularly involved in dodging creditors. Deaf to all advice, Malini allows herself to be led astray in professional, financial and moral terms. She is put out of Kala Mandhiram and sets up a theatre company of her own where Sampath appoints himself as general manager. Malini severs ties with those who previously helped her, including Sundari. At first, the new company prospers, but its resources are soon squandered by Sampath and it falls under a weight of debt and disgrace. Sampath abandons Malini, who falls back to her previous destitute condition. However, with Sundari's help, she returns to Kala Mandhiram and begins her life anew.

The cast is listed below:

Miss Malini was an original story written by novelist R. K. Narayan for the screen, not based on any of his past works. It was also his only one that came to fruition. Soon after the story developed, Narayan's friend, Gemini Studios' owner S. S. Vasan launched it as a film. K. Ramnoth, then the controller of productions at Gemini, produced the film under the studio's banner. M. Natarajan worked as the cinematographer, N. K. Gopal was the main editor, and the art director was A. K. Sekhar. Besides directing the film and writing the screenplay, Kothamangalam Subbu starred in a leading role as Sampath the charlatan, also known as "Bit Notice". It was his second directorial venture, after Kannamma En Kadhali (1945), also produced by Gemini Studios. Narayan's brother, R. K. Ramachandran, who did some editing on the film (marking his cinematic debut), believed that the character of Sampath was inspired by Sathashivayya, a man in Mysore who "exploited young women singers and artistes under the guise of promoting them".

The film featured Pushpavalli in the title role, and M. S. Sundari Bai as her friend Sundari. It was the former's second appearance in a Tamil film, after Gemini's Dasi Aparanji (1944). N. Seetharaman, who later became known as Javar Seetharaman, made his acting debut in a minor role with this film, portraying the director of Kala Mandhiram. The film also marked the cinematic debut of Ramaswamy Ganesan, who later became known as Gemini Ganesan. He was then working in Gemini's casting department, and Ramnoth, who had faith in Ganesan's acting prowess, cast him in the minor role of an assistant director employed by Seetharaman's character. In his only scene in the film, the assistant director tells the director, "Sir, Collection – Record Break", referring to the tickets having been sold out, to which the director replies that while the collection is "record break", in some time the theatre too would be "break" (broken) due to Malini having gone missing. Ganesan was credited onscreen as "R.G.", standing for "Ramaswamy Ganesan". This was the film where he met his future paramour Pushpavalli.

V. Gopalakrishnan, in one of his earliest film roles, appeared as Sampath's office boy. L. Narayana Rao was cast as a sari merchant who Sampath tells in English, "In this age of publicity, be wise and advertise!" and when the impressed merchant asks in Tamil who said it, Sampath simply replies "Shakespeare", duping the merchant in the process. According to the 1996 book R.K. Narayan: The Early Years by N. Ram and his wife Susan, the film was made on a shoestring budget of approximately ₹ 2,50,000. Its final length was 13,924 feet (4,244 m).