Manmatha Leelai (Cupid's play) is a 1976 Tamil-language film starring Kamal Haasan in the lead role, Madhu. The film directed by Kailasam Balachander also has Halam (Rekha) as Madhu's wife. A number of actresses debuted through this film, including Jayaprada as Kannagi, Y Vijaya as Miss. Wrong Number, Hema Choudhary as Madhavi, among others. M R Radha's son Radha Ravi also made his Tamil debut in the film. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Manmadha Leela. Though the film was criticised for its bold content when it released, it has received cult status with passing years and is considered a trendsetter. This film was dubbed in Hindi in 1977 as Meethi Meethi Baatein.
| Manmatha Leelai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | K Balachander |
| Produced by |
P R Govindarajan J Duraiswamy |
| Written by | K Balachander |
| Starring |
Kamal Haasan Hema Choudhary Jayaprada Y Gee Mahendran Radha Ravi |
| Music by | M S Viswanathan |
| Cinematography | B S Lokanath |
| Edited by | N R Kittu |
Production company |
Kalakendra Movies |
Release date | 25 February 1976 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Contents
Plot
The film explores the life journey of a womaniser (Kamal Hassan) and his affairs with various women, including those who are married. The main conflict is between Kamal Hassan's character Madhu and his wife Rekha. Balachander's genius lies in objectifying married women of the city whilst creating a loving wife who's torn between accepting her husband and living a separated life after having discovered the travails of her own father.
Cast
- Kamal Haasan as Madhu
- Haalam as Rekha
- Jayaprada as Kannagi
- Hema Choudhary as Madhavi
- Y Vijaya as Bargavi (Ms Wrong Number)
- Reena
- Y Gee Mahendra as Petition Kodandam
- Y G Parthasarathy as Rekha's father
- Radha Ravi (credited as M R R Ravi)
- Jayavijaya
- Sudha
- Vinodhini
- Sunanthini
- T D Kuchalakumari
Music
- Tamil
- Hindi
- "Hello Hello My Dear" - Yesudas, Vani Jairam
- "Dil Diwana Bada Mastana" - S P Balasubramaniam
- "Kal Koi Menka Aaj Koi Urvashi" - S P Balasubramaniam
- "Khush Hai Na O Sajni" - Yesudas, Vani Jairam
Reception
Even though it stirred up controversies, when it was released, later it became a cult classic. Controversies arose during the release, only because of the reason that Balachander was at least 10 years ahead of the film-makers who were making films during those periods and tended to say whatever he wanted to say through his films in a bold and straightforward manner. Kamal Haasan about the film said "it was an interesting subject. For that period it was unusual, a breaking down of the fidelity stereotypes".[5] The film was a huge box office success. In 2012, Balachander's daughter Pushpa Kandasamy planned to make a modern-day version of the film.[3] Shanthanu Bhagyaraj too was toying with the idea of remaking the film.[6]
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