Manmadha Leelai

Manmatha Leelai (transl. Cupid's Play) is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language film starring Kamal Haasan in the lead role, as Madhu. The film, directed by K. Balachander also has Aalam (Rekha) as Madhu's wife. A number of actresses debuted through this film, including Hema Choudhary as Madhavi, Jayapradha as Kannagi, Y. Vijaya as Miss Wrong Number, among others. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Manmadha Leela and dubbed in Hindi in 1977 as Meethi Meethi Baatein. Though the film was criticised for its bold content when it released, it has received cult status with passing years[2] and is considered a trendsetter.[3]

Manmadha Leelai
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	K. Balachander
Produced by	P. R. Govindarajan J. Duraiswamy
Written by	K. Balachander
Starring	Kamal Haasan Aalam
Music by	M. S. Viswanathan
Cinematography	B. S. Lokanath
Edited by	N. R. Kittu
Production company	Kalakendra Movies
Release date	27 February 1976
Running time	161 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

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
• Aalam as Rekha
• Hema Choudhary as Madhavi
• Jayapradha as Kannagi
• Y. Vijaya as Bhargavi (Ms. Wrong Number)
• Reena
• Y. Gee. Mahendra as Petition Kodhandam
• Y. G. Parthasarathy as Rekha's father
• Radha Ravi (credited as M. R. R. Ravi)
• Jayavijaya
• Sudha
• Vinodhini
• Sunanthini
• T. D. Kusalakumari as (Rekha Mother)
• Praveena Bhagyaraj (uncredited role)

Production

M. R. Radha's son Radha Ravi made his acting debut with the film.[4][5]

Soundtrack

Manmadha Leelai
Soundtrack album by M. S. Viswanathan
Released	1976
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	26:39
Language	Tamil
Label	EMI
Producer	M. S. Viswanathan
External audio Audio Jukebox on YouTube

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. The song "Naadham Ennum" is set in Shree ranjani raga,[6] while "Hello My Dear" is set in Dharmavati.[7]

Tamil tracklist[8]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Manaivi Amaivathellam"	Kannadasan	K. J. Yesudas	4:29
2.	"Naathamenum"	Kannadasan	Vani Jairam	4:12
3.	"Hello My Dear Wrong Number"	Kannadasan	K. J. Yesudas, L. R. Eswari	4:22
4.	"Manmadha"	Kannadasan	S. P. Balasubramanyam	5:02
5.	"Netru Oru Menagai"	Kannadasan	A. V. Ramanan	4:38
6.	"Sugam Thanaa"	Kannadasan	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela	3:56
Total length:				26:39

Telugu tracklist[9]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Hello My Dear"	Veturi Sundararama Murthy	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, L. R. Eswari
2.	"Kushalamena"	Veturi Sundararama Murthy	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela
3.	"Manmadha Leela"	Veturi Sundararama Murthy	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
4.	"Ninnoka Menaka"	Veturi Sundararama Murthy	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

Hindi tracklist[10][11]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Hello Hello My Dear"	Prem Dhawan	K. J. Yesudas, Vani Jairam
2.	"Dil Diwana Bada Mastana"	Prem Dhawan	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
3.	"Kal Koi Menka Aaj Koi Urvashi"	Prem Dhawan	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
4.	"Khush Hai Na O Sajni"	Prem Dhawan	K. J. Yesudas, Vani Jairam

Reception

The film struggled to get a censor certificate.[12] Even though it stirred up controversies when it was released, it later became a cult classic.[2] Kamal Haasan said about the film, "it was an interesting subject. For that period it was unusual, a breaking down of the fidelity stereotypes".[13] 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.[14]

References

1. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul, eds. (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (PDF). Oxford University Press. p. 428. ISBN 0-19-563579-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. Lakshmi, V (8 July 2012). "New twist to old tales". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
3. Suganth, M (8 August 2012). "The '80s are back!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
4. Rangarajan, Malathi (8 March 2012). "Refrains, old and new". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
5. Raman, Mohan (3 January 2015). "KB: Kollywood's Discovery Channel". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
6. Mani, Charulatha (26 October 2012). "Six-note splendour". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
7. Mani, Charulatha (9 November 2012). "Twice as nice". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
8. "Manmatha Leelai". Gaana.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
9. "Manmadha Leela". Gaana.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
10. "Meethi Meethi Baatein (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". open.spotify.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
11. "Meethi Meethi Baatein (1977)". Bollywood MuVyz. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
12. S, Srivatsan (10 July 2019). "When K Balachander wanted to write for OTT platforms". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
13. Shivkumar, S. (25 August 2005). "Set to score a perfect ten". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
14. "Old is gold for Kollywood actors". The Times of India. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

External links

• Manmadha Leelai at IMDb