Bommai (1964 film)

Bommai is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language thriller film, directed by S. Balachander. Featuring a walking-talking doll as the main character, the film had an ensemble cast of newcomers, while S. Balachander, L. Vijayalakshmi and V. S. Raghavan appeared in prominent roles. The film is based on Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 British film Sabotage (an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel The Secret Agent). It was released on 25 September 1964.

Plot
In an attempt to kill Somasundaram, Jagadish, along with his gang place a bomb in a walking doll. Unexpectedly, the doll comes back to the car in which the gang travels, killing all of them.

Production
Balachander, who was known for his critically acclaimed suspense thriller films Andha Naal (1954) and Avana Ivan!? (1962) made Bommai on the same genre. The film was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 British film Sabotage. Balachander made a few changes in the script to suit the tastes of Tamil audience. A walking-talking doll, which carries the bomb, played the main character in Bommai. To cast the doll, Balachander was in search for a long time and even tried one from the United States. Incidentally, while shopping in Parry's Corner, he found the right doll in a roadside shop and bought it. While Balachander wrote the story and screenplay, his friend Ve. Lakshmanan wrote the dialogues. Rochelle Shah appeared as an actress, this being the only film she ever acted in. Bommai is the first Tamil film in which the director introduces the cast and crew verbally, rather than using film credits.

Music
The soundtrack consisted of six songs, all written by Balachander's associate Ve. Lakshmanan. The music for songs, was composed by Balachander himself, while the background score was composed by D. B. Ramachandran. The philosophical song "Neeyum Bommai Naanum Bommai" marked the playback singing debut of K. J. Yesudas in Tamil cinema. In 2014, when the song was recreated for Moodar Koodam, Yesudas recorded the same for Moodar Koodam, coincidentally marking his completion of 50 years in the Tamil film music industry. The following song list was adapted from a book authored by G. Neelamegam.

Release and reception
Although completed and censored in 1963, the film was released only on 25 September the following year. The Indian Express wrote though "the film fails to grip"; however "A neat, tidy, suspense packet". The reviewer praised the film's cinematography but criticised the background score and editing. On 11 October 1964, Ananda Vikatan wrote, "You will not realise how time flies by watching this film". The film completed 100 days in many theatres in Madras. Its commercial success helped Balachander recover from the loss incurred on his previous film Avana Ivan.