Illara Jothi

Illara Jothi is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by G. R. Rao and produced by Modern Theatres. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and Sriranjani. It was released on 9 April 1954.

Plot
Manohar is an under appreciated poet and playwright. He is married to Kaveri, a kind hearted personality who cannot match Manohar's intellect. During his travails he is found by Chitra, a connoisseur of fine arts and drama. She encourages Manohar to become a published author and refers him to her contacts. Manohar achieves dramatic success, money flows in to his life, his lifestyle changes and he spends a lot of time with Chitra neglecting Kaveri. After some struggles he realises Kaveri is ready to let go of him and sacrifice her love for him. He realises his selfishness in this drama and apologises to both Kaveri and Chitra, finally making up with Kaveri.

Cast
Cast according to the opening credits and the song book.


 * Male cast
 * Sivaji Ganesan as Manohar
 * Thangavelu as Nettilingam
 * K. K. Perumal as Professor
 * Thirupathisami as Savadhan Pillai
 * M. N. Krishnan as Monk
 * Ashokan as Mohan
 * Rama Rao as Ameena
 * Sethupathi as Unani Doctor
 * Kottapuli Jayaraman as Story Seer
 * Kittan as Publishing Boss
 * Soundar as Rajaman Singh
 * Raju


 * Female cast
 * Padmini as Chitrakekha
 * Sriranjani as Kaveri
 * C. K. Saraswathi as Anantha
 * Kamalam as Lakshmi
 * Dance
 * Chandra-Kamala

Production
Anarkali-Salim drama appeared in a dance-song sequence in this film. Lyricist Kannadasan had claimed in his autobiography that M. Karunanidhi had plagiarised his script, when he (Kannadasan) was serving a jail sentence for his activism as a group leader for the Kallakudi demonstration. The song book, however, does not include Karunanidhi's name for his contribution.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by G. Ramanathan. Lyrics were by Kannadasan.