Jeevitha Nouka

Jeevitha Nouka is a 1951 Malayalam-language film directed by K. Vembu and jointly produced by K. V. Koshi and Kunchako. It was the first "blockbuster cinema" in Malayalam cinema, with a theatrical run of 284 days. Made at a budget of ₹20,000, it was a commercial success at the box office, such that very few cinemas could surpass it later. It was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu, and was dubbed and released in Hindi. This cinema portrayed the life of simple folk in a small village in Kerala. It stars Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair and B. S. Saroja, with the latter making her debut and the former in his first major role. Its music is composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy and popular playback singer Mehboob debuted through this cinema. It is a remake of the Hindi cinema Jeevan Naiya with revised screenplay.

The Tamil version, titled Pichaikkaari ( The Lady Beggar), was released on 18 May 1951. Vidwan P. Adhimoolan wrote the dialogues and lyrics. The song "Vanaraniye enthan manaraniye", sung by Thiruchi Loganathan and P. Leela, was popular.

Malayalam
Main cast
 * Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair as Soman
 * B. S. Saroja as Lakshmi
 * Adhimoolam as Kaniyan
 * Pankajavalli as Janu, Raju's wife
 * S. P. Pillai as Shanku, Janu's brother
 * Nanukuttan as Zamindar
 * Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar as Raju, Soman's elder brother
 * Supporting cast
 * Ponnappan Arckatty as SI of Police
 * Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai, Ambalappuzha Ravunni, Baby Girija, Jagadamma, Janamma, Mathappan, Mulavana, Soman Pillai.

Tamil

 * Main cast
 * Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair as Soman
 * Kunju Kunju Bhagavathar as Raju
 * B. S. Saroja as Lakshmi
 * Pankajavalli as Janu
 * Adhimoolam as Kaniyar
 * Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai as Lawyer
 * S. P. Pillai as Shanku
 * Mathappan as Kunju


 * Dance
 * C. R. Rajakumari
 * Indira Acharya
 * B. S. Saroja
 * Gopalakrishnan
 * Balachandran

Soundtrack
V. Dakshinamoorthy composed the music for both Malayalam and Tamil versions. All the tunes for all the songs for both languages are the same with slight changes in playback singers.

Lyrics were penned by Abhayadev and Vallathol Narayana Menon. Playback singers are Thiruchi Loganathan, Ghantasala, Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar, V. Dakshinamoorthy, Mehboob, P. Leela, Alappuzha Pushpam and Kaviyoor Revamma.
 * Malayalam songs (Jeevitha Nouka)

Lyrics were penned by P. Aadhimoolan. Playback singers are Thiruchi Loganathan, Ghantasala, Mehboob, P. Leela and Kaviyoor Revamma.
 * Tamil songs (Pichaikkaari)

Box office
This film was a critical and commercial success and ran over 284 days in theatres. The film was screened in Kozhikode for 175 days and ran for 107 days in Ernakulam. 100 days have been completed in Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kannur and Thrissur districts.