Madras to Pondicherry

Madras to Pondicherry is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language road comedy thriller film, directed by Thirumalai–Mahalingam and written by Usilai Somanathan. The film stars Ravichandran and Kalpana. It was released on 16 December 1966, became a commercial success, and was remade in Hindi as Bombay to Goa (1972).

Plot
Mala, an aspiring film actress, leaves home because of her interest in this which is kindled by a group of thugs. One of them shoots a member of his gang, which she witnesses. To escape them, she jumps onto a running bus going from Madras to Pondicherry. The thugs hire an assassin to board the bus Mala is in to kill her. However, a man named Baskar also gets into the bus. Realising that Mala is in danger, he voluntarily saves her and ends up falling in love with her. Ultimately, it is revealed that Baskar is Mala's prospective bridegroom whom she tried to avoid by leaving her home.

Production
Madras to Pondicherry was directed by the duo Thirumalai–Mahalingam, written by Usilai Somanathan, and produced under the banner Sri Venkateswara Cinetone by four people: T. S. Adhinarayanan, P. M. Nachimuthu, S. Sivaraman and G. K. Selvaraj. It was among the earliest road films in Tamil cinema.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by T. K. Ramamoorthy.

Release and reception
Madras to Pondicherry was released on 16 December 1966. Kalki appreciated Nagesh and Karunanidhi's performances, but felt the saloon comedy sequence was unnecessary, and criticised the film's story. Despite this, it became a commercial success.