Ramu (1966 film)

Ramu is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar and written by Javar N. Seetharaman. The film stars Gemini Ganesh and K. R. Vijaya, with Ashokan, Nagesh, V. K. Ramasamy, O. A. K. Thevar and Master Rajkumar—as the title character—in supporting roles. A remake of the Hindi film Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964), it revolves around a boy who loses his speech after witnessing his mother's death, and his father attempts to restore his son's speech.

Ramu was produced by Uma Productions, a subsidiary of AVM Productions, and predominantly shot in the village of Kaduvetti, Tamil Nadu. It was released on 10 June 1966 and became a commercial success, winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil and received positive reviews. The film was remade in Telugu with the same title in 1968 by the same studio and director, with Rajkumar reprising his role.

Plot
Raja, a soldier in the Indian Army, lives in a village with his wife Seetha and son Ramu. He receives a telegram ordering him to report for duty and has to leave. During the war, Raja sees his superior wounded before dying in Raja's arms after mentioning his unmarried daughter. In Raja's absence, dacoits invade Raja's village and torch several houses, including Raja's. Ramu, who witnesses his mother's death in the fire, loses his speech due to trauma. After reuniting with Ramu, Raja learns of his wife's death and son's loss of speech. They leave the village to seek treatment for Ramu; they pass through a village where a woman named Seethalakshmi, or Lakshmi, whose father has recently died, lives alone. Ganganna, her maternal uncle, has two sons; Rangan, who is as unscrupulous as his father, and Muthu, who is sympathetic.

Ganganna, avaricious for Lakshmi's wealth, orders her to marry Rangan; she refuses and Ganganna harasses and unsuccessfully persuades her. When Ramu accidentally drops firewood, Rangan slaps Ramu. Raja beats Rangan, but he is knocked unconscious; Lakshmi then nurses him back to health. Ganganna prevents workers from tilling Lakshmi's land so Raja helps her by hiring a tractor and completing the work. Raja helps Lakshmi manage her farm and she gradually becomes attracted to him. Lakshmi becomes close to Ramu, who reciprocates. Raja, however, refuses to return Lakshmi's feelings as he still grieves for his wife. Raja saves Lakshmi from an attempted molestation by Rangan and discovers she is his deceased superior's daughter.

Ramu visits a nearby forest and becomes acquainted with a former Tamil teacher. Rangan and Ganganna ask Sangili, a dacoit, to kill Raja. Ramu recognises Sangili and tells his father that he is responsible for Seetha's death. Raja beats and forces Sangili to leave the village. He returns to kill Raja but is again defeated and arrested. The physician treating Ramu recommends he be taken to an ear, nose, and throat specialist in Madras, who advises psychological treatment but the psychologist is unable to offer a solution. Raja becomes dejected; after being robbed by a passerby, he attempts suicide with his son but both listen to a prayer about Krishna, reconsider and return to Lakshmi's village. Lakshmi insists they continue living with her; they agree.

One night, Rangan secretly harvests crops from Lakshmi's land and his own, and frames Raja for doing so. Raja is arrested and Ramu's dog is tied in one of Rangan's houses because it witnessed Rangan harvesting. Ramu enters the house to free it but is also tied up. The Tamil teacher, searching for Ramu, enters the house and sees Ganganna, who earlier cheated on his daughter, leading her to drown herself in a well. The teacher intimidates Ganganna, who falls into the same well. When Rangan tries molesting Lakshmi, the dog escapes and brings Raja to the house; he fights Rangan and a fire breaks out, causing Lakshmi to faint. Before the fire can engulf her, Ramu suddenly regains his speech and shouts at Lakshmi, who awakens, and they safely evacuate. Police arrest Rangan and the teacher admits to having killed Ganganna. Later, Raja plans to leave the village with Ramu, who refuses to leave Lakshmi. Raja agrees to marry Lakshmi and remain in the village.

Development
While in Bombay for the production of the film Do Kaliyan (1968), M. Saravanan of AVM Productions chanced upon a film banner featuring Kishore Kumar and a boy. Saravanan learned the Hindi film was Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964), and Chinna Menon, the manager of AVM's Bombay branch, told him it was unsuccessful but he was convinced the story was different. After enquiring further about the story, he learned it was about a mute boy. Saravanan asked Menon for a print of Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein to watch but Menon did not take the request seriously. Subramaniam of Venus Pictures had bought the rights to remake the film in Tamil for inr 10000 but later sold the rights to Saravanan for the same amount plus inr 5000.

Saravanan screened Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein for his father A. V. Meiyappan; brothers Murugan and Kumaran; directors Krishnan–Panju; screenwriter Javar N. Seetharaman and director A. C. Tirulokchandar. Krishnan–Panju detested the film and Seetharaman believed a film featuring a child in a prominent role could only succeed if the child had powerful dialogue, evidenced by the success of AVM's Kalathur Kannamma (1960), whereas the boy in Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein is mute. Saravanan suggested writing the cause of the boy's muteness, an idea Seetharaman accepted and began writing the screenplay. Tirulokchandar was finalised as director, and paid inr 40000. After the title Ramu was finalised, Saravanan's friends had misgivings but he refused to change the title. The film was produced by Murugan, Kumaran and Saravanan under Uma Productions, a subsidiary of AVM. Cinematography was assigned to T. Muthusamy and D. Rajagopal, and art direction to A. K. Sekhar.

Casting and filming
After Kalathur Kannamma, AVM had not approached Gemini Ganesh for any film. When Ganesh met AVM and asked why, AVM said they could not afford to meet Ganesh's financial demands, which was substantially higher than the ₹10,000–₹20,000 they were paying other actors. Ganesh said he would be willing to act for any amount. Though Murugan, Kumaran and Saravanan planned to cast Jaishankar, whom they felt was the right person to subdue the dacoits onscreen, Meiyappan felt Ganesh could better convey the character's grief for his wife's death and his son's loss of speech; they agreed with their father's choice of Ganesh.

K. R. Vijaya was cast after the producers were impressed with her performance in Karpagam (1963). Yogendrakumar, later known as Master Rajkumar, was chosen to play the title character from over 100 children who screen-tested. This was his first Tamil film; he had previously appeared in several Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam films. Meiyappan felt the name Yogendrakumar was not appealing to Tamil audiences and gave him his new name. Ramu was mostly filmed in the village of Kaduvetti, Tamil Nadu. The climax scene, depicting Ramu and Seethalakshmi in a burning room, was filmed over five days; kerosene was used to light the fire. When the fire was weakening, more kerosene was added, leading to increased fire. Vijaya was quickly helped out but Rajkumar was tied up so Tirulokchandar ran in and saved him. After R. G. Gope edited the film, the final length was 4272 metres, amounting to 149 minutes.

Soundtrack
The music composed by M. S. Viswanathan. The lyrics of all songs were penned by Kannadasan. The song "Nilave Ennidam" is set in the Hindustani raga Bageshri, and "Kannan Vandhan" is set to Yaman. During the recording of this song, the original singer was unable to match the "weighty" singing of co-performer Sirkazhi Govindarajan, so he was replaced with T. M. Soundararajan.

Release, reception, and legacy
Ramu was released on 10 June 1966. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres, and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. Kalki appreciated Tirulokchandar's direction, Seetharaman's writing, and called Ramu a pleasing family film. Kumar, after watching the film, said it made him realise how weakly he had written the original film, and appreciated Seetharaman for making a superior product. His brother Ashok appreciated Seetharaman for making "suitable changes" that made the Tamil film more successful.

Ramu was remade in Telugu under the same title in 1968 by the same studio and director, with Rajkumar reprising his role. K. Bhagyaraj said the inspiration for the story of his film Mundhanai Mudichu (1983) was a poster of Ramu, which he had seen as a child. The poster of Ramu featured the protagonist with his motherless son. Bhagyaraj wondered how it would be if he were in that position and prepared the story of Mundhanai Mudichu. Unlike Ramu, the protagonist's son was changed from a preteen to an infant.