Jailpulli (1957)

Prem Nazir	Miss Kumari
TS Muthaiah	Bahadoor
Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair	SP Pillai
Kottayam Shantha	Kuttan Pillai
PK Kamalakshi	RS Pallattu
Changanassery Thankam	KV Santhi
PS Sankar	Ravi Kumar
Purushothaman	Williams
Ratnamma	Somasekhar
A Santhi

Producer	P Subramaniam
Director	P Subramaniam
Banner	Neela Productions
Story	Muttathu Varkey
Screenplay	Muttathu Varkey
Dialogues	Muttathu Varkey
Music	Brother Laxman
Lyrics	Thirunainarkurichi Madhavan Nair
Playback Singers	Santha P Nair, T S Kumaresh , Kamukara Purushothaman Nair, CS Radha Devi, PG Nair, P Leela, Janamma David, Jikki,
Cinematography	NS Mani
Editing	KD George
Dances	Shanthi
Audiography	Krishna Elamon
Art Direction	MV Kochappu

Copyrights & Courtesy : The Hindu (B Vijayakumar’s MetroPlus Kochi Column)

Produced and directed by P.Subramaniam for Neela Productions the film was shot at Merryland Studios. The script and dialogues of this crime thriller were by Muttathu Varkey. It was edited by K.D. George and cinematography by N.S. Mani.

The cast included among others Prem Nazir, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, T.S. Muthiah, S.P. Pillai, Bahadur, Miss Kumari, and Santhi. The comic track involving S.P. Pillai and Bahadur, who play spies in the crime investigation, was a highpoint.

Gopi (Prem Nazir) is an unemployed graduate who struggles to take care of his sick mother. He gets no help from his rich uncle. The money that he earns by pulling a rickshaw is stolen. And when he approaches his uncle for help he is rudely asked to go and steal. In an act of desperation Gopi attempts to steal money from his uncle’s house and is caught red-handed following which he is sent to jail.

Gopi escapes from jail only to know that his mother had passed away. He leaves the village and goes to a far away town. Here he meets Santha (Miss Kumari) who offers him refuge in her home. Gopi hides his true identity and introduces himself as Ravi. Santha helps him get a job in the company where she works. Gopi reveals his past to Santha who takes pity on the young man’s misfortune.

Santha falls in love with Gopi and her father wants them to get married. Gopi wins the trust of Sekharan Muthalali (Muthiah), the owner of the company. He brings to the notice of Sekharan Muthalali the mismanagement in the company and the evil machinations of Madhu (Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair), the manager. Madhu is dismissed from the company and Gopi is elevated to the post of manager.

Sekharan Muthalali plans to get his only daughter Prema (Santhi) married to Gopi. In his greed for wealth and position Gopi forgets Santha and agrees to marry Prema. He decides to get rid of Santha as she knows his past. He imposes false charges on her and gets Santha dismissed from service. Santha’s father dies of shock at his daughter’s ill fate.

Gopi now decides to kill Santha. He takes her on a boating trip, throws her into the water causing her to drown. Gopi is arrested on charges of murder. Now come the twists and turns in this story. During the trial, Santha appears in the court to give evidence. She states that she fell into the river by accident and that Gopi is not guilty. The truth is that Madhu rescues Santha.

Though Gopi is absolved of the charges, the CID officer investigating the jail break reaches the court and takes him into custody. Santha promises to wait for him. Gopi is freed from jail after a short jail sentence and marries Santha.

Deviating from his usual hero’s roles, Prem Nazir excelled in this negative role. This trend of negative heroes started with the Hindi film Kismet (1943) and continued in South Indian cinema too. Tamil films like MGR’s Panakkari (1953), Sivaji Ganeshan’s Thirumbippaar (1953), Andha Naal (1954), Naane Raja (1956) and Gemini Ganeshan’s Ashai Makan (1953) are some examples of this trend.

The songs written by Thirunainarkurichi Madhavan Nair and tuned by Brother Lakshmanan became hits though some of the songs were copies of popular Hindi and Tamil film tunes. The most popular of them was Sangeethamee jeevitham…(Purushothaman-Santha P. Nair). And the scene where hero was picturised playing the piano with the heroine dancing became a model for many romantic scenes later. Njaan ariyathen… (Purushothaman-P. Leela) was a copy of S.Rajeswara Rao’s composition Vrindavanamum nandakumaranum…from the Tamil/Telugu bilingual Missiyamma/Missamma (1954). Other popular songs in this film were Vellinilavathu…(Purushothaman-Leela), Namasthe Kairali…(Leela), and Aadiyum kaliyadiyum…(Santha P. Nair).