Vasantha Maligai (1972)

Vasantha Maligai (Joyful Palace) is a 1972 Tamil film, directed by K.S. Prakash Rao, starring Sivaji Ganesan and Vanisri, a remake of the 1971 hit Telugu film, Prem Nagar. (Its producer, D. Ramanaidu, made a third version of the film in Hindi, titled like the 1971 film Prem Nagar, which was released in 1974.)

Vasantha Maligai was a blockbuster, running in theatres for nearly 750 days, and Ganesan and Vanisri were both well-received for their acting. In the Telugu version, the lead roles were played by Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Vanisree, and in the Hindi by Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini. A digitally restored version of the film was released in March 2013.

Synopsis

Anand (Sivaji Ganesan) is a rich playboy and who loves alcohol. He has an older brother, Vijay (K. Balaji). Anand, who has been abroad, boards a plane home, on a shift that air stewardess, Latha (Vanisri), is working. After the plane lands, the scene changes to Latha's home where we meet her father (Major Sundarrajan), mother (Pandari Bai), two brothers, and a sister. Her elder brother resides at home with his wife, but being the eldest, Latha is the highest earning member of the family. A struggle begins when Latha's mother objects to her being an air hostess: She begs her to change profession so that she can be home at more decent hours.

Actors