Iru Kodugal (Eng: Two Lines) is a 1969 Tamil drama film directed by the veteran director K. Balachander. The film stars Gemini Ganesan, Sowcar Janaki, Jayanthi, Nagesh, V. S. Raghavan, S. N. Lakshmi and others. The story revolves around one man who got married to two women. Iru Kodugal won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, the first film by Balachander to win the award. The film which was based on a stage play of same name became a superhit. It was remade later by Balachander in Kannada as Eradu Rekhegalu and by other directors in Telugu (Collector Janaki) and Hindi (Sanjog).
Gopinath (Gemini Ganesan) falls in love with Janaki (Sowcar Janaki) and they get married in Kasi. The marriage is not accepted by Gopinath’s mother and the couple gets separated. Janaki is pregnant and her father (V. S. Raghavan), realizing that no man will marry Janaki a second time, decides to make her a collector. Gopinath meanwhile had moved to South India, where he later married Jaya (Jayanthi) by hiding his previous marriage. They live a happy life with their three children and Jaya’s father. Gopinath works as a clerk in the collector’s office. A new collector arrives at the office, and it turns out to be Janaki. They tend to work together and Nagesh spreads a rumour across stating that there is an affair between Janaki and Gopinath. This rumour reaches Jaya and she is completely disturbed. Jaya discovers the secret of Gopinath’s affair with Janaki. Meanwhile the sons of both Janaki and Jaya, Ramu and Prabhakar drowned in water and have been admitted to Hospital. Somehow Jaya manages the disturbance of the secret and accepts Janaki as her sister. But Ramu dies in hospital while Prabhakar survives. Jaya gives Janaki her son as a gift. Janaki and Prabhakar leave for abroad as Janaki got her duty abroad.
Directed by K. Balachander
Produced by N. Selvaraj, B. Duraisamy, N. Krishnan, V. Govindarajan
Written by K. Balachander
Story by Joseph Anandan
Starring Gemini Ganesan, Sowcar Janaki, Jayanthi
Music by V. Kumar
Cinematography N. Balakrishnan
Edited by N. R. Kittu
Production Kalakendra Movies
Distributed by Kalakendra Movies
Release dates 2 October 1969
Running time 176 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
Visitor Rating: 4 Stars