Or Iravu (Eng: One Night) is a 1951 Tamil movie produced by AVM Productions. It was based on the play of the same name written by C. N. Annadurai (later chief minister of Tamil Nadu). It was originally written for K. R. Ramasamy’s Krishnan memorial drama company by Annadurai . Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar of AVM productions decided to make a film based on the play. Annadurai was paid 10,000 Rupees for writing the screenplay. Annadurai went to AVM studios and wrote the entire script and dialogues totaling 300 pages in a single night. The screenplay was later modified by the director and the producer of the film. This was the third film to be made based on Annadurai’s plays, after Velaikaari (1949) and Nallathambi (1949). P. Neelakantan, who had begun working for AVM in the 1947 film Nam Iruvar as assistant director, made his debut as director with this film. Per Annadurai’s recommendation Velaikari’s lead actor K. R. Ramasamy was hired to play the hero. Akkineni Nageswara Rao and T. S. Balaiya played supporting roles in the film. The completed film was 14,980 feet in length.
The music was composed by R. Sudharsanam. Lyrics were by Mahakavi Bharathiyar, Bharathidasan, T. K. Shanmugam, K. P. Kamatchi Sundharam & Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniyam. Singer is K. R. Ramaswamy. Playback singers are V. J. Varma, K. Devanarayanan, M. L. Vasanthakumari, T. S. Bagavathi & M. S. Rajeswari.
The play Or Iravu depicted events that happen in a single night. Older incidents were depicted using flashbacks. However in the film version, flash backs were replaced with a linear narration. Or iravu tells the story of a thief who breaks into a rich man’s house without knowing that the rich man is his own father who had abandoned him and his mother long ago.
Directed by P. Neelakantan
Produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (AVM Productions)
Written by Story: C. N. Annadurai
Screenplay: P. Neelakantan
Starring K. R. Ramasamy, T. S. Balaiah, A. Nageswara Rao, T. K. Shanmugam, T. P. Muthulakshmi, Lalitha
Music by R. Sudharsanam
Cinematography S. Maruti Rao
Edited by K. Shankar
Release dates 14 April 1951
Running time 160 min
Language Tamil
