Kaliyuga Kannan

Kaliyuga Kannan () is a 1974 Tamil-language comedy-drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju. It is based on the play "Sri Krishna Vijayam" written by Vaali. The film stars Jaishankar, Jayachitra, Thengai Srinivasan and Sowcar Janaki. It was later remade in Telugu as " Devudu Digivaste" (1975), in Kannada as "Devara Duddu" (1977), and in Hindi as "Yehi Hai Zindagi" (1977).
Plot.
"Kaliyuga Kannan" is a drama of faith and disbelief in God of a middle-aged couple. It tells of how the man is made to realise on becoming rich that God certainly does not neglect his faithful and wealth only brings sorrow and pain with it. He renounces all his wealth to his son and daughter-in-law and goes back to his old way of living.
Production.
"Kaliyuga Kannan" is the inaugural production of Ajantha Enterprises, and is an adaptation of "Sri Krishna Vijayam", a play written by Vaali that featured Thengai Srinivasan as the protagonist. The play, which was written for actor V. Gopalakrishnan's Gopi Theatres, intended to convey the message that "money could not buy peace of mind". When adapting the play as a film, the makers wanted Sivaji Ganesan as the male lead. But Ganesan suggested Srinivasan, after being impressed with his performance in the play. Vaali wrote the dialogue for the film adaptation, which was produced by N. Elango. Jaishankar and Jayachitra were cast as the male and female lead respectively. Cinematography was handled by S. Maruti Rao. Besides directing, Panju co-edited the film (alongside Narasimhan) under the pseudonym "Panjabi". The final cut of the film measured .
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack was composed by V. Kumar, while the lyrics were written by Vaali. The playback singers were T. M. Soundararajan, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela and Renuka. The songs featured were "Kannaiah", "Kadhal Ponnedu", "Jaichutte" and "Seven O'Clock".
Release and reception.
"Kaliyuga Kannan" was released on 13 November 1974, and emerged a commercial success, while propelling Srinivasan to stardom. CV Aravind of "The News Minute" praised it for the "riveting script by Vaali". Playwright and comedian Crazy Mohan developed a desire to write a play with "God as the fulcrum" after watching the play "Krishnaya Thubhyam Namaha", and "Kaliyuga Kannan" encouraged him to solidify his plans, resulting in the play "Chocolate Krishna".