Keezh Vaanam Sivakkum (1981): watch the full film free, legally

A doctor guards a secret

Keezh Vaanam Sivakkum, translated as The eastern sky will turn red, is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Muktha Srinivasan and produced by S. Ravi. Sivaji Ganesan, Saritha, Jaishankar, Sarath Babu and Menaka star. The film adapts Kuriakose Ranga’s stage play of the same name, with a screenplay by Visu.

In Coimbatore, renowned ophthalmologist Dr. Dwarakanath lives by strong moral principles and devotion to God. His household includes his son Srivathsan, daughter-in-law Manju, relatives and a faithful servant. Srivathsan works as a sales representative and spends much of his time in other cities. Dwarakanath’s apparently happy home is shadowed by a private concern: Manju has a serious disease, and he knows she has only a few months to live.

A photograph from Ooty

Senthil, a blind man, arrives at Dwarakanath’s home demanding treatment to restore his sight. He intends to kill the man he holds responsible for his sister Gayathri’s suicide. His sole proof is a photograph showing Gayathri with that man in Ooty. Dwarakanath agrees to safeguard the photograph and promises that Senthil’s vision will soon be restored.

Seeing the picture shocks Dwarakanath. He tears it in two, keeps one half and destroys the other portion, throwing its pieces into a trash can. Manju watches, retrieves the fragments and reconstructs the image. She traces the studio where it was made, hoping to obtain the negative, only to learn that somebody took it the previous day. From the studio employee’s information, she concludes that Dwarakanath took it.

Manju confronts Dwarakanath indirectly, but he avoids answering while worrying over her illness. She makes copies of the reassembled photograph, tears them up and asks the men she knows to assemble the pieces. Each man in the household appears to recognize Gayathri, until Manju discovers that Dwarakanath instructed them to say so in order to confuse her.

Family conflict and Diwali release

Srivathsan later obtains a copy of Gayathri’s photograph and recalls his past in Ooty. He had an affair with a woman there, while Gayathri worked as that woman’s maid. Pretending to be the woman’s nephew, Srivathsan claimed to love Gayathri and seduced her. After learning she had been deceived, Gayathri killed herself. Srivathsan then accidentally learns of Manju’s illness and challenges Dwarakanath for keeping it from him. Dwarakanath confronts him about Gayathri’s death, while Srivathsan learns about Senthil and arranges for his eye operation to be cancelled.

Both Visu and Ranga had wanted Muktha Srinivasan to bring the play to the screen with Sivaji Ganesan as its protagonist, and Ganesan was chosen. Srinivasan first considered Sangili Murugan for Jaishankar’s character, but Murugan had other commitments. Prabhu was also initially considered for Sarath Babu’s role. M. S. Viswanathan composed the music, and Kannadasan wrote the lyrics. “Kadavul Ninaithan” became hugely popular.

Released on Diwali, 26 October 1981, the film faced Andha 7 Naatkal and Tik Tik Tik, among other Diwali releases. It became a box-office success and ran for more than 100 days in theatres. It received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Second Best Film. S. Shivakumar of Mid-Day praised Ganesan and Saritha’s acting, and called Ganesan’s dialogue delivery “impeccable.” Nalini Sastry of Kalki praised Saritha’s performance, Kannadasan’s meaningful lyrics and humour that evoked laughter. The film was remade in Telugu as Gopala Krishnudu and Malayalam as Chakravalam Chuvannappol.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Keezh Vaanam Sivakkum”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.