All dolled up for what?

Bommai (Doll, Tamil; 1964)

Came across this not so famous movie director S Balachandar, but a with a brilliant song which used to be a regular feature over the airwaves in our childhood - 'Thatti thatti Nadanthu Varum Chella Paapa' was immensely popular. 

It is one of those rare suspense thriller films made in the Tamil cinema. It is supposed to be modelled after Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 Sabotage. It was a story of confusion when a bomb-laden doll meant to kill an entrepreneur is misplaced and fail to reach the intended recipient. By a twist of fate, the toy gets going around from hand to hand. The protagonist of the film, the loyal office worker, goes on a wild goose chase trying to locate the doll and avert catastrophe.

In spite of using mainly unknown actors, the film was a hit at the box office and passed the psychological mark 100-days' screening which marks the acceptance of the movie by the public. The only familiar faces in the cast are the captivating L. Vijayalakshmi who later was regularly paired with Jayshankar in his espionage movies and V.S. Raghavan who is cast as a villain. A very young V. Gopalakrishnan, a long time supporting actor is another recognisable face. K.J. Yesudas sings one of the songs and is seen in the credits (see below), in person, in his less hirsute form. The actors and the rest of the crew are introduced at the end by the director in an unusual format. 

In keeping with the theme that it is, after all, a Tamil movie, the director managed to squeeze in a little bit of philosophy through K.J. Yesudas' song, 'Neeyum Bommai, Naanum Bommai' (see third youtube snippet below). The subtle message imbibed in the song, which is sung by a beggar, laments that we are all lifeless dolls in the society. Children are helpless dolls needing the care of their mothers. The poor people are dependent on the rich. In the temple, the spineless are bowing to a lifeless God. In front of the firm and powerful, the good-hearted crumble. To the rich, the poor are their puppets. Workers are puppets on a string controlled by their masters. We are helpless in the wave of fate and karma where we are all taken for a spin. And we all become slaves to love and passion. Wow, there can be so much from the story of a doll with a ticking bomb!