J Jayalalithaa's yesteryear blockbuster digitalised

With Puratchi Thalaivar MGR and Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan’s old classics getting a fillip with their digitalised versions, now it’s the turn of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s yesteryear blockbuster Suriya Gandhi, produced by Vidya Films, to get an image makeover for the first time!

A heroine-centric flick, Suriya Gandhi, released in 1973, had Jayalalithaa and Muthuraman in the lead roles and was directed by Muktha Srinivasan. The movie, which ran for 150 days in all centers, also featured Manorama, Cho, Mouli, Kathadi Ramamurthy and MRR Vasu among others.

It’s the story of a couple wherein the wife’s career is on an upward swing and she earns more than her husband — which makes the latter feel inferior. The ego clashes that arise out of it form the crux of the story.  “SG is a milestone movie in Jayalalithaa madam’s career. Since the story would go well with the contemporary audiences even now, we decided to give an image makeover for Suriya Gandhi with cinemascope and enhanced sound and Digital Intermediate — and will be releasing it in black and white color,” reasons out Gajalakshmi, who is releasing the digital format of the classic.  

The highlight of the film is that Jayalalithaa has rendered two songs in her voice — Oh Mere Dil Rooba in Hindi and Naan Endral Adhu Avalum in Tamil with SPB — where her crooning is in recital form in English! The songs turned out to be chartbusters. The other mainstays of the film include the evergreen philosophical song Parmasivan Kazhutthilirundu, penned by legendary lyricist Kannadasan and dialogues of AS Prakasam.

Gajalakshmi has planned to release the film in September in more than 150 screens. She is now in the process of cutting a new trailer, which would go for censors before its release. Also, it is learnt that the makers have applied for tax exemption from the state government.