En Thambi

En Thambi
Poster
Directed by	A. C. Tirulokchandar
Written by	A. L. Narayanan (dialogues)
Screenplay by	A. C. Tirulokchandar
Story by	Jagapathy Picture Story Department
Based on	(Thambi Stage Drama Pasam Sivakkum Story Writing Direct By K. S. Gopalakrishnan)
Produced by	K. Balaji
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan B. Saroja Devi
Cinematography	Thambu
Edited by	B. Kanthasamy
Music by	M. S. Viswanathan
Production company	Sujatha Cine Arts
Release date	7 June 1968 (1968-06-07)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

En Thambi (transl. My Younger Brother) is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi, with K. Balaji and Nagesh in supporting roles.^[1] It is a remake of the 1966 Telugu film Aastiparulu Later on 1972 Hindi as Bhai Ho To Aisa.^[2] The film became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.^[3]

Sundara Boopathy is a rich landlord who is widely respected by everyone in the town. Following the death of his first wife, he marries Alangaram. Kannan is Boopathy's eldest son, born to his first wife. Viswam is Kannan's half-brother. While Kannan is a good and kind hearted person taking care of all the family businesses, Viswam is a spoiled brat who just roams around spending unnecessarily. Viswam also has a hatred towards Kannan. Radha is the cousin of Kannan. Kannan and Radha are in love and the family plans to get them married.

Boopathy keeps worrying about Viswam due to his irresponsible behaviour and requests Kannan to shape him into a good human. Boopathy falls ill and is on his death bed. At that time, he calls Kannan and tells him a secret after which Boopathy passes away. Kannan assumes all responsibilities of running the businesses and this angers Viswam. As Kannan does not know swimming, Viswam decides to murder Kannan by pushing him into a river. Viswam takes Kannan with him in a boat and pushes him in the middle of the river and stages a drama that their boat had an accident in which Kannan was dead. The entire family is shocked hearing about the demise of Kannan. Viswam feels happy as he has got a free hand in spending the wealth.

Kannan's driver Sabapathy watches a stage play where he witnesses Kannan's lookalike Chinnaiya. Sabapathy is shocked and devises a plan to make him act as Kannan, so that the family members could feel relieved. Sabapathy meets Chinnaiya and requests him to act as Kannan. Although Chinnaiya is not interested, he agrees to be a part of the plan. Sabapathy provides all the necessary info for Chinnaiya about Kannan's family members. Chinnaiya goes to Kannan's house and says that he is not dead. Everyone in the house feels happy except Viswam who feels suspicious about the new Kannan. Viswam tells his family members that the new person should be someone else acting in place of Kannan to steal money. But Chinnaiya clears the doubts by performing certain tasks which Kannan does on a regular basis.

Chinnaiya tries hard to make Viswam a good person, but in vain. Finally, the house members overhear Sabapathy's conversation and find out the plan. Sabapathy accepts the truth. To everyone's surprise, Chinnaiya says that he is none other than the real Kannan. He tells a flashback, where Kannan was rescued by a group of stage actors who were travelling in another boat. Kannan asked his friend to bring Sabapathy for the stage show, so that Sabapathy could see Kannan in the name of Chinnaiya. Kannan preferred to hide his true identity as he does not want Viswam to be framed for murder. Viswam tries hard to make everyone believe that he is not Kannan.

To put an end to Viswam's doubts about whether the person he killed was his deceased brother Kannan or Chinnaiya, the street theatre actor who resembles him, Viswam conducts a test. One day, while Kannan, who has assumed the name Chinnaiya, and Radha are sitting in a flower garden, Viswam, in a drastic move, thrusts a whip into Chinnaiya's hand and challenges him to prove whether he is the real Kannan or Chinnaiya. instructing him to whip and snatch the flowers from Radha's hair. perform a song dance sequence, to prove his identity as Kannan, Chinnaiya transforms into a whip-wielding sevagan, striking Radha with the whip and meticulously snatching all the flowers from her head as she sings dances. At the end of the song, when it is revealed that is indeed he brother Kannan and not drama actor Chinnaiya, Viswam is left stunned.

Even after that To prove his identity, Kannan discloses about the secret told by his father Boopathy before death. Boopathy told Kannan about the location of jewels that belonged to his mother which was secretly hidden in a place. Kannan says this to everyone and promises that he will bring those jewels back so that he could prove his identity. Viswam follows Kannan and tries to kill him. In the fight, Viswam slips down in a well but is saved by Kannan which transforms Viswam. In the end, Kannan's identity is proved and he is also married to Radha. Viswam is transformed in to a good human and Kannan feels happy that he has fulfilled his promise to his father.

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.^[4] The song "Muthu Nagaiye" is set in Brindavana raga.^[5]

• During this period, Sivaji Ganesan continuously acted in three films: Ooty Varai Uravu (1967), En Thambi (1968), and Thanga Surangam (1969).^[6] In these three films, Sivaji Ganesan's facial appearance remains consistent.
• In this film, Sivaji Ganesan acted very handsomely and slimly. Initially, K. R. Vijaya was paired opposite Sivaji Ganesan, but during the filming of the last song, "Thattattum Kai Thazhuvattum," in which Sivaji was wielding a whip, it appeared as if he was hitting her.
• At that time, K. R. Vijaya was pregnant, so she told the film's producer, K. Balaji, to use another actress for the song and the film, and then left.
• When K. Balaji and director A. C. Tirulokchandar were on the verge of abandoning the film, the screenwriter Javar Seetharaman said that this film was a huge success in Telugu as the film 'Asthaparalu', and that it would be a great success if made in Tamil as well. However, to resolve the actress problem, Javar Seetharaman, along with K. Balaji, decided on actress Saroja Devi.
• Furthermore, it is noteworthy that in 'En Thambi', the first film Saroja Devi acted in with Sivaji Ganesan after her marriage, she appeared overweight and with a protruding stomach. To make her look slimmer, the screenwriter Javar Seetharaman made Saroja Devi wear a 'shot belt' around her stomach area during filming.
• But when director A. C. Tirulokchandar questioned whether Saroja Devi, who had become a little plump and overweight after marriage, would be suitable for the role, the brilliant screenwriter Javar Seetharaman had a special belt called a 'shot belt' imported from abroad. He made Saroja Devi wear this belt around her stomach to make her appear slim, and then filmed the scenes. The film and the song "Thattattum Kai Thazhuvattum" were successfully completed, and the film became a hit.
• Initially, director K. S. Gopalakrishnan planned to direct a stage play titled "Thambi," based on his own play "Pasam Sivakkum," with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role. He had already registered three films with Sivaji Ganesan: Selvam, Pesum Deivam, and Thambi.
• However, later, when A. C. Trilokchandar was directing a remake of the Telugu film "Asthaparalu" with K. Balaji producing and Sivaji Ganesan in the lead, also titled "Thambi," K.S.Gopalakrishnan questioned Sivaji Ganesan about this. To resolve the issue, a compromise was reached between K. S. Gopalakrishnan, A. C. Trilokchandar, and K. Balaji. K. S. Gopalakrishnan agreed to let A. C. Trilokchandar direct the film, but insisted that the title "Thambi" be changed. Following a legal case filed through the Film Chamber, the film's title was changed to "En Thambi" (My Younger Brother).
• Similarly, in K.S.Gopalakrishnan's play "Thambi," there was a powerful scene depicting brotherly love. Director A. C. Trilokchandar planned to adapt this scene into a song sequence in "En Thambi," where the hero, Sivaji Ganesan, would prove he is not the stage actor Chinnaiya but Kannan, by whipping the heroine, Radha Sarojadevi, and making her dance. When A. C. Trilokchandar explained this plan, K. S. Gopalakrishnan agreed, but insisted that he would film the whipping song sequence himself, similar to the romantic song "Enakkagava Naan Unakkagava" from his film "Selvam." K. S. Gopalakrishnan then filmed this song sequence.
• It is also noteworthy that L. R. Eswari sang this song in a very sensuous style for Sarojadevi. In the song sequence "Indha Thattattum Kai Thazhuvattum," Sivaji Ganesan, disguised as a whip-wielding sevagan, realistically whips Sarojadevi and plucks a flower, proving his identity. During this scene, a cigarette butt thrown by the villain Balaji caused the set where the song sequence was being filmed to catch fire.
• It is also noteworthy that the two romantic songs featured in this film, "Adiyei Netru Piranthaval" and "Aiyaiyya Mella Thattu," were filmed in Mysore Brindavan Gardens and the Sindhu River Park on the banks of the Indus River in the northern state of Rajasthan, respectively.
• Furthermore, a crucial central scene in the film, where Sivaji Ganesan proves himself to be Kannan, features a Sword fight sequence with the villain K. Balaji, which was filmed in a very dangerous water reservoir area on the banks of the Kaveri River in Mysore.

Kalki criticised the film for lack of originality.^[7]

• En Thambi at IMDb