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Puthiya Paravai () is a 1964 Indian Tamil language-language romantic thriller film directed by Dada Mirasi. Produced by Sivaji Ganesan, the film stars himself, B. Saroja Devi, M. R. Radha and Sowcar Janaki, with Nagesh, Manorama, V. K. Ramasamy, O. A. K. Thevar and S. V. Ramadas in supporting roles. The plot revolves around Gopal, who falls in love with Latha, when his previously presumed-dead wife Chitra arrives. He claims her to be an impostor but no one believes him.
Puthiya Paravai is the maiden Tamil production of Sivaji Films, later renamed Sivaji Productions, and the company's third overall production after the Hindi films Amardeep (1958) and Rakhi (1962). It is a remake of the Bengali language film Sesh Anka (1963) which is itself inspired by the British film Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958). The screenplay was written by Nannu, and the dialogues by Aaroor Dass. Cinematography was handled by K. S. Prasad and editing by N. M. Shankar. The soundtrack album and background music were composed by the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.
Puthiya Paravai was released on 12 September 1964. The film received positive reviews; critics praised its style, music, and the performances of Ganesan and Janaki, but criticised the comic subplot featuring Nagesh and Manorama. It was also a commercial success, with a theatrical run of over 100 days. Puthiya Paravai was re-released on 23 July 2010 at Ganesan's family-owned Shanti Theatre, and was again met with positive response and commercial success.
Gopal recalls that, after losing his mother, in sorrow he had been wandering aimlessly at Singapore. He fell in love with Chitra, a nightclub singer, and they married in the presence of her brother Raju. But to Gopal's dismay, Chitra always came home inebriated, and despite his repeated requests, had little respect for tradition and family values. When Chitra showed up drunk for Gopal's birthday party, he tried to control her, but she refused to co-operate; Gopal's father died of a heart attack after seeing Chitra's behaviour. Irritated by Gopal, Chitra later tried to leave him; he caught up and begged her to change her decision, but Chitra berated him for controlling her, and he slapped her. Later that night, he heard that Chitra committed suicide on a railway track, and this hurts him a lot. Latha sympathises with Gopal and accepts his love.
The engagement of Gopal and Latha is fixed. While the reception is being held at Gopal's mansion, a woman claiming to be Chitra arrives, accompanied by her uncle Rangan. Gopal's engagement with Latha is cancelled after Rangan convinces everyone that the woman is indeed Chitra. Gopal says she is an impostor and shows Chitra's death certificate as proof, but Rangan reads in the certificate that though the corpse was disfigured beyond recognition, Gopal insisted that it was Chitra so it was declared to be her. Rangan's actions convince Gopal's police officer friend Kumar, although Gopal is adamant that his wife is dead. "Chitra" and Rangan become disruptive and Gopal gets frustrated, fearing that Latha might leave him because his "wife" has turned up.
After many failed attempts to expose the impostor, Gopal reveals the truth to everyone: when he slapped Chitra, not knowing she was suffering from a heart condition, she died immediately. Gopal realised that he had inadvertently killed his wife. To avoid arrest, and safeguard the honour of his family, he manipulated the murder to appear like a suicide on a railway track and fabricated the necessary evidence to show that Chitra committed suicide.
With everyone believing his story, Gopal orders Kumar to arrest the Chitra impostor. However, Latha reveals herself as a police officer investigating Chitra's death based on the complaint filed by Raju, who suspected she could not have committed suicide. Ramadurai is Latha's senior posing as her father, Rangan is the local investigating officer, and the Chitra impostor is Rangan's aide, Sarasa. Together, they staged an entrapment to get the killer's confession because there was no clinching evidence. Latha confesses to a dejected Gopal that though she initially pretended to love him, his good nature impressed her and she truly loves him; she promises that she will wait for him till he returns after completing his jail term. Gopal is relieved, but is still arrested.
Mirasi, who made a cameo appearance as Gopal's father, initially objected to Ganesan's desire to cast Janaki because he felt the actress, then known mainly for sentimental roles, would not fit the stylish character of Chitra. But Ganesan remained adamant as he felt Janaki was perfect as Chitra and was supported by Aaroor Dass, so Mirasi half-heartedly agreed. After seeing Janaki's performance in the song "Paartha Gnaabagam Illaiyo", he began to appreciate her. Janaki added her own subtle distinctions and inputs to her role as portraying an out-and-out seductive vamp, according to her, would have felt deplorable.
After the climax was finished, Aaroor Doss immediately requested Ganesan and Mirasi to do the sequence again with the addition of the dialogue "Pennmaye! Nee Vaazhga! Ullame Unakku Oru Nanri" (). When Ganesan asked the reason for including it, Aaroor Dass mentioned that Gopal would be looked upon by the theatre audiences in a negative light if he did not say anything to confirm his love for Latha. Understanding the dialogue's essence, Mirasi then re-filmed the climax and included it. The film was processed at Gemini Color Laboratory. The final length of the film was over .
The heavily orchestrated "Engey Nimmadhi", at that time, had the highest number of instruments used for recording. Choir singers from the Purasawalkam and Vepery areas of Madras (now Chennai) were used in the song. According to film historian Mohan Raman, "Kannadasan could not get the right words nor was there a tune ready and Sivaji came to the composing and did a pantomime of what he would like to do and thus was born the line and the song". Cellist R. Selvaraj, whose father was a part of the orchestration for "Engey Nimmadhi" said 250 instrumentalists were used for playing different instruments in sync. Other sources state that Viswanathan used over 300 instruments for the song. Instruments used included the harp, , cello, bass, vibraphone, Bongo drum, Timpani, , castanets, , tuba, trombone, clarinet and mandolin.
Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy tried over 100 different ways of composing the tune of "Engey Nimmadhi" before the song was recorded. It is set in Bilaskhani Todi, a Hindustani raga. S. S. Vasan of Hindu Tamil Thisai compared the sombre moments in the song to that of "Mujhko Is Raat Ki Tanhai Me" from Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960). Music composer and singer Ramesh Vinayakam said "Engey Nimmadhi" was an example of "the unconscious yet natural and healthy fusion that was happening to cinema music at the hands of music directors."
"Paartha Gnaabagam Illaiyo" was later sampled in "Yae Dushyanta", composed by Bharadwaj for Aasal (2010). Singer Karthik performed "Aha Mella" live at "Two to Tango", an October 2016 concert organised by the Rotary Club of Madras South. The soundtrack received positive response from critics; all the songs were successful, especially "Engey Nimmadhi". The songs were featured in a charity concert held by M. S. Viswanathan at the Kamaraj Arangam in Chennai on 14 July 2012. Susheela has named "Paartha Gnaabagam Illaiyo" and "Unnai Ondru Ketpen" as among her favourite songs that she had recorded. "Paartha Nyabagam Illayo" was recreated in Kolai (2023).
On 4 October, Shekar and Sundar of the magazine Ananda Vikatan jointly reviewed the film. Sundar appreciated the cast performances, Mirasi's direction, the photography and the colour, and Shekar was particularly appreciative of Ganesan and Janaki's performances, the night scenes and the set designs, but mildly critical of Nagesh's comedy. Sundar concluded that the film could be accepted intellectually, but found it emotionally tough to accept due to the climax. Writing for Sport and Pastime in a review dated 10 October, T. M. Ramachandran praised the performances of Ganesan as Gopal and Janaki as both Chitra and her decoy, but said there was "nothing much to write" about Saroja Devi. He said the film's pre-Intermission portions were generic, but "the story begins to grip only after the interval" and applauded the Plot twist as "thought-provoking". Ramachandran added that Nagesh "fails to provoke laughter with his antics", but concluded his review by appreciating the colour processing by Gemini.
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