There is no New Year celebration in Tamil Nadu without, “Hiii everybody, wish you a happy new yearrrr!” line or ‘Illamai Edho Edho’ song from Sakalakala Vallavan. This particular song is part of the young man’s (Kamal’s overnight) transformation into a sophisticated, urban youth who captures the rich rapist’s sister’s heart. Kamal Hassan and Ambika were featured in the movie. Velu (Kamal Hassan) softened Geetha in the second half. She will be a city girl who makes fun of village practices in the first half of the movie. In simple words, Velu tames, “the city-bred girl making fun of the rustic and the latter turning the tables on her.” 

Sakalakala Vallavan

“Sakalakala Vallavan” has a simple plot. A young agriculturist Velu (Kamal Hassan) goes to extremes to attain revenge against his devious landlady family. He is an upright young man. His family will be getting cheated out of money by the landlord’s family. He goes and fights for his rights. To control Velu, Pazhani (Landlady’s son) rapes Velu’s sister, Thulasi. To seek justice for Thulasi, Velu and Thulasi will disguise themselves as Sam and Bobby. The landlady’s husband, V.K. Ramasamy and his friend, Thengai Srinivasan supported Velu and Thulasi’s plan. Velu who is in the disguise of Sam marries Geetha and Thulasi who is in the disguise of Booby marries Pazhani. In the end, the movie concentrates on how these two couples live happily.

Velu tries to tame his wife, Geetha, to live with him in his home. Geetha being a rich girl or the daughter of a rich woman neglects to live with him in his house. Though Velu is poor, he leads a happy life in his place. He loves his wife. He wants to lead the same with her in his den

Taming of the Shrew

This plot is quite similar to the play written by Shakespeare. It is The “Taming of the Shrew”. Lucentio and Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katherina marries. The eccentric Petruccio marries the reluctant Katherina. He uses several tactics to render her an obedient wife. Lucentio marries Bianca. The couples meet in Padua. Along with Hortensio and his wife, the other two couples planned to stay. The men in the house plan to have a contest to know who the obedient wife is. In the end, Katherina proves to be the most obedient wife.

The play will encounter a drastic character change in Katherina. At the beginning of the play, she will be arrogant and disrespectful. But in the end, she adopts herself in the way Petruccio says or tames. In the final act, Katherina gives a lecture on being an obedient wife. Lucentio and Hortensio disguise themselves as Cambio and Lito to woo Bianca. Later Lucentio wins her heart. So, Hortensio marries a rich widow.

Manithan Maravillai

The plotlines like marrying, being in disguise and taming the wife merges with the movie, “Sakalakala Vallavan” and the play, “The Taming of the Shrew”. There is another similar plot in the movie, “Manithan Maravillai” released in 1967. Panjacharam (Gemini Ganesan) and Raja (Akkineni Nageswara Rao) disguise themselves to woo Lakshmi and Saroja. Saroja takes up the character of Katherina in the movie. She is Stubborn and arrogant at the beginning of the movie. As the movie proceeds further she is becoming calm like Lakshmi. At the end of the movie, she becomes a calm and obedient wife to Raja.

Sakalakala Vallan and Manithan Maravillai, both the movies share minor plot lines and themes from the play, Taming of the shrew. There is no New year without ‘Illamai Edho Edho’ and there are no movies without shades or a pinch of Shakespeare’s plays.