{ "id": "epvc1z7c70", "slug": "andha-naal", "title": "Andha Naal (அந்த நாள்)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema", "label": "Indian films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000", "label": "Tamil films before 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991", "label": "Released 1952 to 1991", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991", "label": "India · 1946 to 2000: Released 1952 to 1991", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991", "path": [ { "id": "geo.ind", "label": "India", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946", "label": "India · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema", "label": "Indian films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000", "label": "Tamil films before 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991", "label": "Released 1952 to 1991", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Andha Naal (அந்த நாள், That Day) is a 1954 Tamil mystery-thriller directed by S. Balachander, produced by A. V. Meiyappan, starring Sivaji Ganesan; the first songless Tamil film and first Tamil noir, told through conflicting murder accounts.", "snippet": "Andha Naal (அந்த நாள், That Day) is a 1954 Tamil mystery-thriller directed by S. Balachander, produced by A. V. Meiyappan, starring Sivaji Ganesan; the first songless Tamil film and first Tamil noir, told through conflicting murder accounts.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.tamil-films-before-2000.yr-1952-1991", "markdown": "# Andha Naal (அந்த நாள்)\n\n**Andha Naal** (அந்த நாள், transl. *That Day*) is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language mystery and thriller film directed by S. Balachander, produced by A. V. Meiyappan for AVM Productions, and starring [Sivaji Ganesan](https://www.edgepedia.org/sivaji-ganesan), Pandari Bai, and Javar Seetharaman.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153) It is regarded as the first film noir in [Tamil cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamil-cinema) and was the first Tamil film made without songs, dance, or stunt sequences.[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153) The film tells the story of a radio engineer shot dead in wartime Madras, investigated through the conflicting accounts of the people around him.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 13 April 1954 (India), Tamil language, black and white[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153) |\n| Running time | 130 minutes[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153) |\n| Director and story | S. Balachander; screenplay and dialogue by Javar Seetharaman[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/fullcredits/) |\n| Producer and studio | A. V. Meiyappan, AVM Productions[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/fullcredits/) |\n| Music | Saraswathy Stores Orchestra[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/fullcredits/) |\n| Distinction | First Tamil film without songs; considered the first Tamil noir[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153) • [5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/photo-features/experiments-in-tamil-cinema/photostory/29651665.cms) |\n| Award | Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 2nd National Film Awards (1955)[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal) |\n| IMDb rating | 8.0/10 from 559 votes[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/ratings/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe story is set in Madras (now Chennai) on 12 October 1943, during World War II and the day after the Japanese air force bombed the city.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in) Rajan, a radio engineer and communications researcher played by Sivaji Ganesan, is found shot dead by his own handgun in his house after his neighbor Chinnaiya Pillai hears the gunshot and informs the police.[7](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/570/1954-andha-naal) Police inspector Purushothaman Naidu begins the investigation, and [Criminal Investigation Department](https://www.edgepedia.org/criminal-investigation-department) officer Sivanandam (Javar Seetharaman) joins him.[7](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/570/1954-andha-naal)\n\nThe film's structure is built on conflicting testimony. Each of Rajan's family members and his neighbor offers a different theory about the culprit, and each theory is enacted as a hypothetical flashback: Chinniah blames Rajan's brother Pattabi (T. K. Balachandran), who bickered with his brother over money; Pattabi blames his wife Hema (Menaka); Hema suspects Rajan's lover, the actor Ambujam (Suryakala); only Rajan's wife Usha ([Pandari Bai](https://www.edgepedia.org/pandari-bai)) appears blameless.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in) Rajan himself, revealed through these accounts, is an unfeeling and opportunistic character who was selling India's military secrets to Japan.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in) • [7](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/570/1954-andha-naal)\n\nIn the climax, Usha tries to stop Rajan from leaving, and when he refuses she threatens to kill him to protect the country; in their scuffle over a gun, Rajan is killed. After confessing to Sivanandam that she killed Rajan, Usha commits suicide.[8](https://cinemaazi.com/film/andha-naal)\n\n## Production and style\n\nBalachander wrote the story, and Seetharaman wrote the screenplay and dialogue; S. Maruti Rao was the cinematographer and S. Surya the editor.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/fullcredits/) Although the film originated as an unstaged play and was shot with a largely static camera, it uses chiaroscuro lighting effects, dramatic close-ups, and judicious cutting to create suspense; most of the action takes place indoors.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in) Since the film has no songs, its background music consists of instrumental versions of Hindi film songs, including \"Yeh Zindagi Usi Ki Hai\" from *Anarkali* (1953) and \"Chup Chup Khade Ho\" from *Badi Behen* (1949).[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in)\n\nThe opening was unusual for its time: after a title card and voiceover establish the time and place, Rajan staggers away from the camera and dies of his gunshot wound, then returns through subjective flashbacks.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in) Ganesan, known for noble and mythic roles played in a highly melodramatic register, here delivers a restrained performance as an unlikable anti-hero.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in)\n\n## The Rashomon question\n\nFilm historians have cited two sources for the film's multiple-perspective structure: [Akira Kurosawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/akira-kurosawa)'s *Rashomon* (1950), which Balachander is said to have watched and been influenced by, and the British murder mystery *The Woman in Question*, directed by Anthony Asquith in 1950.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in) The attribution is disputed. Film historian S. E. Pillai observes that *Andha Naal* is not similar to *Rashomon* except for its whodunit plot, in which the killing is explored from different angles, and notes that unlike Kurosawa's film the Tamil film ends with the mystery solved. The film historian and writer Randor Guy also considered the comparison erroneous, seeing only a \"thematic resemblance\" and holding that *Andha Naal* was actually adapted from *The Woman in Question*.[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal) A Tamil-language retrospective likewise describes the film as based on *Rashomon*, reflecting the currency of that attribution in popular writing.[9](https://tamilcinetalk.com/andha-naal-movie-review/)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\n**Contemporary reception.** The film was well received by critics but failed commercially. Audiences were disappointed by the absence of songs, and in theaters many walked out after the first scene, in which the mainstream star's character is shot dead; theater owners had to persuade them to watch the entire film.[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal)\n\n**Awards and recovery.** *Andha Naal* won the Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 2nd [National Film Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-awards) in 1955, was re-released after the award, and became a box-office success. It also won a Best Film Award from the Madras Filmfans' Association in 1955.[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal) In 2013 it was included in CNN-IBN's list of the \"100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time\", and filmmakers including [Mani Ratnam](https://www.edgepedia.org/mani-ratnam) and Myskin have said they were inspired by it.[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal) The FIAF Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop program notes that over the years the film has assumed cult status.[10](https://www.fiafnet.org/images/tinyUpload/Training/2016-workshop-India/Final_Booklet-13_feb_2016-1_45_pm.pdf)\n\n**Historical standing.** The film is seen as perhaps the earliest noir-type film made in India and as a landmark of Tamil cinema, not least for its absence of songs.[2](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal) It was released well before [Hindi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindi-cinema)'s first songless talkie, *Kanoon* (1960).[5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/photo-features/experiments-in-tamil-cinema/photostory/29651665.cms) In 2017, a film still showing the suspects lined up pointing guns became a viral meme on Twitter; the actual scene shows the suspects aiming blank-loaded guns at detective Sivanandan, who has solved the case and wants to test his hypothesis.[3](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Andha Naal (1954), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153)\n2. [Gopalkrishnan Sreeram (2020). \"'Veenai' Balachander's Andha Naal: A noir-style sociopolitical statement by a music genius\", Film International 18(3), pp. 67–82](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347871714_%27Veenai%27_Balachander%27s_Andha_Naal)\n3. [Nandini Ramnath (2017). \"Tamil noir classic 'Andha Naal' is more than the sum of its memes\", Scroll.in](https://amp.scroll.in/article/848029/scroll_in)\n4. [Andha Naal (1954), Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/fullcredits/)\n5. [Experiments in Tamil cinema, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/photo-features/experiments-in-tamil-cinema/photostory/29651665.cms)\n6. [Andha Naal (1954), IMDb ratings](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154153/ratings/)\n7. [Andha Naal (1954), TamilMDb](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/570/1954-andha-naal)\n8. [Andha Naal (That Day) (1954), Cinemaazi](https://cinemaazi.com/film/andha-naal)\n9. [அந்த நாள் – சினிமா விமர்சனம், Tamil Cine Talk](https://tamilcinetalk.com/andha-naal-movie-review/)\n10. [Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2016 programme, FIAF](https://www.fiafnet.org/images/tinyUpload/Training/2016-workshop-India/Final_Booklet-13_feb_2016-1_45_pm.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Tamil films before 2000 › Released 1952 to 1991*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Andha Naal (அந்த நாள்)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Andha Naal (அந்த நாள்)](https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal](https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Andha Naal (அந்த நாள்)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/andha-naal. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Andha Naal is a 1954 Tamil mystery-thriller directed by S. Balachander, produced by A. V." }