Sarada is a 1962 Indian Tamildrama film directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan in his directorial debut. The film was produced by A. L. Srinivasan under ALS Productions and stars S. S. Rajendran and C. R. Vijayakumari in the lead roles, while M. R. Radha, S. V. Ranga Rao and Asokan play pivotal roles. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by K. V. Mahadevan, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Kannadasan. Karnan and R. Devarajan handled cinematography and editing respectively. The film was released on 16 March 1962 and became successful at the box office. The film was remade in Hindi as Suhagan, in Telugu as Sumangali and in Kannada as Sothu Geddavalu.
K. S. Gopalakrishnan—who earlier worked as a scriptwriter for films like Deivapiravi and Padikkadha Medhai—made his directorial debut with this film. He approached A. L. Srinivasan to produce the film based on the concept of protagonist's sexual potency. Srinivasan liked the script and agreed to produce despite warned by friends not to produce the film on such bold concept.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan and lyrics were written by Kannadasan and Panchu Arunachalam. The audio was released under the label Saregama. The songs "Manamagale Marumagale" and "Oruthi Oruvanai" were well received. The song "Manamagale Marumagale" was penned by Panchu Arunachalam.
Release and reception
The distributors expressed their doubts over the film after watching the film and sought refund of their advances. AL Srinivasan returned the advance and released the film on his own and became successful. The film was successful even its second release. The film was remade in Hindi as Suhagan with Guru Dutt, in Telugu as Sumangali with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and in Kannada as Sothu Geddavalu with Gangadhar. The film received positive reviews from critics. The Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan appreciated the film stating that "the film had several interesting elements and innovations.. It is a must watch film and make us all proud that Tamil films are progressing well". B. Kolappan of The Hindu mentioned that the film "powerfully portrays the agonising moments after the protagonist becomes impotent". The film established KS Gopalakrishnan as a famous director and he went on to direct several films with the theme of family drama. The film received National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil - Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film. S. V. Ranga Rao received the Rashtrapati Award.
