Education is one of the fundamental rights of humanity to earn one's livelihood and learn to excel in one's field of activity. Education includes schooling and higher levels of learning, through collegiate and university channels. Above all, education envisages and ensures knowledge not only through institutions, but also through one's immense experiences at various stages. These experiences emanate from parental infusion and personal inquisition, for availing of opportunities, to augment one's extra-institutional knowledge, towards fulfilling their dreams and aspirations.
The early decades of Tamil cinema came out with two historic films 'Padikkadha Medhai'{The uneducated scholar} and 'Padithaal Mattum Podhuma'?{Is it enough if one is merely educated?}. Both these films released in 1960 and 1962, respectively, were directed by the amazing film maker A.Bhimsingh. Sivaji Ganesan was the hero of these two films and later he also did a similar uneducated role in the film 'Padikkadha Pannaiyaar' {The Uneducated Landlord} made by the sparkling film maker K.S. Gopalakrishnan. This film was released in 1985. Interestingly during the same year, late Rajasekar released his most successful Rajinikanth film 'Padikkadhavan',in which Sivaji Ganesan also appeared as the elder brother of the superstar.
Later Danush did the film Padikkadhavan which was just a funny entertainer. Excepting the Danush film, all the others focused on the futility of education, if an educated person fails to realize and act upon the fundamental human values that are supposed to be refining every individual's right attitude, and behaviour.
'Padikkaadha Medhai'was an extraordinary film with an excellently engaging storyline. A.Bhimsingh deeply delved into an emotional family drama involving a wealthy family, headed by Rao Bahadhoor Chandrasekar, who was actively engaged in the stock market. Chandrasekar and his wife had three educated sons, a widowed daughter and another daughter waiting to be married. The family had also adopted an orphan by name Rengan. It was a happy family until Chandrasekar's wealth fell along with the fall of the stock market, in which he had heavily invested. His educated sons began to break from the family one after the other. His daughter's marriage which was fixed, had to be cancelled as the marriage proposal broke following his fall of wealth.
The film contained a lot of agonizing and cathartic elements woven through incidents such as the fall of wealth following the fall of stocks, the fall of the joint family system due to the unexpected rebellion of the three educated sons, the pain of the aristocratic patriarch falling dead, after his most loving uneducated Rengan being chased out of the house. 'Padikkadha Medhai'was an outstanding movie, neatly portraying the presence of a purposeless education facing a void in front of an uneducated orphan, fulfilling that void with love and care for the elders and fellow human beings. The core of the film displayed the noblest human values of life cherished by the uneducated Rengan and his wife, in the midst of the vagaries of the three educated sons and their wives. From start to finish the film stuck closer to the hearts of the audience. In this context, the unforgettable song,
"படித்ததினால் அறிவு பெற்றோர் ஆயிரம் உண்டு
பாடம் படிக்காத மேதைகளும் பாரினில் உண்டு"
which if translated into English, would roughly mean,
There are thousands who became knowledgeable due to education
There are also uneducated scholars in the world.
This song exalted the uneducated Regan far above the educated sons of Rao Bahadoor Chandrasekar. The greatest longing among the film lovers of the older generation now, is for such films that hit the Tamil screen in the middle of the last century.
In 'Padithaal Mattum Pothuma'?,A.Bhimsingh more sharply focused on the negativities perpetuated by the failure of education putting the uneducated lot, as victims of the wrong, scheming and aggressive attitudes of the educated. The story line of the film revolved around two cousins going on a bride seeing mission for each other. While the educated elder cousin went to see an uneducated bride belonging to a poor family for his uneducated younger cousin, the uneducated younger cousin visited the house of a rich landlord, to see an educated bride for his educated elder cousin. It is in this context the evil designs of the educated brain began its scheming course. As the elder cousin was impressed by the poor uneducated girl, he wrote two anonymous letters, to the families of both the brides, one degrading his character to the rich landlord and another showing his younger cousin in poor light, to the parents of the bride, whom he saw for his younger cousin.
Interestingly, during this process the younger cousin was also tutored well to speak some manageable English when he went to see the educated bride for his elder cousin. This changed the fallout of the bride seeing episode, drastically shifting the brides to each other, in an awkwardly mismatching marriage for the younger cousin. He had to face the bitter consequences of an uneducated man marrying an educated girl. Whereas, the elder cousin who married the girl of his choice, began to lead a smooth conjugal life, because the uneducated wife treated him like a lord. Finally, when the hidden evil designs of the educated elder cousin came to light, the climax delivered the suitable judgement making the audience feel that mere education became an exercise in futility, without proper character evolution. 'Padithal Mattum Pothuma' became another epic in the acting career of Sivaji Ganesan, whose inspiring role play as the uneducated youngster, boosted the morale of the entire film.
'Padikkadha Pannaiyaar' was a remake of 'Kan Kanda Dheivam' directed by the same director K.S.Gopalakrishnan. Sivaji Ganesan as the uneducated landlord, reigned supreme in excelling the educated lot, by his uneducated eminence.'Padikkadhavan' directed by late Rajashekar, was an action-drama throwing light on the subtleties surpassing the genuine goodness of education, the plight of the uneducated in the hands of the educated. The hero of the film Rajinikanth is caught in between his gracefully educated elder brother, and his deceptive but educated younger brother. Rajashekar does not project education as an existential evil, but made it travel between circumstances defacing the educated and those exploiting the uneducated, by the badly educated group. The film Padikadhavan would remain as a neutral film in its presentation of the flaws of education, without totally demoralizing the educated lot. As an action thriller Padikkadhavan would live in the memories of the audience as a distinct movie filled with humour and pathos, grace and ugliness, innocence and crime, integrity and dishonesty. In this regard, the film showcases the negatives of education trying to undermine the positives of education.
That Sivaji Ganesan played meaty roles in all the four films while occupying an invincible place in the first two films and exuberant actors like S.V.Renga Rao and Kannamba did powerful roles in the first two films are significant points to be mentioned here. R.Muthuraman appeared in the first two films. M.R.Radha and S.V.Sahasranaamam as character actors in Padithaal Mattum Pothuma would find an endearing place in the memories of those who had watched the film. Sowcar Janaki as the female pair of Sivaji Ganesan in Padikkadha Medhai, Savithri paired against K.Balaji{the elder cousin} and Raja Sulochana as the quarreling wife of Sivaji Ganesan in Padithaal Mattum Pothuma,K.R.Vijaya as the wife of Sivaji Ganesan in Padikkadha Pannaiyaar and Ambika as the female lead for Rajinikanth in Padikkadhavan,all made those films special, by their enchanting performance.
Padikkadhavan placed Rajinikanth as an emotional uneducated central character caught in between an educated &dignified elder brother {Sivaji Ganesan} and an uncouth younger brother {Vijay Babu}.The superstar gave an amazing and sprightly roleplay, beautifully blending humour and grief. However, unlike the first two films both Padikkadha Pannaiyaar and Padikkadhavan presented the changed perspectives in film making, between the Nineteen Sixties and Eighties.
To fairly sum up, the four films mentioned here, taunt the flaws of education but do not target education as an undesirable process in the progress of mankind. Tamil cinema has also glorified the exalting stature of education by films like Paditha Manaivi, starring S.S.Rajendran and Vijayakumari. which positively justified the title and Paalum Pazhamum in which Sowcar Janaki the educated second wife of Sivaji Ganesan parts with him, after his first wife {Sarojadevi} believed to be dead, returns alive. There are many more films in Tamil glorifying the exalted qualities of the educated.
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