Bale Pandiya (1962 film)

Bale Pandiya
Poster
Directed by	B. R. Panthulu
Produced by	B. R. Panthulu
Written by	Ma. Ra.
Screenplay by	Dada Mirasi
Story by	Ma. Ra. Joshi
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan M. R. Radha Devika K. Balaji
Music by	Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy
Cinematography	V. Ramamoorthy
Edited by	R. Devarajan
Production company	Padmini Pictures
Distributed by	Padmini Pictures
Release date	26 May 1962
Running time	156 mins
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Bale Pandiya (Tamil: பலே பாண்டியா) is a 1962 Tamil language comedy film directed by B. R. Panthulu. Starring Sivaji Ganesan, M. R. Radha and Devika in the lead roles, the music was scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. It is the first film to feature Sivaji Ganesan in three distinct roles.

Bale Pandiya (Sivaji Ganesan) is a young man who leads a troubled life. He is continuously being chased by Marudhu (also Sivaji Ganesan) - a look-alike of him and Marudhu's boss Kabali (M. R. Radha), who would be given a lot of money if they killed Pandiya. While being chased by them once, he gets into a runaway car being driven by an insane young girl(Vasanthi). The car crashes, but the girl gets cured from her insanity. Her father allows Pandiya, who is homeless, to stay with them. Parallelly, Pandiya falls for Geetha (Devika) and her father Amritha Lingam (also M. R. Radha) accepts the romance. But Marudhu and Kabali's pursuit for Pandiya still continues, and they successfully toss him into the sea. However Pandiya's elder brother Shankar (also Sivaji Ganesan), a scientist finds out about everything and agrees to help. He pretends to be Pandiya after faking his own death and confronts Marudhu and Kabali, making them shocked to see "Pandiya" alive. Just then, the real Pandiya steps in, revealing that two fisherman saved him from drowning and hell breaks loose. The two brothers battle the criminals and in the process, Kabali accidentally shoots Marudhu dead. Saddened by the death of his friend, he commits suicide. So Pandiya and Geetha are re-united.

Shortly before his trip to the United States, Sivaji Ganesan had signed up for Bale Pandiya. He visited the studios on the second day of the month, and left on the twelfth after the film was completed. Ganesan claimed himself to hold the "world record of completing a film in eleven days time." He played three distinct roles, while his co-star M. R. Radha played two roles. The entire film was completed in 15 days, with shooting going on simultaneously at three different places.