Vasantha Maligai

Vasantha Maligai
Directed by	K. S. Prakash Rao
Produced by	D. Ramanaidu
Written by	Bala Murugan
Story by	Kousalya Dev
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Vanisri K. Balaji Santha Kumari Nagesh Pandari Bai Major Sundarrajan V. K. Ramasamy
Music by	K. V. Mahadevan
Cinematography	A. Vincent
Edited by	K. A. Marthand Narasimha Rao
Production company	Vijaya & Suresh Productions
Distributed by	Vijaya & Suresh Combines
Release date	29 September 1972
Running time	162 mins
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Vasantha Maligai (Joyful Palace) is a 1972 Tamil film, directed by K.S. Prakash Rao, starring Sivaji Ganesan and Vanisri, a remake of the 1971 hit Telugu film, Prem Nagar. (Its producer, D. Ramanaidu, made a third version of the film in Hindi, titled like the 1971 film Prem Nagar, which was released in 1974.)

Vasantha Maligai was a blockbuster, running in theatres for nearly 750 days, and Ganesan and Vanisri were both well-received for their acting. In the Telugu version, the lead roles were played by Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Vanisree, and in the Hindi by Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini. A digitally restored version of the film was released in March 2013.

Anand (Sivaji Ganesan) is a rich playboy and alcoholic. He has an older brother, Vijay (K. Balaji). Anand, who has been abroad, boards a plane home, on a shift that air stewardess, Latha (Vanisri), is working. Latha lives with her father (Major Sundarrajan), mother (Pandari Bai), two brothers, and a sister. Her elder brother (Sreekanth) resides at home with his wife, but Latha is the highest earning member of the family. A struggle begins when Latha's mother objects to her being an air hostess: She begs her to change profession so that she can be home at more decent hours.

While Anand is celebrating his birthday in a pub near his home, Vanisri arrives at the same pub for a job interview with the manager. However, the manager, a lustful man, in the guise of interviewing her, shuts the door and tries to rape her. While leaving the pub, Anand hears Latha screaming and pushes open the door. He fights the manager, rescues Latha, then drives her home. The next day, Latha goes to Anand's house to return the coat he had lent her the night before. She then asks him for a job, to which he agrees, hiring her as his caretaker.