Kalathur Kannamma - Production

Production

Originally, T. Prakash Rao was the director of the film, before being replaced by A. Bhimsingh. He had directed "nearly half the film", but because AVM and he "didn't see eye to eye", the entire film was re-shot by Bhimsingh. While Gemini Ganesan and Savitri were cast in the lead roles, Kamal Hassan - who was then a child, was cast in the film, making his debut in cinema. The original choice for Haasan's role was Daisy Irani, who had been already been paid 10,000 (US$182) in advance.

There are two versions regarding Kamal Hassan's entry into this film: One version has it that, as a little boy, he accompanied a doctor who went to treat an ill woman at the home of "movie mogul" A. V. Meyyappa Chettiar (father of AVM Saravanan). On hearing loud shouting from a first-floor tenant of the bungalow, the doctor became uneasy. The young Kamal Haasan strode up the stairway to ask the noisemaker not to shout over the phone as someone was ill, leaving the person astonished. An impressed Meyyappa Chettiar later provided him an entry into films. The other version states that when young boy Kamal Haasan accompanied a family doctor of Meyyappa Chettiar to his house, producer AVM Saravanan noticed Kamal as a hyperactive child. He took him over and introduced to AV Meyyappa Chettiar who was looking for a young boy to play a role in the film Kalathur Kannamma.