Divine Son) is a 1969 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by A. C. Tirulokchander.
Deiva Magan was released on 5 September 1969; it received critical acclaim, primarily for Ganesan's performance, and was a commercial success, running for more than 100 days in theatres.
Rather than kill the baby, Raju takes him to an ashram, where he is raised by its Baba and named Kannan.
When Baba is dying, he tells Kannan he is not an orphan and to meet Raju to learn more about his past.
Despite the poor commercial performances of Ulka, Meri Surat Teri Ankhen and Thayin Karunai, director A. C. Tirulokchander was interested in adapting the novel and wrote a screenplay that was largely different from those of the previous films.
[7] Sivaji Ganesan portrayed three roles; Shankar and his twin sons Kannan and Vijay.
[5] The makeup for the scarred characters portrayed by Ganesan was done by R. Rangasamy and his son Jayanth Kumar.
[9] Rangasamy gave Ganesan's characters different looks; Shankar's look is sophisticated while Kannan was given a slightly darker skin tone than Vijay's.
The original idea was for Kannan to resemble Quasimodo in the 1939 adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame but Ganesan insisted the filmmakers reduce the character's unattractiveness after trying out prosthetics.
[10] There were difficulties in filming the scene in which Kannan is hiding in a cupboard and gestures to Shankar to give a cheque to Vijay; the scene required Ganesan to change his look between takes because the camera could not be moved, meaning he had to stand in one spot, mouth his lines, quickly change his attire and makeup to play the second character, stand in the same place and act.
Despite those present objecting, Kannadasan persisted, resulting in the creation of the song "Kettadhum Koduppavane Krishna".
[6] Despite being released just four weeks after another Ganesan film, Nirai Kudam, it was a critical and commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.
The release of Ganesan's films Thirudan and Sivandha Mann in the following months also did not affect Deiva Magan's theatrical run.
The reviewer praised the set designs, Thambu's cinematography, and Viswanathan's music, concluding that Tirulokchander "can relax for having directed a successful commercial melodramatic film".
[5][19] Kamal Haasan has acknowledged various films as influences on Michael Madana Kama Rajan (1990), namely Deiva Magan along with Nadodi Mannan (1958) and Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).