MGR’s film Nalla Neram had its premiere on March 10 of that year. The producer was Sandow M M A Chinappa Thevar, while the director was M A Thirumughaam. A dog, monkey, lion, cow, snake, goat, leopard, and elephant were among the many creatures participating. Thevar was sure that using animals instead of people would entertain viewers more. On the same principles, he also produced the wildly popular Rajesh Khanna film Haathi Mere Saathi. The story of the movie’s production was more fascinating than the plot itself.
Thevar produced a handful of films between MGR’s Thaikubin Bin Thaaram in 1956 and Jaishankar’s Mannavan in 1970. Hindi-language movies were being produced at the time by AVM and Nagareddy’s Vijaya Productions. Thevar decided to produce one as well, choosing Rajesh Khanna for the main role.
Rajesh, one of the most well-known individuals in the industry at the time, was building Aashirwad, his perfect home. Thevar understood he needed the money and paid for the building of the house in full. Rajesh told Thevar he was prepared to perform because he was unable to decline the film’s request. The anecdote Thevar told, however, did not amuse the actor.
Deiva Cheyal, starring R Sundarrajan and Muthuraman, was written by Thevar and released in 1967. Thevar had high hopes for the story, but they were unmet. He wished to give Rajesh the Hindi lead because he remained confident in the story. The actor went to Salim Khan to request that the plot of Thevar be changed because he didn’t like it. Salim and Javed Akhtar worked together to translate the story into Hindi after a few minor modifications. Rajesh thus received the lead role in the wildly popular Hindi film Haathi Mere Saathi. In this movie, Salim and Javed first gained the credit they deserved.