History of Tamil Cinema – Part 4

On 5 February 1937 there released a film titled Balayogini released simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu. It is said to be the first children’s film of South India and one of the first strongly socialist films. Director K Subramanyam – C.V. Krishnaswamy Iyer who was greatly influenced by the reformist and revolutionary ideas of his father, C.V. Krishnaswamy Iyer – introduced his 4-year old niece, Saroja in an important role. The film was a huge hit and the press referred to Saroja as the Shirley Temple of India. The portrayal of the child actress saw many parents name their daughters Saroja. The success of the film also started a slew of films dealing with social issues.

On 10 March 1937, Sathi Ahalya was released to a positive audience and critical response. Produced and directed by TR Sundaram, this was the first production of the famous Modern Theatres, a company that produced more than 150 films between 1937 and 1982, recording many milestones like the first Tamil film in colour (Ali Babavum Narpadhu Thirudargallum, 1956), First English film in Tamil Nadu (The Jungle, 1852), First Zoom Effect which was done before the invention of the zoom lens (Ponmudi, 1950)

Chintamani was a popular play that was performed many times in many languages. In 1937, director Yaragudipati Varada Rao, would write himself into the record books when he directed the film version of this popular play. Rao had started his film career as a lead actor in the silent era with films like the 1923 film, Gajendra Moksham. As a filmmnaker, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of South Indian cinema, directing films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Konkani and Hindi. He directed the first Kannada Talkie, Sati Sulochana, in 1934. After the success of his 1936 film bama Parinayam, Rao was chosen to direct the 1937 film version of Chintamani.

Rao had initially planned to play the lead role, but later decided to cast MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the lead role after the success the previous year of the film Pavalla Kodi. Kannada actress Aswathamma made her Tamil debut through this film. In the initial stages, more prominence was given to her than to the male lead as she was a better known star. That would change after the release of the film.

The second male lead in the film was played by Serukulathor Sama, whose real name was Swaminathan Vaidyanathan. Sama was introduced to movies by Anandanarayan Narayanan, a member of the Chennai Cosmopolitan Club who established South India’s first sound recording studio, Srinivasa Cinetone.

Chintamani released on 12 March 1937 and was South Indian cinema’s first blockbuster movie, running for more than a calendar year. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Papanasam Sivan and was a huge hit, with MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar’s rendition of Radhae Unakku Kobam Aagathadi going on to become one of the most played and most listened songs.

The film’s producers used some of the funds generated to build a cinema theatre in Madurai and named it Chinthamani. The theatre was operational from 13 May 1939 until it was converted to a clothing store in 2008. The building was sadly demolished on 16 October 2016.

Minnalkodi, released on 30 October 1937 was one of the earliest action thrillers of Tamil cinema and saw in its female lead, Anglo-Indian actress K.T. Rukmini. The film was a box-office success and saw Rukmini become an overnight star.

Famous director B.R. Panthulu, the director of later films like Karnan, Nadodi, Aayirathil Oruvan and Ragsiya Police 115 made his Tamil acting debut in the 1937 film, Raja Bhakthi, A year earlier, he had made his acting debut in a Kannada film titled Samsara Nauka.

American filmmaker, Ellis R Dungan, who had made a very successful directorial debut in 1936 through the film Sathi Leelavathi and had a successful second film in Ru Sahotharargal, was selected to direct the film Ambikapathy – a film which is regarded as one of the biggest box-office hits of pre-Independence India.

The story is based on Ambikapathy (MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar) the son of famous poet Kambar, who falls in love with a Chola Princess, Amaravati (MR Santhanalakshmi). Seeing parallels with William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, director Ellis R Dungan even took some scenes from Shakespeare’s play and had them translated to Tamil.

The film, which had lyrics and music by Papanasam Sivan had MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar singing most of the songs. This was the first Tamil film that named the music composer in the credits.

Released on 11 December 1937, the film had a 52-week run and, along with Chintamani, were the biggest hits of the time, making M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Tamil cinema’s first superstar.