History of Tamil Cinema – Part 10

The year 1942 was when Tamil talkies entered its 12th year. By then, it had already crossed many milestones and set the stage for greater success.

Prithvirajan setting up an MGR-starrer for success

The film Prithvirajan was released on 29 April 1942 and starred PU Chinnappa opposite A Sakuntala, with TS Baliah and TM Ramaswami Pillay in supporting roles. The film used one of the songs penned by Subramania Bharathi but the producers were unable to credit him as the British authorities had banned his poems and songs. The film did not fare well at the box-office but performed much better when it was remade in 1962 as Raani Samyuktha with MG Ramachandran and Padmini heading the cast in a film penned by popular lyricist, Kannadasan.

A film that earned MG Ramachandran the sum of Rs 300 as salary

Thamizhariyum Perumal, which released on 20 April 1942 was based on the life of Sanskrit poet and dramatist, Kalidasa. The film did not fare well at the box-office but is noted for being one of the early films that starred MG Ramachandran in a minor role. MGR would later refer to this film as it saw him being paid the sum of INR 300 for the role. The film also featured MG Chakrapani, the brother of MGR in another minor role.

The debut of an icon in Tamil cinema

Manonmani was released on 07 November 1942 and starred P.U. Chinnappa in the lead role supported by R Rajakumarie, TS Balaiyah, TR Mahalingam, NS Krishnan, TA Madhuram, N Kalirathnam and R Balasubramaniam. Based on the 1892 play Manonmaneeyum, the film was a blockbuster hit and ran for 25 weeks. Music was by T.A. Kalyanam who had an assistant called KV Mahadevan. The 24-year old made his film debut through the film and would go on to become one of the most respected music composers in the south.

A.V. Meiyappan tastes success again

A.V.Meiyappan, the founder of AVM Studios and AVM Productions, had launched his own studios in 1940 called Pragathi Studios. It was only in 1945 that he would establish AVM Studios. After the runaway success of his full-length 1941 comedy Sabapathy, Meiyappan produced another full-length comedy in 1942 titled En Manaivi. The film starred K. Sarangapani opposite K.K. Meenalochani and was a huge box-office success. The movie was based on a French play The Self-deceived Husband

Tamil Cinema’s first adaptation of a literary epic.

Kannagi was the first Tamil film to be based on Silapadhigaaram, one of the five great epics in Tamil literature. Director R.S. Mani cast P.U. Chinnappa as Kovalan and P. Kannamba as Kannagi. The film was one of the most expensive of its time and was a huge success on 110 screens, making it one of the biggest hits of its time.

S.S. Vasan’s unique competition to market Nandhanar

Producer, S.S. Vasan of Gemini Studios produced the fifth film version of Nandhanar in 1942 which had in its lead roles Dhandapani Dhesikar and Serukalathur Sama. To promote the film, Vasan came up with a unique competition in which those who watched the film could nominate the Top 3 songs from the film in merit order. Those who guessed according to the pre-selcted list won a range of attractive prizes. The clever part of the initiative was that vinyl records of a film only went on sale 100 days after its release. Thus, in order to participate in the competition, the only way to hear the songs was to go to the cinema theatre and watch the movie. In that way, Vasan significantly increased the footfalls for Nandhanar.