History of Tamil Cinema – Part 6

MK Radha gains a fanatical following

MK Radha had made a memorable acting debut in Sathi Leelvathi directed by American director Ellis R Dungan – a film which also saw the introduction of MG Ramachandran, NS Krishnan and TS Balaiah to the screen.

MK Radha had moderate success with his second film, but it was with his third film – titled Anaadhai Penn – that he became a star. The film was based on a novel by Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal, who supervised the entire film. Aanaadhai Penn marked the first major role of P.U. Chinnappa, who was cast as a villain. The film released on 26 November 1938.

Not only was this a hugely successful film, it also created a huge fan following for MK Radha who sparked a series of fashion items after the release of this film.

 

NS Krishnan and TA Mathuram make headlines

Dakshayagnam was the first talkie version of the story Daksha Yajna which had earlier been made three times as silent movies. Written and directed by Raja Chandrasekar, Dakshayagnam had VA Chellappa in the lead role. NS Krishnan and TA Mathuram, who had met on the sets of the 1936 film, Vasantha Sena, played important roles in Dakshayagnam and their relationship took on the ststus of a full-blown affair during the making of this film. NS Krishnan, who was already married, then took TA Mathuram as his second wife.

MS Krishnan’s granddaughters are both active in the Tamil film industry: Anu Vardhan is a costume designer and has worked on films like Billa 2007, Sarvam Kabali, Bigil, Pattas, Vettaiyan and Kanguva. Ramya NSK is a well-established playback singer whose many songs include Saayndhu Saayndhu from Neethane en Ponvasantham, Pom Pom Penneh from Briyani, En Fuse Pochu from Arrambam and YOLO from Anegan.

1938 was when NS Krishnan established himself as a comedian with an important role to play in the film, unlike comedians of previous films. His best years were still to come, but that success was built on the foundation he established in 1938.

MG Ramachandran played the role of Vishnu in this film

Why AVM’s Nandakumar earned itself a place in the record books

AV Meiyappan, the owner of AVM Productions, decided to collaborate with Marathi filmmaker, Keshav Rao Dhaibar for a film based on the life of Lord Krishna titled Nandakumar. TR Mahalingam, until then just a stage actor, made his film debut at the age of 14, playing the role of Krishna. TP Rajalakshmi was cast in the role of Yashoda.

Nandakumar also saw the acting debut of TR Ramachandran, who would later gain fame for his character and comedic roles. He would later come to be known as the Eddie Cantor of India.

Nandakumar also marked the debut of SV Venkatraman as a music composer. Venketraman had earlier acted in five films, but inhis fifth film as actor he broke his left hand. While recuperating in Bengaluru, he met AV Meiyappan. That meeting led to him making his debut as a music composer in Nandakumar.

AV Meiyappan was unhappy with singing of the actress who played Devaki’s mother and he had a discussion with the film’s director about this. They then decided to replace the actress’s voice with another soundtrack featuring an established singer’s voice – They chose Lalitha Venkatram to sing the song. She thus became the first playback singer of Tamil cinema and Nandakumar became the first film to feature playback singing. Lalitha Venkatram was the first Carnatic singer to feature on All India Radio, singing on the station’s inaugural broadcast in 1933. One of Lalitha Venkatram’s most famous students is singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan.

Nandakumar released on 06 August 1938 and had a successful run.

Another Hollywood trained director in Kodambakkam

The film Yayathi featured P.U. Chinnappa in the lead role opposite M.V. Rajamma. The film was directed by Hollywood trained director M.L. Tandon, an associate and fellow alumnus of Ellis R Dungan.

This film also marked the Tamil debut of MV Rajamma in only her second film. She has an unusual record of acting opposite and playing the mother of four iconic South Indian actors – Sivaji Ganesan, MG Ramachandran, Dr Rajkumar and NT Rama Rao.

According to Rajamma, during filming there were repeated clashes between P.U. Chinnappa and the film’s director, even escalating to a physical altercation between the two.

Music and lyrics were penned by Papanasam Sivam and included 25 songs. All of the surviving songs were sung by PU Chinnappa.

Yayathi released on 17 December 1938 and was a commercial success.