They Were Different

“Sathi Leelavathi” (1936) a movie of some historical interest introduced many new talents to Tamil cinema who in later years made waves and created history. Based on a novel by Thiruthuraipoondi Subramania Srinivasan, better known as S.S. Vasan, then a magazine writer, editor and publisher, this film was directed by an American who came to India looking for work and made films of great quality, interest and success in South India, Elllis R. Dungan. The hero M.K.Radha was one of the popular stars of South India. Another newcomer who proved success as brilliant character actor possessing a wide range was T.S.Baliah. Sathi Leelavathi” a film highlighting the evils of drink was popular success. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar hit the headlines with thud and attained super stardom with Y.V.Rao’s “Chinthamani” (1937), a folk myth. This film was song-studded and proved as great money-spinner. Music composed by Papanasam Sivan contributed to the enormous success and many songs sung by Bhagavathar and the heroine K.Aswathamma were the rage of the day. The film earned so much money that the producers built a cinema house of its profits in their hometown Madurai and named it “Cinthamani”. Cinthamani ran for over a year in many places. Y.V.Rao as director became a star too.

During the same year Bhagavathar had another spectacular success “Ambikavathi” (1937) based on a folk tale built around historical figures. Ellis R.Dungan directed this tragic love epic story. Bhagavathar blessed with a honeydew melodious voice and musical talents and skills established himself more firmly as superstar with incredible following not only among masses but also classes. His popularity during his day was incredible.

The Scriptwriter Elangovan rose to great heights in his Tamil adaptation and gave the dialogue a classic touch. Elangovan a scholarly writer made his reputation in an innovative literary trend-setting Tamil magazine “Manikkodi” in the early 1930’s. This magazine nursed and nurtured many new talents who contributed greatly to the growth of modern Tamil literature. Some of them like Elangovan, B.S.Ramaiah and S.D.S.Yogi came into films to enrich Tamil Cinema with their creative contribution. “Manikkodi” was one of the few early serious Tamil magazines to publish analytical articles and reviews of cinema.

Elangovan was the first Tamil scriptwriter to invest Tamil cinema with a touch of literature. His elegant Tamil prose attracted attentions of even the common man and dialogue came to play a dominant role in Tamil cinema. This interesting feature would play a far-reaching role not only in cinema but even beyond, in the political arena of Tamil Nadu. Music Composer of “Ambikapathi” was Papanasam Siva. With two hits in a row “Cinthamani” and “Ambikapathi” Bhagavathar and Papanasam Sivan became household names in South India. After “Ambihapathi” the trio Bhagavathar, Sivan and Elangovan came to be treated with ingredients of box-office success. Dungan introduced many innovations in his films like improved camera techniques, well pictured songs and dances, and also intimate romantic sequences!

Interestingly Dungan did not know the language and yet produced first class films in Tamil. In 1938 K.Subramaniam made a memorable film “Sevasadanam”. This picture introduced a singer with the most melodious voice ever heard, M.S.Subbulakshmi. She attained enormous popularity and after few movies she took to a carrier in Carnatic music and soared to the top. A living legend and an internationally famous musician. Subbulakshmi has contributed to deserving causes by raising funds with her soul-filling music. Haridass ran uninterruptedly for hundred and ten weeks at Broadway Cinema, Madras, witnessing, three Deepavalis (The festival of Lights) an important occasion in India. This record of the longest run for a regional film in India continues to be unbroken and unchallenged even after almost half a century.

N.S.Krishnan and his reel and real life partner T.A.Mathuram dominated the Tamil film scene for many years. Krishnan’s comedy was chaplinesque in content. It was purposeful and provoked people not merely to laugh, but also think. He poked fun at meaningless superstitious beliefs, customs, and rituals prevalent in Indian society through his comedy. He wrote and directed his comedy scenes in a film and handed them over to producers on completion, for the final editing. A genius with a vision far ahead of his time he was a social reformer, a thinker who used the medium of cinema to effect change in society. Many films survived at the box office because of his comedy sequences, some of which were shot and incorporated after the completion of the main film, sometimes after release too! For this N.S.Krishnan was known as “Film Repairer”.

P.U.Chinnappa P.U.Chinnappa, like most early Tamil film stars, an import from the stage was a successful box office hero. Next in line to Bhagavathar and an actor of many talents he could sing and perform a variety of stunts, which he had learnt. He made a splash with ‘Uthamaputhiran’ (1940). An adaptation of Alexander Duma’s novel ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’. Films like ‘Aryamala’ (1941), ‘Kannagi’ (1942), ‘Manonmani’ (1942), ‘Kubera Kusela’ (1943), ‘Jagathalapradaban’ (1944) all box-office hits made him a sought-after star. A person having fine voice and training in classical music. Some of his songs became all time hits