Studios — the scene of action

Studios — the scene of action

Several memorable films were shot in the studios of yesteryear in the city. Here is the history of some of the well-known production companies and their owners.

T.R.Rajakumari in "Krishna Bhakthi".

THE FIRST movie studio came up on Greenways Road on the northern side of the Adayar River. Its genesis is interesting. C.V. Raman, a lawyer by profession — he always styled himself as `C.V. Raman, B.A. LL.B' — was the brother of the sadly forgotten pioneer, A. Narayanan. Both hailed from the zamindary town, Sivaganga and entered films even during the silent film period. They underwent training under the pioneer Raghupathy Prakash and soon Raman went ahead on his own as a producer-director.

He promoted many film companies. Obviously he was a firm believer of the dictum, "Enterprise with caution!" and made good use of his legal knowledge to promote joint stock companies with limited liability. Indeed his close pals made wisecracks that this was the only instance where his knowledge of law was put to use! Besides promoting film companies he wished to have a studio of his own, as was the practice among producers in those days.

Raman floated `Lalitha Cinetone' as a limited company with Kasi Chettiar as his main money-backer. Some friends like R. Prakash also contributed to the kitty in a small measure. He acquired a large tract of land of 25-odd acres on lease with some superstructures in Adayar with Greenways road on the north and the Adayar River on the south. The historic edifice, Broody Castle was one of the borders. The property belonged to the Nawab of Arcot and the monthly rental was Rs.150! Thus it came into existence, the studio that had a chequered history facing many changes of ownership and vicissitudes over half-a-century and more before it finally became `Satya Studio' and passed into the ownership of the MGR family. Many memorable movies were made on this historic lot.

C.V. Raman however did not produce any film after he had established his studio at Adayar. Soon Lalitha Cinetone sank into a crisis and drowned fast without a trace. Never at a loss over setbacks, Raman at once promoted another movie company, `National Theaters Limited' and transferred his studio to this new venture. With much difficulty he produced a silent film `Vishnu Leela' (1932) here, after movies began to talk Thamizh in 1931. It was directed by R. Prakash and produced by Raman.

NTL too plunged into problems and went the way of all flesh but the unfazed Raman created another company — `Meenakshi Cinetone'. Some of his rich Nattukottai Nagarathar friends in Chettinad helped him with funds. One of them was AL. RM. Alagappa Chettiar who had a deep interest in the business side of cinema and experience as a distributor.

When movies began to talk Tamil in 1931 with H.M. Reddi's `Kalidas' Alagappa Chettiar and his pals made plans to enter to enter production. Al. RM. AL. had a partner, SM. Letchumanan Chettiar who hailed from Managiri in Chettinad.

(Popularly known as `Lena' in the movie world he was a powerful person in the South Indian film arena and during a particular period wielded much clout and influence in Madras. He was a drama contractor in Chettinad and also dealt in second-hand cars. He was the first man to print and distribute handbills about his cars for sale in Tamil. It was an innovation for the day and pleased his rich customers who could not read English.

He became a successful producer and made many hits during the 1940s-1950s in Tamil and Telugu like `Krishna Bhakthi' (1948). However, he faded away and his later years were spent in distress and oblivion. His son-in-law, Thirupathy Chettiar is a noted Malayalam film producer and well-known person in the South Indian movie world today.

It was at Meenakshi Cinetone that AL. AR and his partners, including C.V. Raman, produced the hit of 1934, "Pavalakodi". This film marked the debut of M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, the first superstar of South India. It was also the debut of the sadly neglected Indian film pioneer lawyer-turned-filmmaker, K. Subramaniam as director, and the star-actress, S.D. Subbulakshmi. The making of this successful movie has some interesting sidelights...

T.R.Rajakumari and T.E.Varadan in a scene from the 1934 hit "Pavalakodi".

One of the partners felt disappointed by the treatment meted out to him by the seniors and thought of a novel plan to register his protest.

The studio did not have a compound wall and he would park his car on the adjoining road. As soon as shooting began and K. Subramaniam shouted "Action!" he would start honking the car bulb-horn with glee to glory! The harsh sounds spoiled the "take" and the shot had to be taken again.

Again he would begin his honking! Thus it went on for some days. Soon the other partners realised that the only way he could be silenced was to buy his share in the partnership on his terms and get rid of him with his car, bulb horn and all! That's exactly what AL.RM and his colleagues did!

The studio floor had no ceiling and shooting had to be done, courtesy, the Sun God! That was the period when electric lights were not used in the few studios of Madras.

The other interesting sidelight was `the crow-shooter', an important member of the studio technical crew. Adayar was then a much-wooded country and the studio had many tall, age-old trees where crows gathered in large numbers.

The leftover food carelessly thrown away by the actors and crew and others at work attracted the crows and their happy and vociferous cawing disturbed the shooting. The crow-shooter armed with an air gun would shoot in the air two or three times scaring the crows off the trees and as soon as the birds flew away the cameras would roll!

As shooting was done with sunlight there were no fixed time slots for breakfast, lunch or tea. Whenever clouds hid the sun all would rush to eat and when the sun re-appeared all would rush back leaving the half-eaten food behind! Stars, small fry, the crew and the bosses and the guests and the entire king's men and women ate the same food. There was no special and preferential food for a chosen few, as is the fashion today.

(A Telugu actress asked for `mineral' water to bathe in after she did a scene in a muddy pond in the early 1990s!The stunned top producer had no option but to send for dozens of cases from a town many miles away!)

His fingers weave magic with ragas

His fingers weave magic with ragas

His bow can delight the connoisseur and the common man alike. LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN profiles Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan, versatile violinist.

IT WOULD be interesting to know that Kunnakkudi (place in Sivaganga district, also known as Kundrakudi) Vaidyanathan, as a boy, had no inclination whatsoever towards music. His father, Sangita Sahitya Harikathapraveena Ramaswamy Sastri, could present a hundred different stories as Harikatha kalakshepam; he had several students learning the Vedas, Sastras and music under him in his school, Sri Shanmukha Vidyasalai. His daughters/disciples Subbulakshmi and Sundaralakshmi used to present vocal music concerts accompanied on the mridangam by their elder brother Ganapathisubramaniam, a Hindi pundit. Violin support was provided by Haridas Rao, a friend of Sastri, from nearby Tirupathur. Though Sastri himself knew to play the violin and the veena, he would play them only during his puja and when teaching his students. He used to research on various aspects of music and discuss them with Annaswamy Gurukkaland Dr. Ganapathisubramaniam, a physician who was also a musicologist.

Vaidyanathan was not keen on attending school either, but would go and spend most of his time at the Kunnakkudi Shanmukanathar temple atop the small hill, also known as Mayuragiri. Clad in a dhoti and sporting a string a Rudrakshas round his neck and the holy ash on his forehead, his hair tied into what was then known asappalakudumi, he would listen to Shanmukhasahasranamam recited by priests. Soon he learnt to chant it himself along with the priests and was even paid an anna in appreciation of his talent. He did not take his mother Meenakshi Ammal's advice to learn some music from his father seriously. As he showed some interest in learning the Vedas he was enrolled in to a Vedapatasala, where he learnt the Vedas and Sanskrit. And destiny interfered. On one Karthigai festival day, Haridas did not turn up to play the violin for the sisters' concert at the temple. When questioned the next day by Sastri, he replied rather indifferently that he could not make it. Adding insult to injury, he said that it was an irony that Sastri, who had trained the daughters to sing and a son to play the mridangam, depended upon Haridas for the violin. Could the senior not train his `useless son Vaidyanathan?' At that moment the nine-year old boy walked in. The father just held his arm and declared, ``I shall make him a fine violinist!" much to the amusement of the family members who had gathered there. The boy did not understand what was going on. His mother told the boy that it was the command of Lord Shanmukhanatha and if he refused to learn she would not talk to him any more. That did it! ``I can't explain even today how I managed it. Within a year I learnt and practised vigorously — played the Sarali and Janta Varisais several times in a day and was ready to accompany my sisters in their concert." By eleven, he had become competent in accompaniment and used to play for many young artistes at the Tyagaraja festival conducted by Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar at Karaikudi.

It was in Karaikkudi that a turning point awaited. Sastri had taken Vaidyanathan to the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival concert at the Krishna temple organised by Gadikarakadai Nayudu, a local bigwig. Ariyakkudi, who was performing asked the boy the songs that he had learnt to play. Hearing the reply, he said, ``You will accompany me in the concert today." The violinist, who was to accompany the vocalist, had not turned up. Much to the delight of young Vaidyanathan, Ariyakkudi sang all the kritis he knew and encouraged him. After that there was no looking back. Vaidyanathan accompanied senior vidwans of the day including Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, T. K. Rangachari, Sathur Subramaniam, Sankarasivam and Palakkad Rama Bhagavatar. Accompanying other instruments is an art and Kunnakkudi proved good in that too and supported several Jalatarangam artistes and maestros like veena Balachandar a number of times. Even at the age of 14, he could boast of a repertoire of over 500 kritis. ``There is something called Sahitya bowing and I learnt the nuances," Vaidyanathan explains.Kunnakkudi was always fond of cinema music. In his young days the songs were based on classical music. He had accompanied M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavatar in his vocal concerts on the violin. At the age of 16 he had gone to Coimbatore to Modern Theatres and with much difficulty got the opportunity to play in G. Ramanathan's orchestra. He assured his father that he would practise enough to make sure that the fingering and bowing techniques of classical music were not affected. He continued to accompany many Carnatic vidwans like Madurai Somu.

Through perseverance he became a leading violinist in the group of music director, S. M. Subbiah Naidu, whom he considered a role model. The desire to score music for films was overwhelming. But a prerequisite was he had to compose tune for devotional songs. This he did — for 1,800 songs for HMV and Columbia records between 1955 and 1963 in various languages.

Vaidyanathan is known for his excellent fingering technique, with which he can simulate sounds of animals, birds, man, woman, child, elements of Nature, etc. His inspiration for this was the western violinist, Paganini; Vaidyanathan had read somewhere that Paganini, after learning different styles of music, began trying to imitate sounds of Nature. ``I could do it by using some of the techniques of Dasavidha Gamakas of Carnatic music," says Vaidyanathan.

A producer of Vadyavrinda in All India Radio, Chennai, he recalls `Kaveri' as the highlight. He traced the flow of River Cauvery from its origin to its destination with a single violin, that he played, and a tabla. The production won an award and Vaidyanathan decided to become a solo player. Several hours of practice in a day helped him realise his ambition and he has been a successful solo violinist for the past 32 yeas. His pursuit on the cinema front also produced results with director, A. P. Nagarajan, inviting him to compose music for ``Vaa Raja Vaa" in July 1969.

That was the beginning of a long line of films. Among the memorable ones are ``Rajaraja Cholan" for which he made three famous singers — S. Varalakshmi, T. R. Mahalingam and Sirkazhi Govindarajan — to sing together adjusting to their different srutis. Here, one must remember that there was no track recording those days. `Agathiyar' featured a 16-raga song.

He also produced films like ``Thodi Ragam" with Madurai Seshagopalan and ``Kandar Alangaram." ``Ula Vanda Nila" awaits release. He has sung playback in a few films and even acted in many films for which had his music direction.

Of late, Vaidyanathan has been composing music for dance dramas. The most recent one, choreographed by Krishnakumari Narendran, is ``Venkatadri Vaibhavam," Earlier he chose 22 verses from Ramalinga Adigal's work and composed them for ``Arul Adal" produced by Abhinaya Natyalaya.

Claims Kunnakkudi, ``I have no generation gap; I can play to please a child, a teenager or the elderly; if you want pure classical music, I can give it; if you want me to please the common man, you will have it. I have performed at the Tansen festival at Lucknow and surprised the audience by playing with the Hindustani flavour."

A project that has given Vaidyanathan immense satisfaction is the Kunnakkudi Sangeetha Gurukulam started three years ago for teaching his style of playing the violin. He insists that one must learn vocal music to capture the nuances in the instrument.

At present, Vaidyanathan is busy with his Raga Research Centre. After observing the effect of some ragas on human beings, like Neelambari in putting a child to sleep, he started researching on various ragas.

Muthuswami Dikshitar was able to bring rain by singing Amirthavarshini. Kunnakkudi wondered why not follow the example of such great souls. In fact he was able to revive his father from coma by playing Bhairavi at his bedside. How does one associate a raga to a particular human quality? The name of the raga gives a clue, says Vaidyanathan.

"Music has no barrier. The seven notes take different forms in the different music systems of the world," he says. So far he has been able to define sixteen ragas and their beneficial effects.

The Raga Research Centre was made possible by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalitha's suggestion when she presided over the function to celebrate 25 years of Kunnakkudi's solo violin playing and the Centre now gets State Government aid.

All his children, four sons and a daughter, have learnt music.

Actress who glowed with inner beauty

Actress who glowed with inner beauty

A brilliant performer and star of multilingual cinema, Pandari Bai was also an excellent human being. RANDOR GUY pays homage to the artiste who passed away recently.

"Motor Sundaram Pillai" ... switching over to character roles with ease.

ONE NIGHT in 1942, in a small town in the old princely Mysore state, a poor drawing master-turned Harikatha Kalakshepam exponent and dramatist, Ranga Rao, and his son were in a state of nerve-snapping tension. Besides his Harikatha Kalakshepam career, Ranga Rao, who had given up his teaching job, had his own drama troupe, Amba Prasadika Nataka Mandali. The son had lately promoted his own troupe, Adarsha Nataka Sabha, and was staging one of his early productions.

The play was about to commence and the auditorium was filling up fast. But the heroine had not showed up. With tension rising, the son did not know what to do. And then the resourceful young man had a brain wave! In a matter of moments he brought in his pretty, young sister, who was hardly into her teens, to play the role, much to the shock of the orthodox and conservative parents.

Luckily for him the little sister knew all the lines and songs of the play. It was a success and the new entrant made a mark at once.

The successful debutante of that night was Pandari Bai — brilliant actress and star of multilingual cinema, though not so successful as a producer. And above all, an excellent human being.

She had acted in a thousand films in several languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi and enjoyed a long span of nearly half a century. She had played lead roles in many movies with success and then switched over to character roles. Besides being attractive, she had a glowing inner beauty and a distinctive affectionate air about her which made her an ideal screen mother. Her soft looks and dialogue delivery also added lustre and depth to such roles.

Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, in her later career she played the mother of stars older than she and with most of whom she had played the lead in her earlier years!

"Parasakthi" (1952, Tamil, a watershed in the history of Tamil cinema), "Thirumbi Paar" (1953, Tamil, a sadly under-rated film), "Andha Naal" (1954, a national award winner, in which her performance, according to many critics, overshadowed the brilliant acting of the legendary Sivaji Ganesan ), "Abba... aaa . Hudugi" (1959, Kannada), "Kula Deivam" (1956, Tamil), "Bhabhi" (Hindi, 1957), "Belli Moda" (1967, Kannada, the film which set Puttanna Kanagal on the ladder of success) and "Avalum Penn Dhaney" (1974, her own production, an off-beat hit film) and so many others. She did not take her bow (as has been widely reported) in the AVM box-office hit "Vazhkai" (1949). Indeed she appeared only in the Hindi version of the film, "Bahar" (surprisingly her name appeared in Hindi Cinema as `Padmini'!).

With Sivaji Ganesan in the award winning "Andha Naal".

Pandari Bai was born in 1930 in Bhatkal near Mangalore. The family was artistic and her father, instilled the Harikatha art in his little daughter. Even as a mere lass (under 10 years of age), Pandari gave performances drawing large crowds. During one of her plays in Mysore City, the legendary violin maestro, Mysore T. Chowdaiah, was among the audience.

Lured by the world of grease-paint and celluloid, the successful musician had made up his mind to produce a movie and also play the lead role in it.

Impressed by the young girl, her looks and performance, he cast her in his musical movie as the hero's daughter. That was the historic Kannada film, "Vani" (1943) and it marked Pandari Bai's entry into cinema. She was barely 13. But the movie fared badly at the box-office. Recently, a print of "Vani" was found by `Master' Hiranaiah (the comedian's son) and it is being reconditioned for screening.

Pandari Bai made her debut in Tamil in the mega hit of 1944, the M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar-starrer (114 week- non-stop runner) "Haridas". In the opening song sequence, "Vaazhvil Ore Thirunaal..", the hero (MKT) on a horse chases a skimpily clad young girl. That's Pandari Bai!

Her first major role was in Kannada, "Gora Kumbhar" (1949), in which her hero was the singing star of the day, Honnappa Bhagavathar. She joined AVM Studios in Karaikudi as a staff artiste, and appeared in a brief role as Goddess Kali in "Vethala Ulagam" (1949). Her role in Kempraj's "Raja Vikrama" (1950, Kannada and Tamil) impressed AVM. He recalled her and cast her as the heroine in the sensational success, "Parasakthi" (1952). She held her own in many scenes with the torrential Tamil-speaking performance by the then unknown newcomer, Sivaji Ganesan. The rest, as they say, is history. She became a producer in 1957 and her first film was in Kannada, "Rayara Soose". The film did not do as well as expected. She made movies both in Kannada and Tamil but it was not, sadly, a success story. Deeply religious, she built a temple in Kodambakkam, near her residence for her favourite deity Panduranga. She remained single for many years and sacrificed her life for the sake of the family, her brothers and sisters and their children. Late in life she married Srinivasa Rao who managed her business affairs.

With the changing trends in cinema and her advancing age, her career began to decline.

Her health too suffered a setback and she lost the use of one hand in an accident. In spite of it all, she fought bravely spreading sunshine all around.

Few are aware that she received many offers in Hindi cinema to play the elder sister but rejected them all.

There have been many actresses in South Indian Cinema who perhaps have had more success, fame and fortune but they never came up to the standards of Pandari Bai for her simplicity, kind heart and loving human warmth. Rare commodities in the world of movies...

Nagaiah

Nagaiah — noble, humble and kind-hearted

The birth Centenary of one of the leading icons of South Indian Cinema, Chittoor V. Nagaiah, was celebrated recently in Chennai. RANDOR GUY pays tribute to the multi-faceted personality.

Chittoor V. Nagaiah (right) ... with Nambiar in "Amara Deepam."

THE STORMY petrel of Indian film journalism Baburao Patel, editor of `Filmindia' described him as `the Paul Muni of India.' During his days he was one of the most respected personalities of South Indian Cinema. A multi lingual artiste whose career spanned over three decades of active involvement in South Indian Cinema as an actor, producer and director, he was considered one of the greatest character actors Indian Cinema has ever witnessed. The immensely talented person was also a noted film music composer and singer who received training in Classical music under legendary figures, Musiri Subramania Iyer and G. N. Balasubramaniam. Such was the icon of South Indian Cinema, Chittoor V. Nagaiah, whose birth Centenary was celebrated recently at Chennai. His life was one of various vicissitudes and adversity was his constant companion. Yet he fought a valiant battle winning laurels. Some of the characters he portrayed on screen during his long innings — like Pothana, Tyagaiah, and Vemana — have achieved immortality and are talked about to this day with reverence as role models of perfect screen acting. Many were his memorable movies. He played lead and major roles in Tamil, Telugu and even Hindi and Kannada films. Memorable among them are, "Vande Mataram," "Sumangali," "Devata," "Bhakta Pothana," "Swargaseema," "Yogi Vemana" and "Tyagaiah" all in Telugu, "Chakradhari," "Meera" and "Ezhai Padum Paadu" (a classic), in Tamil.

His career

Vuppalagadiyam Nagaiah was born in 1904 in a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family in Repalle, Andhra Pradesh. He was taken to Chittoor by his uncle, where he studied and took his B.A. degree. Blessed with good looks and a melodious voice he had an inborn talent for singing and revealed a flair for acting. For a short while he worked as a clerk in a local government office in Chittoor but soon gave it up. That was the period of the Indian Freedom Movement. Inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and others he took part in the Movement and became an ardent follower of local Indian National Congress party leaders like C. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Iyengar and R. B. Ramakrishna Raju, and worked as a volunteer for the Congress party.

With his flair for music and theatre he took part in amateur plays associating himself with the local troupe run by Ramakrishna Raju, (the noted lawyer and Congressman of Chittoor) Tragedy struck when he lost his wife early in life. Depressed, he decided to take up a life of penance and prayers. However to make both ends meet he began to cut gramophone discs for companies like Hutchins and for a while he worked for its Bangalore office as its in-house musician and composer. Many of his discs like `Marubaari Korva Jaalaney....' became popular. Highly creative and innovative he introduced and sang English words in the popular Telugu song-disc, like "I love you heart of hearts.... my lovely lalaana..." which was far ahead of its time. The song became extremely popular and sold well.

Debut project

Ambitious to improve the quality of life he visited the provincial capital Madras and took part in Telugu plays then staged regularly by the Chennapuri Andhra Maha Sabha (CAMS) which functioned-and still does with less glory- at the famous Victoria Public Hall in Park Town. CAMS was then a hive of Telugu cultural activity in the city. Nagaiah became part of the scene and thanks to such association he developed friendship with an affluent audit-apprentice with a flair for drama and cinema, Bommireddi Narasimha Reddi, who was destined to become one of the leading Indian filmmakers under his professional name B. N. Reddi. His growing friendship with B. N. Reddi, helped Nagaiah to take his bow in Telugu Cinema with "Grihalakshmi" (1938) produced by B.N. in partnership with `the Grand Old Man of South Indian Cinema,' H. M. Reddi. The new entrant, Chittoor V. Nagaiah, played a minor role as a Gandhian social worker running a home for poor and destitute women.

This role attracted considerable attention in the hit movie and so did the song rendered by Nagaiah highlighting the Indian Freedom Movement — `Lendu Bharatha Veerulaara ... Nidhura Levandoy...' (`Arise warriors of Bharath...! Awake from your slumber!)

Success often brings problems between partners and B.N. parted company and promoted his own unit, which created history in Indian Cinema, Vauhini Pictures.

Under this banner BN cast Nagaiah as hero in his directorial debut "Vande Mataram" (1939). Based on an unpublished novel by the director it dealt with rural poverty, unemployment among the educated, inferior status of women in society and other such social issues. The movie was a major hit all over the Madras Presidency and even the surrounding princely states and Nagaiah established himself as a brilliant actor and movie star. Thus the legend began.

B.N. again cast him in his next film "Sumangali" (1940) not as hero but as an elderly man inspired by the Andhra social reformer who fought for the re-marriage of child and young widows, in Hindu society, Kandhukuri Veeresalingam Panthulu.

Even though the role was minor Nagaiah scored heavily with his sensitive and impressive performance and one of the songs he sang which had the theme of the film,, `Baaala Pasupu Kunkuma Neeku,' proved a hit and is fondly remembered to this day by old-time Andhra folks and movie buffs.

B.N.'s next film saw Nagaiah as hero in "Devata" (1941) which was all about pre-marital sex and pregnancy, class and caste conflicts and such socially relevant issues. Nagaiah played a London-educated rich, young man who has a pre-marital affair with his servant maid. The movie was a major success and had great impact even in States like Cochin where nobody spoke a word of Telugu. Soon Nagaiah entered Tamil Cinema in the M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar starrer, "Ashok Kumar" (1941), in which he played Ashoka, the Great.

Nagaiah ... always faced adversity with courage.

When the American Tamil filmmaker Ellis R. Dungan began work on "Meera" (1945), he insisted Nagaiah be cast as the Rajput king Kumbha Rana, opposite M. S. Subbulakshmi. C. Honnappa Bhagavathar, P. U. Chinnappa and G. N. Balasubramaniam were all considered for the role but Dungan wanted only Nagaiah because he felt only he had the dignity and screen presence required for the role.

Actor turned director

Nagaiah turned producer and director and made many movies out of which "Tyagaiah" was the most successful. Besides his stature and status as a South Indian movie icon Nagaiah was a wonderful human being and was humility personified. He helped persons, not always in distress, which landed him in financial difficulties during his last years. For example, because his film "Bhakta Ramadas" was under production for many years, he had to sell all his assets to complete the project. The film did well but Nagaiah benefited little.

Nagaiah invited the famous Hindi film singer Mohammed Rafi over to sing the Urdu songs of the Muslim saint, Kabir, which was a major role in "Bhakta Ramadas." When Rafi was given his remuneration , he returned it to Nagaiah, and was kind enough to ask him whether he could be of any further help financially in the making of the picture. Such was the regard and affection Rafi had for Nagaiah even though he had earlier seen him only on screen in the Hindi version of "Meera."

In his later years, due to adversity, Nagaiah had to accept whatever roles came his way. In one film he had to play a cowboy for a third-rate `curry western.' The noted Tamil writer, Sandilyan, who had been associated with Nagaiah and BN during the happier days of Vauhini Pictures, went to meet his old friend in a Madras city studio.

The writer was shocked to see his old pal, Nagaiah, dressed in a bizarre, outlandish, cowboy costume holding a rifle made of bamboo and sitting under a tree waiting for his shot. When Sandilyan expressed his anguish about the sad state of affairs, Nagaiah told him, "Bhashyam, (Sandilyan's real name) ... Uthara nimittham bahu krutha vesham!" (A Sanskrit saying, which means, `for the sake of the stomach, one has to play many roles!').

Sandilyan had tears in his eyes when he narrated this incident to this writer many years later. Nagaiah received the Padmasri award from the Indian Government and this writer whom he had known from the time he was a kid called on him to congratulate him. In an emotion-choked voice he remarked, "My dear boy, I have only `Padmam,' ... no `Sri' " (Sri means wealth and prosperity, which sadly the actor did not have at that time.)

Whenever Nagaiah noticed a traffic constable on duty he would stop his car and salute him even though he did not know him from Adam. When someone asked him why, he explained that the poor lowly paid cop stood for hours in the sun and rain directing traffic and making it safe and secure for the citizens, a social service for which he got little in return. Hence the poor man needed at least a salute from the people, he would say. Such was his kind heart and noble thought.

The actor as a devotee of Lord Krishna in "Paanduranga Mahaathyam."

Regretfully Nagaiah died in penury on December 30, 1973, and one of the many causes for his poverty was the person himself. Generous to a fault he did not always know who his real friends were. Many took advantage of his generosity.

After his demise, he was neglected, and almost forgotten. But a group of his old friends and admirers led by veteran Telugu film journalist Inturi Venkateswara Rao, after many hurdles, succeeded in erecting a statue inside the famous Paanagal (not Panagal) Park in T. Nagar, an area where the great soul lived most of his life.

Persons like Nagaiah are rare to find in the world of today.

Full of technical innovations

Full of technical innovations

Behind the making of the classic ``Meera" are several interesting incidents. RANDOR GUY recalls some.

Ellis Dungan and M.S. at a shooting session

THE INDIAN film musical classic, "Meera" (1945) produced by Chandraprabha Cinetone and directed by Ellis R. Dungan is one of the most memorable milestone movies in the history of Indian cinema. Even after nearly sixty years this film is vividly etched in public memory, and its songs and MS as Meera, are evergreen in the minds, hearts and souls of Indians, especially in the south of Vindyas. With MS in the lead role, others in the cast were Chittoor V. Nagaiah as King Rana, Meera's husband, K. R. Chellam, K.

Sarangapani, T. S. Balaiah, Serukalathur Sama, T. S. Durairaj, `Appa' K. Duraiswami, `Baby' Radha (MS's step-daughter, now Radha Viswanathan), `Baby' Kamala, and in a minor role, lost behind a white bushy beard, turban and all, M. G. Ramachandran! Not many are aware that the noted singing-star from Karnataka, C. Honnappa Bhagavathar was the first choice to play King Rana. On second thoughts V. Nagaiah was brought on board.

Honnappa Bhagavathar spoke to this writer about his life and career in films on audiotape during November 1990 at his residence in Bangalore, for two days in spite of his poor health and recent surgery. It was part of the Aural Film History Project in which this writer was deeply involved, for National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Pune. "I had met Sadasivam, and after discussions he told me that he would make arrangements for an advance payment and agreement, but I never heard from him again! I was more than surprised when I heard that Nagaiah was booked for that role. Of course I was disappointed. It is a rare honour to act with M.S., is it not?" he said in his Kannada-tinted Tamil. A Tamil film star of 1940s, he came into prominence after M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar was arrested in December 1944 for his alleged involvement in the sensational Lakshmikantham Murder Case. MKT suffered a 30-month jail term, which effectively ruined his career and life. Honnappa Bhagavathar passed away some years ago.

According to the director of the film, Ellis R. Dungan, Nagaiah was his choice. "Somebody suggested P. U. Chinnappa, but I rejected him as he was uncouth and did not have the regal presence needed for that role. I recommended Nagaiah, and Randor, you will agree with me, he proved the right choice for a Rajput king!" Dungan told this writer during a long chat in Los Angeles) Lyrics were by Papanasam Sivan and Kalki, and S. V. Venkataraman was the music director. Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma also worked in the music department.

Musical feast

"Meera" was a musical feast with MS singing almost all the songs. Many songs became hits and the most famous of them all, "Kaatrinile Varum Geetham" (lyric-Kalki) is an immortal melody of Indian cinema. Its tune and melody were taken from a song by the famous Bengali singer, Juthika Roy, whose gramophone records were very popular in South India in those years. The original Bengali song was a favourite of Kalki's who hummed it often and not just in the bathroom! He suggested the tune to S. V. Venkataraman and the timeless, ageless song was born. Indeed, the first line became a metaphor in the Tamil language. Some critics and historians are of the firm opinion that the story of Meerabai is only a folk tale and not factually or historically true.

There was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna named Meerabai who composed the bhajans, but she was not married to the Rajput King of Chittoor. And she was not a contemporary of Akbar the Great. No Rajput king of the days of Akbar and his favourite court musician, the celebrated Tansen, had such a queen called Meerabai. Well, that's what serious historians say...

(The incognito visit of Akbar and Tansen to listen to Meerabai's soulful music, and leaving behind as a gift, a bag of gold coins bearing the Mogul Royal Seal is a highlight of the Meerabai tale, the plays in many languages like Telugu, and also the film.) The making of the movie "Meera" is interesting and the `back story' (as they say in Hollywood) deserves to be told.

The brilliant technician trained in Hollywood, Ellis R. Dungan brought in many creative, technical innovations never ever seen before in Indian cinema of that period. Dungan shot a scene that created history in south Indian film technique.

The girl Meera, (Baby Radha, MS's step-daughter), changes into the young woman, Meera (MS), and the transition is made with a melodious song sung by Baby Radha and MS, "Nanda balaa enn manaalaa..." When the changeover takes place, there is a 45-second, fast-paced musical interlude by the background orchestra as bridge as part of the song. Normally such background musical interludes are recorded along with the song in a recording studio long before the shooting of the film commences. But Dungan did not do so.

He shot the scene first and the changeover sequence consisted of a number of shots of the statue of Lord Krishna... lighted candles with flames flickering ...flowers on trays... prayer offerings.... Krishna's flute in the statue...and then a cut to a close-up of MS singing with great feeling and emotion, "Hey! Murali... Mohana..." The shots were static, and also on fast trolley in close-up. (There were no `Zoom lenses' in 1944-1945!) Dungan edited them all by himself into a rapidly cut fast-paced sequence first, and then the sadly underrated but highly talented music composer, S. V.

Brillant score

Venkataraman scored the background music, in rhythm with the shots in a recording theatre. The impact was ecstatic and brilliant. It was the first time such a technique was used in Indian cinema. Even today this sequence is breathtaking and evokes much admiration.

S. V. Venkataraman told this writer in 1980s.... "I almost went mad scoring music for that bit! In those days we had only mono-channel recording and few mikes, not like today. I had many instruments playing, and the players were seated on the floor. Only the piano-man was given a chair. ... It was hard work and took a whole day. But the results were excellent as you can see. Only Dungan could think of such a thing. He was a wonderful man, a genius." Another experiment Dungan made in "Meera" is also unique and few have done it to this day in India.

MS is a woman of exceptional beauty and charisma radiating inner charm. To capture it all on camera and project her ethereal beauty, Dungan made an experiment with his cameraman, another movie camera wizard, Jiten Bannerjee. He had a mould made of MS's face, and took shots of it from different angles with varied patterns of lighting. The shots were cut into frames and were studied repeatedly by Dungan and Bannerjee on screen with a `slide-projector.'

The best angles and lighting patterns were selected and used in the film. Consequently, the close-ups of MS in "Meera" are captivating, evoking appreciation from even film technicians of today.(The film is in Black and White.) Other songs by MS in "Meera" are "Enadhu ullamey....," "Giridhara Gopalaa....," "Hey Harey Dayalaa...," "Maraveney yenn...," "Maraindha koondil...," "Engum niraindhaayey...." (an eternally haunting melody, it has a male voice in the beginning and that's S. V. Venkataraman singing), "Janardhanaa Jagannathaa...." and "Brindhavanathil Kannan..." (a melodious chorus with MS leading). The interior sequences of "Meera" were shot at the then famous Newtone Studio in Kilpauk, Chennai. During 1937-1950s it was a hectic hive of film production in many languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and even Sinhala. M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar was a major investor in this studio and was on its board of directors.

Others were noted film technicians of that day, F. Nagoor (well known art director and filmmaker), Jiten Bannerjee, and Dinshaw K. Tehrani (famous audiographer). All of them worked on "Meera" with Ellis R. Dungan. (Sadly this historic studio no longer exists. The Rajaji Vidyashram run by Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, to whom the land was donated by the kind owner, functions on the site. Not a trace of the studio, not even a broken brick is seen today....)

In disguise

Dungan had an interesting experience while shooting in Dwaraka. As he was not a Hindu, he could not enter the Krishna temple. But he was the director of the film and he had to be present.

MS was keen that he should be with her. So Dungan was made up as a Kashmiri pundit with turban, beard and all, and he went in with no questions asked or eyebrows raised!

He knew a few Hindi words like `Chalo,' `Jaldi' and `Kaam Karo', which he used liberally! If he spoke with a nasal American twang Dwarakapuri-wasis did not bother! Maybe that's how Kashmiri pundits speak Hindi, they thought perhaps.

Not many are aware that "Meera" was launched in 1943, and that N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Madhuram were to have acted in it. But with NSK's arrest in December 1944, in the sensational Lakshmikantham Murder Case, he could not work in the film. Instead, T. S. Durairaj played a minor role in the film, but could create only a poor impression, and was no patch on N. S. Krishnan.

"Meera" was released on Deepavali Day in 1945. Two years later, the Hindi version came out in 1947, and with it MS became a national celebrity. The film had an on-screen introduction by the noted politician and poet, Sarojini Naidu, who described MS as `The Nightingale of India'.

The film was seen by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Mountbattens and other leaders who became her ardent fans and friends. She went on to conquer new areas around the world and became an international celebrity.

"Meera" made more than half century ago, will always live in the hearts of Indians and moviegoers everywhere. The hallmark of a classic, an immortal movie.

Bhanumathi

Bhanumathi was one actress who did not confine her talents to the silver screen.

Versatile and high-spirited: Bhanumathi.

"PEOPLE in the film industry call me high-spirited and a woman who tried to get what she wanted and often succeeded. Their assessment was correct," said famous film star Bhanumathi who died recently in Chennai. The comment was made in 1980 when I met her for an article on S.S.Vasan, the movie moghul of Gemini Studios.

Bhanumathi often laughed and her laughter was infectious. She cited roles from her 100-odd films in a 55-year career to prove the point.

"Do you remember the scene from Gemini's `Apoorva Sahodarargal' where disguised as a kitchen maid I hoodwinked dozens of enemy soldiers and escaped?" she asked.

I nodded. "Wasn't that where you sang `Laddoo Laddoo Mithai Venumaa'?"

She nodded happily. "Vasan sir liked that scene very much."

Early films

Among her earlier Tamil films, she liked "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" because the heroine Marjiana was a go-getter.

I asked her about "Nalla Thambi", a Tamil social satire produced by comedian N.S. Krishnan, in which she played Cleopatra.

"That was part of a fantasy scene," she pointed out. "Krishnan Sir was more of a socialist. I played an arrogant rich woman while the real hero and heroine were Krishnan and his wife T.A. Madhuram. This was a film where I could not do anything even when the hero, Nalla Thambi, distributed my entire wardrobe of saris to poor women."

As we chatted, I wondered at her versatility. Entering show business at 13, she went on to become a super star in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films and also excelled as a singer, music director, editor, director, producer, studio owner, author, social worker.

"Don't forget my abilities as a cook," she reminded me.

"Perhaps, that was why the `Laddoo Laddoo' song clicked in a big way," I replied. "You referred to Tamil, Telugu, Kerala and North Indian cuisine in that song."

She was the recipient of so many awards, winning the National Award thrice and the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

A lover of both classical and light music, Bhanumathi sang her own songs and was not nervous when cast opposite well-known singer, M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavadhar in her maiden Tamil film, "Raja Mikthii".

Her husband, Ramakrishna, whom she married at age 18, encouraged her creative talents and explained that she should feel honoured to be cast opposite such a senior actor. The rest was easy. She co-starred opposite all the leading men of her days doing the maximum number of films with such famous actors like NTR, MGR and Sivaji Ganesan.

Her earlier Tamil films like "Apoorva Sahodarargal", "Malai Kallan", "Ali Baba" and "Nalla Thambi" were fun films, which did not tax her acting ability. But with recognition as a top star came more challenging roles.

"Acting with Shivaji Ganesan sir was indeed an experience," pointed out Bhanumathi. "Films like `Rangoon Radha' and `Ambikapathi' taught me nuances of emotional acting in which Shivaji Sir was so good."

Brilliant portrayal

Bhanumathi was brilliant as a mother in "Annai" where she would not give up her hold on her adopted son to his real mother even after he had grown up.

Nirupa Roy played the role in the Hindi version but the producers demanded that Bhanumathi be brought back for its Telugu version. By that time, she had planned her retirement and the producer shelved the idea.

She picked up languages quickly and did not need dubbing for her Hindi films like "Nishan" and "Shamsher" with thespian Ashok Kumar. "I could have done more Hindi films," pointed out Bhanumathi, "but the roles I was offered were of the same kind. Tamil cinema was more challenging."

Other interests

I had a sneaking suspicion that she loved writing and music more than acting. No wonder, her autobiography in Telugu, Nalo Nenu, won an award as the "Best book of the Year" in 1994.

She talked enthusiastically about compulsory primary education and the need for more rural schools. No wonder the couple ran a school at Salligramam in Chennai.

We had to put up with columns and columns of stereotyped stuff on Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan in the media. But, barring one, not one Mumbai daily carried a report on the death of the versatile genius, Bhanumathi!

Tamil Cinema History - The Early Days.

Tamil Cinema History - The Early Days. 1916-1936 Compiled by "Kalaimaamani" Film News Anandan. During the past 82 years, Tamil Cinema has reached many a mile stone. In this article, 'Kalaimaamani' Sri. Film News Anandan, noted film historian and researcher, considered an walking encyclopedia on Tamil Cinema traces the growth of Tamil Cinema from the silent era to the birth of the talkies and beyond. This is the first part of this ongoing series on the evolution of tamil cinema. 1916 The year marked the birth of the Silent Film in Tamil Nadu, the precursor to the modern day Tamil Cinema, as we know it. R.Nataraja Mudaliar (featured on the right) was the first producer, director and cinematographer in Tamil Cinema. Trained in London, he came back and made Keechaka Vadham in 1917, the first Silent feature film in Tamil. 1917-1930 Other Silent movies followed. Encouraged by the success of the medium, Prakash Raghupathy (on the left) made Bishma Pratigna. Other mythologicals and historicals followed - Sarangadhara, Bhoja Raja, Gajendra Moksham etc. Censor Boards were established in Madras in 1918. 1931 It was inevitable! In 1931, the talkies came to Tamil Nadu. The first Talkie with Tamil in it was Kalidas (on the right). It was directed by H.M.Reddy and produced by Ardeshar Irani's Imperial Movie Tone and released on 31st October. Kalidas was produced in a hurry, and was technically flawed. It was not a pure Tamil talkie, in the sense that the artistes spoke (mainly) both in Tamil and Telugu. It starred T.P.Rajalaxmi (on the left) as its heroine. She was a stage artiste who gained immense popularity as a movie actress and went on to make movies herself. Though it was a puranic story - both Thyagaraja Kirtanas and the Indian National Congress publicity songs had a place in the picture. Its curiosity factor, if anything guaranteed its success at the box-office. 1932 Kalava (Rishi) was the first cent-percent talkie in Tamil. It was directed by P.P.Rangachari. 1933 In a couple of years, many more producers and entreprueners entered moviemaking, encouraged by the success of the first few talkes. Competition heated up in the film industry; so much so that in the same year, the same stories (Prahaladha, Srivalli were being made by different people. Prabhath Film Company made the Seetha Kalyanam around this time. The famous Veena Vidwan Balachander's (on the left) brothers and sister acted in this movie. It starred S.Rajam as Lord Rama and Jayalakshmi (his sister) as Seetha. 1934 This year marked the creation of a Box-Office Super star in M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. (on the right) The movie Pavalakkodi which introduced the lead pair M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavatar and S. D. Subulakshmi. it was a box office success, made on a seemingly large scale. As electrical arc lights were not available then, grand sets were erected in the exterior of the studio and pictures shot with the help of sunlight. Until 1934, Tamil movies were mostly made in Bombay and Calcutta. Srinivasa Kalyanam changed this practice, being the first tamil picture produced in Tamilnadu. It was produced by Srinivasa Cine Tone. Lava Kusa marked the beginning of the famous Tamilnadu talkies. It was produced by S.Soundararaja Iyengar. TamilNadu talkies went on to make many such box-office successes. 1935 Nandhanar was unique in many ways. The movie has the distinction of being remade four times in Tamil. This version had the great stage artiste, K.B.Sundramabal who was a woman playing the hero. Also, the producer gave her a renumeration of one lakh rupees, unheard of in those days! 1936 Comedy was a recipie for box-office success. Soon many movies were released with the comedy track incorporated at the end. They were even released as double-billings, For example - Mahatma Kabirdas - Madayargal Sandhippu and Srimathi Parinayam - Manasamy. Another trend in those days was a gimmick adopted by producers by releasing the same movie under two different names. For example, Srimathi Parinayam was also released under the title Srirama Janma Karanam, Chanda Mohan as Samooga Thondu and Bhama Parinayam under the name Samanthakaman. The directors Rajachandrasekar and Ellis R. Duncan (on the right) were introduced. Ellis Duncan directed S.S.Vasan's Sathi Leelavathi which went on to become a major box-office success of the year. There is an interesting story surrounding the discovery of M.K.Radha who almost did not make it! A popular stage play, Pati Bhakthi was being picturised in 1936. M.K.Radha, who did not act in the original drama was given a contract to appear in the movie. But as luck would have it, the producers of the drama who also controlled the production of the movie stepped in and barred him from acting in the picture. He was very much disheartened. At the same time, S.S.Vasan was toying with a similar story entitled Leelavathi. Just to encourage M.K.Radha and his father Kandasamy, Vasan gave them an opportunity to act in his picture and the picture was a great success. This movie also marked the debut of T.S.Baliah. Sati Leelavathi also had a young man making his screen debut as a Policeman. That young man was none other than M.G.Ramachandran in his first credited role. The rest, as they say, is history. T.P.Rajalakshmi marked her debut as the first lady director in Tamil Cinema with Miss Kamala (shown on the left). Another popular movie of that time was Kuchela. (below) Lyricist Papanasam Sivan acted as Kuchela and S.D.Subbulakshmi acted as Krishna and also as Suseela, wife of Kuchela. Another landmark movie of the year was Pattinattar. It was Produced by Vel pictures. M.M.Dandapani Desikar played the hero. Witnessing the picture, many people took to a life of reclusion. Another film icon, P.U.Chinnappa made his debut in Chanda Kantha, directed by Raja Sandow with the story by J.R.Rangaraju. M.K.T was so popular that the producers tried to cash in on his image by giving the audiences a double dose in Satyaseelan. It had Bhagavatar in a double role as the king as well as the songster in the royal court. N.S.Krishnan and his wife formed a successful on-screen comedy pair with movies like Vasantha Sena directed by Y. V. Rao.

Reel-time nostalgia

Reel-time nostalgia

Coimbatore produced some memorable movies in the 30s, 40s and 50s. M. ALLIRAJAN traces the rise and fall of filmmaking in the city.

GUESS WHERE the super hit Malaikallan starring M G Ramachandran and Banumathi was shot? Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai?

"You think of all these cities. But, it was shot in this very Coimbatore," recalls an old-timer with a sense of nostalgia.

Once the bastion of Tamil cinema, Coimbatore saw the likes P U Chinnappa, M K Thyagaraja Bhagavathar (MKT), T R Mahalingam and M G Ramachandran staying in the city and shooting for movies.

Most of their initial movies were produced in studios based in Coimbatore, one among the first places in the country to boast of film industry.

"They all used to reside here. The former Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi, came to our studio for writing the dialogues," reminisces Dr S Srihari, son of Sriramulu Naidu, who founded studios.

One needs to rewind over 60 years, 1936 to be precise, to know how the film industry flourished. Long before Coimbatore earned a name as an industrial city, there was a `mini Kollywood' here, led by two studios -- Central and Pakshiraja. Movies were then shot largely in studios. Outdoor shoots were virtually unknown. There was a reason for confining shooting to the studios. "The cameras and equipment were too big to be carried. So, 90 per cent of the movie was shot in the studio. You had to be a studio owner to produce movies in those days." S M Sriramulu Naidu started Central studios in 1936 at Uppilipalayam, near Singanallur. Says Dr. Srihari: "My grandfather wanted him to become a lawyer. But, he discontinued his studies and went into the hotel business. The contacts developed there helped him start these studios."

Filmmaking was then a relatively new concept and a lot of money went into setting up a studio. Nothing could be hired; everything had to be bought, including the costumes. Also, studio owners had to be all-rounders. In most cases, they were the directors and producers and also looked after editing and saw through the rushes.

The Central studio was a partnership venture with R K Ramakrishnan Chetti (brother of India's first Finance Minister R K Shanmugham Chetti). Sriramulu was the working partner. The studio also had a music department headed by S M Subbiah Naidu. It's BNC Mitchell camera cost a whopping Rs. 5 lakhs and all the artistes were paid monthly salary. In those days, a person was signed on for the lead role only if he or she knew singing, and diction was paramount.

Sriramulu encountered problems even with his maiden ventureThukkaram. The film, with Musiri Subramaniya Iyer playing the lead role, was released in 1937 to a lukewarm response. The partners decided to go their own ways, but Sriramulu ran the show by borrowing. The Second World War brought its own share of trouble for the fledgling studio. The sound engineers and cameramen were all Germans and were arrested after the outbreak of hostilities. Luckily, their assistants took charge.

"Vasan visited our studio and then set up Gemini studios in Chennai," Dr Srihari recalls proudly. Central continued producing movies, which included box-office hits like Sivakavi with MKT playing the lead andJagadhala Pradhapan featuring P U Chinnappa and Arya Mala. In 1944, Sriramulu moved out of Central and started Pakshiraja studios at Puliakulam in 1945. One of the major ventures of Pakshiraja studios was the multi-lingual movie it made in the mid-50s, cutting across language and geographical boundaries. The studio producedMalaikallan, featuring the star pair of MGR and Banumathi, in Tamil,Aggiramudu in Telugu with N T Rama Rao and Banumathi, Azaad in Hindi with Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari, Tushkaraveeran in Malayalam, Bettadalli kalla in Kannada and Surasena in Sinhala.

Azaad, the first Hindi movie to be made in the region, was shot in just three months in three schedules lasting 20 days each.

Leading stars MGR and Banumathi were paid a princely sum of Rs. 20,000 each. For the Sinhala version, the artistes came in from Ceylon (as it was known then).

How viable was filmmaking in the good old days? "There was no cutthroat competition. Studio owners timed the release of movies in such a way that it did not affect others' prospects. Everyone did not try to release the films on Deepavali and other festive occasions," Dr. Srihari recalls.

The glorious days did not last long. Soon, Chennai overtook Coimbatore when it came to making films. "Most of the artistes were from Chennai. As studios were opened in their own city, they found it difficult to travel to Coimbatore for shoots. The dates also clashed and soon Chennai became the hub of cinema," he explains.

The Gemini studio, which opened in Chennai in 1939, started the trend. AVM too shifted its base from Karaikudi to Chennai. With the establishment of Vahini studios in Chennai, the concept of studio-owners producing movies changed. The floors of the studio were rented out and even those who did not own studios made films.

However, Sriramulu turned into the vanguard of Coimbatore's studios, making films off and on. Finally, bowing to the diktat of the times, he transferred his equipment to the newly built Chamundeswari studio in Bangalore in 1968, which was also owned by him. With this, the glorious chapter of studios and filmmaking in the city came to an end.

Burmah Rani 1945

Burmah Rani 1945

C. Honnappa Bhagavathar, T. R. Sundaram, K.L.V. Vasantha, Serukalathur Sama, S. V. Sahasranamam, T. S. Balaiah, K. K. Perumal, Kali N. Ratnam, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Mathuram, C. T. Rajakantham, M. E. Madhavan and V. M. Ezhumalai

thrilling Burmah Rani

As the Second World War (1939-1945) drew to a close and the Allies were in sight of victory over the Axis, the British Indian government requisitioned leading film producers to make films, highlighting the role of British India in fighting the enemy and putting down fascist forces. The making of such ‘War Propaganda Pictures’, as those came to be known, became imperative to established producers. Some concessions were also held out like the proverbial carrot, and four Tamil producers made such films, all of them released during 1945.

En Magan (Jupiter Pictures), Kannamma En Kaadhali (Gemini Studios),Manasamrakshanam (Madras United Artistes Corporation, a K. Subramanyam company) and Burmah Rani (Modern Theatres) belong to this genre.

Out of the four, T. R. Sundaram’s Burmah Rani was blatantly propagandistic and anti-Japan. The film narrated how the British Indian Army freed the Japanese-occupied Burmah, and Sundaram, an England-educated person with a westernised outlook played the role of a sadistic Japanese army chief. Vasantha (later Mrs. Vasantha Sundaram) was the heroine. While singer-actor C. Honnappa Bhagavathar, an import from the old Mysore state, played the male lead, Balaiah, NSK and other noted artistes of the day played supporting roles. Sundaram, the Modern Theatres boss who directed the film and also played the Japanese army chief, had built over the years an excellent library of stock shots duplicated from Hollywood movies, in his Salem studios which were used with excellent results in many of his films. In this film anyway, the War Propaganda Department with its south Indian headquarters at the landmark building on Mount Road, then known as ‘Victory House’ (now owned by the VGP family), supplied the real arterial warfare shots. They were intercut with staged scenes to make the film thrilling. That was not all. The premiere of this film was held at Madras with the top British officer of the Department presiding over the show and in his speech he praised it and the outstanding services of Sundaram towards the British war efforts.

As for the story, an RIAF officer’s (Honnappa Bhagavathar) plane is knocked down by the Japanese but he and his team manage to escape. He hides in the house of a Burmese officer of Indian origin whose daughter (Vasantha) falls in love with him. The Japanese chief (Sundaram) is after her and attempts to rape her but she escapes...

The story with many twists and turns is excellently narrated on screen by Sundaram. Vivacious Vasantha renders a breezy Burmese dance number to satisfy the whims of the villain.

Sundaram, who controlled every aspect of film production with an iron hand and steel whip, put on greasepaint in a couple of films. One was Burmah Rani and the other was a mythological Sulochana in which he played Indrajit, son of Ravana. At first, P. U. Chinnappa was cast in the role, but as a matter of discipline Sundaram replaced him and played the role himself.

Burmah Rani was fairly successful and during that period there were many foreign soldiers milling about the city and most of them saw the movie in the company of their local girlfriends!

Indeed, Burmah Rani pleased the British Indian government which patted its maker on the back with cheer. Ironically, a few years later, after India attained freedom, this film was banned for its unkind portrayal of the Burmese and the Japanese!

Remembered for its racy narration, Vasantha and the comedy sequences of NSK-Mathuram and Ratnam-Rajakantham.

An icon in her time

An icon in her time

Writer, publisher, singer, composer, social activist... Vai Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal was all rolled into one. A profile of a dynamic lady, who has contributed richly to women empowerment.

An orthodox madisar clad Iyengar woman was married at the age of five. She never went to school and yet wrote an incredible 115 books, including a detective novel in Tamil. Single-handedly she edited and published a monthly Tamil magazine, Jaganmohini for 35 years.

An ardent patriot and Gandhian she even went to prison in 1932 during the Indian Freedom Movement. A pioneer feminist, she was also a Carnatic music composer and performer.

Such was the stature of Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal (1901-1960) familiarly known as Vai. Mu. Ko.

A native of Triplicane, she took part and played a notable role in almost every sphere of social activity of those turbulent times and dynamic decades.

Triplicane with its famous Parthasarathy Swamy temple, was originally a shrotrium village close to the Bay of Bengal (shrotrium is a gift-assignment to the Brahmin by the ruler for his services to the king and society). The earliest recorded reference to Triplicane is in 1654 A. D. when Timmanna gave benefactions to the temple. The bayside village went through various vicissitudes and was occupied at various times by Muslim Nawabs, the French, the Dutch, and the British. .

In such a historic area Vai. Mu. Ko created history. Vaithamanithi Mudumbai Kothainayaki Ammal was born on December 1, 1901, in Triplicane. In 1907, she was married to the nine-year old Vai. Mu. Parthasarathy. The rigidly orthodox Vai. Mu. family had many noted scholars of Tamil and Sanskrit, and intellectuals. Her father-in-law, Vai. Mu. Srinivasa Iyengar, was a well-known exponent of the Harikatha kalakshepham. Married into such ambience not surprisingly the young Vai. Mu. Ko was inspired to learn to read and write Tamil.

With support from her uncle, her husband and in- laws, she learnt fast and began to read voraciously.

Her husband took her to watch plays not only in Tamil but also the Kannada plays of the legendary Gubbi Veeranna then camping in the city. Vai. Mu. Ko often sat with a group of women whose family was in the book-publishing business.

The play-watching activity stirred the inherent creative talent in her and she worked on a play and also a novel.

As she could not yet write the Tamil script she dictated the two works to a neighbour and friend, T. C. Pattammal. Thus, Vai. Mu. Ko began her writing career.

She showed her first novel to one of most famous writers of detective fiction in Tamil, Vaduvoor Duraiswamy Iyengar, who was then living in Triplicane.

He noticed in the manuscript the making of a writer of detective fiction and encouraged her to write in that genre. That was how she came to write detective novels. Her astonishing output of 115 books consisted of novels, plays and collections of short stories. With the help of her husband, she took over a struggling magazine, Jaganmohini and built it up into a successful venture. She wrote her novels as serials in the magazine.

She also ran a school in Triplicane exclusively for women where she taught among other subjects, music, tailoring, handicrafts, embroidery, English and Hindi. In her 115 novels, she dealt with socially relevant issues of the day like the dowry menace, ill-treatment of women, women's education, ills of the Devadasi system, untouchability and many more.

She also wrote articles on many subjects of interest to women, including women's education. In one article she strongly advocated the teaching of classical dance (Bharathanatyam) as part of the school curriculum. That was the period when the dance was treated as `pagan and vulgar'. Not surprisingly it stirred a hornet's nest!

Three of her novels were filmed. `` Raj Mohan", ``Anathai Penn'' and ``Dayanithi". The most famous is ``Anathai Penn". It was produced by Jupiter Pictures, and directed by R. Prakash. M. K. Radha, P. U. Chinnappa (in a supporting role), T. S. Krishnaveni, T. A. Sardambal, and the noted Tamil folk poet, writer, filmmaker and actor, Kothamangalam Subbu were in the cast.

What is most interesting is that Vai. Mu. Ko. insisted that she would sell the story only if they undertook to cast M. K. Radha in the male lead role.

That was not all. She also insisted that the film in progress should be shown to her from time to time and her green signal obtained to go ahead! The producers agreed. Such privilege being extended to a writer is unknown even today!

Indeed the writer is the most expendable entity in the movie world of India! "Dayanithi'' was filmed with much success as ``Chitthi''(1966, after her demise).

Produced and directed by the successful filmmaker, K. S. Gopalakrishnan it had Padmini and M. R. Radha in lead roles. Ironically in the film credits the storywriter's name appears as ``V.M.K"!

Vai. Mu. Ko imbibed the ideals and principles of Mahatma Gandhi whom she met at Madras and was a steadfast disciple of one of the stalwarts of the Indian National Congress party during the Indian Freedom Movement, S. Satyamurthi. She took part in the Movement and addressed meetings with her mentor. She exhorted women to come out of their kitchens and fight for the freedom of the Motherland and also the emancipation of women.

She went to prison for her role in the fight against the British Rule. Even though the expression was not yet in vogue, she was one of the earliest feminists of India.

She was well versed in Tamil, Sanskrit, English and also Hindi which was unheard of for a mere woman in that era. Vai. Mu. Ko sang well and cut gramophone discs.

She composed music too and created new ragas like Hamsapramari and Dharadhari. Not many are aware that she was instrumental in the living legend, D. K. Pattammal, taking her bow as concert musician. Pattammal's conservative father was against his daughter singing in public. Vai. Mu. Ko travelled to Kanchipuram many times only to meet him.

Against heavy odds, she succeeded in persuading him to let his daughter sing in public.

And Pattammal took her bow at Madras thanks to Vai. Mu. Ko. The fast-rising star was only eleven! Vai. Mu. Ko was one of the outstanding Indian women of the 20th Century.

It is a matter of regret that she and her varied contribution have not been properly recognised or honoured by her home state or country.