''Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum'' (read as "Alibabavum Narpadhu Thirudargalum"; ) is a 1941 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
-language
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by K. S. Mani. The first Tamil film adaptation of the story ''
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
'', it stars
N. S. Krishnan
Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is conside ...
and
T. A. Mathuram. The film was released on 15 March 1941, and was commercially unsuccessful. No
print is known to survive, making it a
lost film
A lost film is a feature
Feature may refer to:
Computing
* Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch
* Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob
* Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...
.
Plot
In Baghdad,
Cassim
This is a list of characters in ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ''The Arabian Nights''), the classic, medieval collection of Middle-Eastern folk tales.
Characters in the frame story Scheherazade
Scheherazade or Shahrazad ( fa, شهرزاد} ...
lives a wealthy but miserly lifestyle. At the instigation of his wife, he expels his mother and younger brother
Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...
from the house. Ali Baba and his mother reside in penury in a small house. Cassim owns a crafty slave named
Morgiana, who he lusts for, but she displays open contempt for him. Instead, she falls in love with Ali Baba.
One day, when Ali Baba and Morgiana are spending their time peasantly together, Cassim suddenly appears, violently drives his brother away and advises Morgiana about her conduct. Ali Baba returns home and informs his mother all that happened. She sends him with his friend Kadar to his uncle's house.
Ali Baba and Kadar lose their way in the forest. Exhausted, they sit by a rock to rest and witness the door of a cave open itself and a crowd of men emerge from within. Terrified, they seek a place of hiding and watch the men. The men, who are actually thieves, chant a slogan and the door closes by itself. They then depart from the place in a body. Coming out of hiding, Ali Baba and Kadar repeat the same slogan, enter the cave and find various treasures. They take some of the treasures and leave the cave.
The leader of the thieves and another, Kamal, go to Cassim's house disguised as diamond merchants. Smitten by Morgiana, the leader makes advances to her. Kamal warns him from exposing himself as he is already labouring under a suspicion that Morgiana had penetrated their disguise. Kathija, another slave attached to the household, discovers their identity and hastens to bring some guards to capture them. The thieves suspect Morgiana for the betrayal and they escape via the balcony with her.
Cassim, with the assistance of Ali Baba, locates the cave and enters it. He greedily collects many treasures, and is left trapped as he cannot recall the slogan. The thieves arrive and kill him. Morgiana is also subjected to torture. Ali Baba finds Cassim's corpse and takes it back for burial. The thieves return to the cave and see the corpse is missing, but deduce that Ali Baba had taken it. The leader goes to Ali Baba's house disguised as an oil merchant. Morgiana, however, discovers his identity and outwits him.
Cast
Cast according to the
song book
A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano manuf ...
:
Production
''Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum'' was the first
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
adaptation of the story ''
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...
''. It was directed by K. S. Mani for the company
Pakshiraja Films
{{Use Indian English, date=February 2018
Pakshiraja Films was an Indian Movie production company based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.It was owned and operated by Film Director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu.From 1937 to 1945 the company released movies ...
that was owned and operated by
S. M. Sriramulu Naidu.
N. S. Krishnan
Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is conside ...
was cast as Ali Baba, and his wife
T. A. Mathuram as the slave girl
Morgiana. Thoothukudi Ramaswamy Aiyer portrayed a character named "Pulimoottai", which subsequently became his prefix. Shooting took place at
Central Studios.
Soundtrack
The lyrics were written by K. P. Kamatchi, while the soundtrack was composed by N. S. Balakrishnan.
One song performed by Krishnan himself, "Adichippoottaney Noguthadaa", attained popularity.
Release and reception
''Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum'' was released on 15 March 1941.
Film historian
Randor Guy praised it for the "familiar storyline and the comical treatment that NSK gave his brainchild", but noted that the film was not successful. No
print is known to survive, making it a
lost film
A lost film is a feature
Feature may refer to:
Computing
* Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch
* Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob
* Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Ali Baba
1940s Tamil-language films
1941 comedy films
1941 films
1941 lost films
Films directed by K. S. Mani
Indian black-and-white films
Indian comedy films
Lost comedy films
Lost Indian films