''Arasilankumari'' () is a 1961 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 historical adventure film directed by A. S. A. Sami and A. Kasilingam, and produced by M. Somasundaram under

Jupiter Pictures Jupiter Pictures ( ta, ஜுபிடர் பிக்ச்சர்ஸ்) was an Indian feature film production company founded in Coimbatore in 1934 by M. Somasundaram (popularly known as "Jupiter Somu") and S.K. Mohideen. Jupiter Pictur ...

. An adaptation of the 1952 film ''Scaramouche'', itself based on a 1921 novel of the same name, it stars

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

, Padmini and

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

. The film was originally directed by Sami, and completed by Kasilingam. It was released on 1 January 1961, and failed commercially.

Plot

Arivazhagan has a sister Anbukarasi. Anbukarasi falls in love with Vetrivelan, who is commander-in-chief of the royal army, but he tells Anbukarasi and Arivazhagan that he is just an ordinary citizen of the kingdom and marries Anbukarasi. Arivazhagan leaves on a mission after his sister's marriage. After some time, Vetrivelan deserts his wife and child and returns to the palace. He starts plotting against the royal family. How his plans are set at naught by the hero and how his wife fights for him against her own brother form the rest of the film.

Cast

as Arivazhagan * Padmini as Anbukarasi *

as Azhagurani * R. Muthuraman as Pulikesi * M. N. Nambiar as Vetrivelan * K. A. Thangavelu as Kalaimani * Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar (guest appearance) * R. Nagendra Rao * S. A. Ashokan as Manimara Bhoopathi * T. A. Mathuram *

M. Saroja M. Saroja was an Indian actress and comedian who worked in Tamil cinema. She was frequently paired alongside K. A. Thangavelu. Career Director K. Subramaniam introduced Saroja to the film industry, when she was 14 years old. She played the role ...

as Annam

Production

''Arasilankumari'' was adapted from the 1952 film version of the

Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born British writer of romance and adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea Hawk'' (1915), ''Scaramouche'' (1921), ''Captain Blood'' (a.k.a ...

novel ''Scaramouche''. It took as long as five years to complete. The film was originally directed by A. S. A. Sami, who had differences with the cast and crew; he was replaced by A. Kasilingam who completed the film. This was the final film produced by

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan. Lyrics were by

Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram (13 April 1930 – 8 October 1959) also known as Pattukottaiyar was an Indian Tamil poet and lyricist. Considered to be the most popular Tamil lyricist of the 1950s, he is particularly remembered for the phil ...

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam,

K. S. Gopalakrishnan K. S. Gopalakrishnan was an Indian screenwriter, director, producer, and lyricist, who worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. Since the early 1960s, he directed 70 films. He spent most of his career directing and producing movies with soc ...

, R. Pazhanichami and Muthukoothan. The song "Chinna Payale" was later adapted into "Thiruttu Payale" for the 2006 film of the same name.

Release and reception

''Arasilankumari'' was released on 1 January 1961. Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' appreciated Nambiar's two contrasting performances of the same character. The film was not commercially successful, with historian Randor Guy attributing it to the prolonged production schedule.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0268940 1960s historical adventure films 1960s Tamil-language films 1961 films Films based on British novels Films scored by G. Ramanathan Indian historical adventure films Jupiter Pictures films