''Arthanaari'' is a

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

film directed and produced by T. R. Raghunath. The film features P. U. Chinnappa, T. R. Ramachandran, M. S. Saroja and

M. V. Rajamma M. V. Rajamma (10 March 1918 – 23 April 1999) was an Indian actress, producer and playback singer of films mostly in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages from the 1930s through 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine an ...

in the lead roles with

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 ...

T. A. Madhuram T. A. Mathuram (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1974) was an Indian stage and film actress and singer. Biography and career Mathuram was born in Srirangam on 14 October 1918 in a family of artists. Her first Tamil film was Rathnaavali released in ...

and

Kali N. Rathnam Narayana Padaiyatchi Ratnam (c. 1897 – August 1950), popularly known as "Kali" N. Ratnam, was a Tamil stage and film artist known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Renowned Tamil actor and politician M. G. Ra ...

playing supporting roles.

Plot

Bhagavathi (Saroja) and Punyavathi (Rajamma) are the princesses of the fictional kingdom of Gandhara who have lost everything due to misfortune and live on the banks of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. Vijayavarman (Chinnappa), Bhagavathi's husband and himself a prince, is thrown into prison by the people who usurped the throne of Gandhara. While Vijayavarman thinks of a way to escape and reclaim the kingdom, the two princesses decide to commit suicide by drowning themselves in the Ganges. A sage, who happened to perform penance under a sacred tree nearby, sees the princesses drowning, saves them and advises them to seek the blessings of

Ardhanarishvara The Ardhanarishvara ( sa, अर्धनारीश्वर, Ardhanārīśvara, the half-female Lord, translit-std=IAST), is a form of the Hindu deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half-male and half ...

and have faith in Him. Vijayavarman is rescued by one of his friends and defeats the usurpers, thus reclaiming Gandhara. He then reunites with the two princesses.

Cast

Adapted from

Film News Anandan Film News Anandan (born Mani) was an Indian film historian and photographer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was popularly known as the "walking encyclopedia" of Tamil cinema. Early life Anandan was born as Mani. His father P. K. Gnanasagaram ...

and ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' * P. U. Chinnappa as Vijayavarman * T. R. Ramachandran *M. S. Saroja as Bhagavathi *

as Punyavathi *

C. T. Rajakantham C. T. Rajakantham (1917–2002) was a Tamil stage and film actress. She was the mother-in-law of playback singer Tiruchi Loganathan and grandmother of playback singers and popular music show judges T. L. Maharajan and Deepan Chakkravarthy ...

Production

The script for ''Arthanaari'' was written by the playwright and journalist

B. S. Ramiah Batlagundu Subramanian Ramiah (24 March 1905 – 18 May 1983) was a Tamil writer, journalist, and critic from Tamil Nadu, India. He was also a script and dialogue writer in Tamil films. Biography B. S. Ramiah was born in Batlagundu in 1905. H ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

for the film was done in Pragathi Studios, which was then situated in the Adyar Vizianagaram Palace.

Soundtrack

The film's music and score composed by the Madras United Artistes Corporation Music Party while

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema ...

and Rajagopal Iyer wrote the lyrics for the songs. Chinnappa sang a few songs for the film.

Reception

Wiring for ''The Hindu'', film critic and historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of the ...

noted that the film was remembered for "the impressive performance of Chinnappa, and the fine direction of T.R. Raghunath." ''Arthanaari'' was an average success at the box office.

References

1946 films 1940s Tamil-language films 1940s historical drama films Indian black-and-white films Indian epic films Indian historical drama films 1946 drama films Films directed by T. R. Raghunath {{1940s-Tamil-film-stub