''Bhakta Nandanar'' () is a 1935

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, nati ...

-language film directed by Manik Lal Tandon. It marked the cinematic debut of the carnatic singer and stage artist

K. B. Sundarambal Kodumudi Balambal Sundarambal (1908–1980) was an Indian actress and singer from Erode district, Tamil Nadu. She performed in Tamil cinema and was referred to as the "Queen of the Indian stage."

. She was paid a then unprecedented 100,000 (equivalent of 60 million (2013 prices)) as salary for this film. This was also the first film for

Ellis R. Dungan Ellis Roderick Dungan (May 11, 1909 – December 1, 2001) was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950. He was an alumnus of the University of Southern Californ ...

. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.

Plot

The story is based on the life of Nandanar (also known as Thirunaalai Povar – ''thee who pilgrims tomorrow'') and his becoming of a Naayanar.

Cast

as Nandanar * Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer as Vedhiyar

Production

K. B. Sundarambal had retired from stage performances in 1932 after the death of her husband S. G. Kittappa. Hassandas, a textile magnate from

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and a member of Chellaram business family was keen on making a film with Sundarambal in the lead. She was initially reluctant to star in the film and refused even the recommendation of her mentor

S. Satyamurti Sundara Sastri Satyamurti (19 August 1887 – 28 March 1943) was an Indian independence activist and politician. He was acclaimed for his rhetoric and was one of the leading politicians of the Indian National Congress from the Madras Presidenc ...

. Hassandas persisted and to discourage him she offered to act in the film if he could pay One lakh Rupees. Hassandas agreed to pay her and the film was made.Blast From the Past – Nava Yuvan (1937), The Hindu 6 June 2008
/ref> The film was directed by Manik Lal Tandon with Ellis Dungan shooting many scenes in his absence. Sundarambal was cast as a man – the untouchable saint Nandanar. The same story had earlier been the subject of a 1932 Tamil film of the same name. Carnatic musician Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer was cast as the landlord Vedhiyar. He was paid 3000 Rs as salary. The script had a scene where Iyer's character would prostrate before Nandanar. Due to the prevailing social norms and her respect for Iyer, Sundarambal refused to do the scene. Director Tandon filmed a compromise by changing the scene such that both prostrated before each other. The completed film cost to make and was 18000 feet long. Tunes of three songs from the 1934 Hindi film ''Chandidas '' were reused in this film.

Reception

The film was released in 1935 amid great expectations from the public. It failed at the box office and received mixed reviews from the critics. Kalki Krishnamurthy made fun of it in '' Ananda Vikatan'' by claiming buffaloes and palm trees had acted well in the film. He wrote the number one actor in the film was the coconut tree, number two was the buffalo and number three, the kid goat. The Tamil newspaper ''

Dina Mani ''Dinamani'' is a Tamil daily newspaper. The newspaper was established in 1933 and is owned by The New Indian Express Group. The first edition was published on 11 September. It is printed and published from Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dharm ...

'' also gave it an unfavourable review. Writing in the April 1938 issue of the ''Eelakesari'',

Pudhumaipithan C. Viruthachalam (25 April 1906 – 30 June 1948), better known by the pseudonym Pudhumaipithan (also spelt as Pudumaipithan or Puthumaippiththan), was one of the most influential and revolutionary writers of Tamil fiction. His works were charac ...

explained the reasons for its failure: However it received favourable reviews in 15 July 1935 issues of

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 ...

, ''Tamil Nadu'', ''Sudesamithran'' and ''Cinema Ulagam''. Viswanatha Iyer was criticised by conservative brahimins of his hometown

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

for acting in the film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nandanar (1935 Film) 1935 films Indian biographical films 1930s Tamil-language films Films about social class Lost Indian films 1930s biographical films Indian black-and-white films 1935 lost films