''Kuchela'' ( ''Devotee Kuchela'') is a 1936 Indian devotional film in

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 ...

directed and produced by lawyer turned filmmaker K. Subramaniam. Listed as Bhakta Kuchela The film featured

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 ...

as Kuchela and

S. D. Subbulakshmi Srivaikundam Duraisamy Subbulakshmi was an Indian actress and singer who was active in Tamil cinema during the 1930s and 1940s. She was the wife of film director K. Subramanyam. She is credited with having introduced the singer and family fri ...

in dual roles as Lord Krishna and Kuchela's wife Susheela.

Plot

The film depicted the tale of friendship between the poor Brahmin

Kuchela Sudama (), also known as Kuchela (), is a childhood friend of the Hindu deity Krishna. The story of his visit to Dvaraka to meet his friend is featured in the Bhagavata Purana. In their legend, Sudama and Krishna study together as children a ...

who had 27 children and

Lord Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one of ...

Cast

The following list was adapted from

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 ...

review article by

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 ...

and from the film's song book. ;Male cast *

as Kuchela *Vidwan Shankaralingam as Balaraman *

S. S. Mani Bhagavathar S. S. Mani Bhagavathar was an Indian Carnatic music singer, cine actor and a playback singer in Tamil language films. Early life Born at Thirupanangudi in Mayavaram and his full name is S. Subramanian Mani Bhagavathar. He was the principal di ...

as Saandheepa Muni *Jolly Kittu as Dwarapaalakar *G. Pattu Iyer as Samba Moorthi *Kunjithapatham Pillai as Vevukaar *Salem Sundaram as Rich Mirasudar ;Female cast *

as Lord Krishna and Suseelai *K. K. Parvathi as Rukmini *Poornima as Sathyabhama * Bala Saraswathi as Young Krishnan *Neelambal as Young Kuchela

Production

Subramanyam cast Subbulakshmi in a double role as a male (Lord Krishna) and a female (Susheela, Kuchela's wife). Such casting was the first of its kind in Tamil film history and even Indian cinema. Cinematography was handled by Sailen Bose and the continuity (Editing) was supervised by G. Pattu Iyer.

Title

The Encyclopedia of Indian cinema and The Hindu review article gives the title of the film as Bhaktha Kuchela. Whereas,

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 ...

's database and the Song Book gives the title as Kuchela.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

who also penned the lyrics. There were more than 30 songs in the film. The song book gave the details of orchestra. *Parthasarathy Naidu – Harmonium *

Rajam Iyer Rajam is a town in Vizianagaram district, Vizianagaram District of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a Nagar Panchayat (Notified Area Council), nagar panchayat and the headquarters of Rajam mandal. It is situated at a distance of 51 Km ...

– Fiddle (Violin) *Ekambara Achari – Mridangam

Reception

Writing in 2010, Randor Guy said the film was a success. He said the film is "Remembered for the innovative casting, pleasing music and Subbulakshmi's performance."

References

External links

* - A rare duet by

and

from this film. *{{youTube, hy5c9K1yoN4, A Viruttam sung by Papanasam sivan 1936 films 1930s Tamil-language films Hindu devotional films Hindu mythological films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by K. Subramanyam Films scored by Papanasam Sivan