''Bilhana'' is a 1948 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 romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Walter Scott helped popularize in the early 19th century. Varieties Viking These books feature Vikings during the Dar ...

film directed by B. N. Rao and produced by Mubarak Pictures. Based on the life of the

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

poet of the same name, the film stars K. R. Ramasamy and A. R. Sakunthala. It was released on 1 November 1948.

Plot

A king hires the poet

Bilhana Kaviraj, Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri poet. He is known for his love poem, the ''Caurapañcāśikā''. According to legend, Bilhana fell in love with the daughter of King Madanabhirama, Princess Yaminipurnatilaka, ...

to educate his daughter, Yamini. To prevent having a romance developing between them, the king lies to Yamini that Bilhana is blind, and to Bilhana that Yamini is deformed. When they are to interact, he arranges a curtain between the two. One day, during a lesson, Bilhana is amused at the sight of the full moon in the sky. To express his feeling of rapture, he starts reciting a poem. At this, Yamini begins wondering how a blind man could sing about the beauty of the moon so well. She pulls down the curtain and finds that Bilhana is attractive and youthful. At the same time, Bilhana learns that Yamini is beautiful and not disfigured. The two fall in love, and decide to marry, much to the anger of the king, who sentences them both to death. When the king's friends and other people revolt against his decision, he yields, and the two lovers marry.

Production

In 1944, T. R. Sundaram of

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of ...

announced his intention to direct a film adaptation of the story of the Kashmiri poet Bilhana, to star

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...

. However, the film was shelved due to Bhagavathar's arrest as a suspect in the

Lakshmikanthan murder case The Lakshmikanthan murder case was a high-profile criminal trial that was conducted in the then Madras Presidency between November 1944 and April 1947. The cause of the trial was the murder of C. N. Lakshmikanthan, a Tamil film journalist. Laksh ...

. Later, the TKS Brothers adapted the story of Bilhana twice. The first instance was for a stage performance and the second was for the screen, in April 1948 under the title ''

Bilhanan ''Bilhanan'' is a 1948 Indian Tamil-language historical drama film directed by K. V. Srinivasan, written by A. S. A. Sami and produced by T. K. Shanmugam of TKS Brothers. An adaptation of the play of the same name by Sami, itself based on the s ...

''. Since the story was not protected by copyright, Mubarak Pictures could produce their own adaptation, with the title ''Bilhana''. This version was directed by B. N. Rao and scripted by S. Sundarachariar, with music by

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 ...

. The film featured K. R. Ramasamy as the title character and A. R. Sakunthala as Yamini. Supporting roles were played by G. Sakunthala, S. M. Shaikappa,

R. Balasaraswathi Devi Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (born 28 August 1928) is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the Telu ...

, Pulimootai Ramasami, M. Jayasree, M. Jaya, Angamuthu and Kalimannu.

Release and reception

''Bilhana'' was released on 1 November 1948. According to film historian Randor Guy, it was not very successful, because the earlier film by the TKS Brothers was "still green in the minds of moviegoers". However, he did say that the Mubarak Pictures' version would be remembered for "the interesting storyline, singing of Ramasami and deft direction of B.N. Rao."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0261567 1940s biographical films 1940s historical romance films 1940s Tamil-language films Indian biographical films Indian black-and-white films Films scored by Papanasam Sivan Indian historical romance films