''Bilhanan'' 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 drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film directed by K. V. Srinivasan, written by

A. S. A. Sami Arul Soosai Anthony Sami (1915–1998) also written as A. S. A. Samy, was an Indian director and screenwriter who worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Early life Born in 1915, A. S. A. Samy was from a devout Catholic family. His father had ...

and produced by

T. K. Shanmugam T. K. Shanmugam (1912–1973; also known as "Avvai" T. K. Shanmugam) was a Tamil theatre and film artist. He acquired the prefix "Avvai" after portraying saint-poet Avvaiyar in a play. Early life T.K. Shanmugam was born on 26 April 1912 to Tamil ...

of TKS Brothers. An adaptation of the play of the same name by Sami, itself based on the story 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

Bilhana Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century 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, and had a secretive love af ...

, Shanmugam also stars as the title character, along with T. K. Bhagavathi, M. S. Draupathi, T. K.Sivathanu and "Friend" Ramasami.

Plot

A king searches for a teacher to educate his daughter Yamini, eventually settling on the poet

. To prevent any romance from developing between the two, the king tells Yamini that Bilhana is blind, and Bilhana that Yamini is deformed. He hangs a curtain between the two to prevent them from seeing each other. One night, amused by the sight of the full moon, Bilhana sings a poem in its praise. Yamini, wondering how a man can compose a poem about the moon when blind, pulls down the curtain and finds that Bilhana is attractive and youthful, and he finds the princess attractive in turn. The two fall in love and want to marry. The king opposes their wish and when Bilhana and Yamini do not listen to him, he sentences both of them to death. The king's friends and people protest and, understanding the power of true love, he forgives Bilhana and Yamini and lets them marry.

Production

A. S. A. Sami wrote and produced the Tamil play ''Bilhanan'', based on the life of the

poet

, for his college's annual day celebrations. The play became a success, and soon he submitted it to the

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

station of

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

, who broadcast it as a

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

, with

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 ...

playing the title character. The radio drama was also a success, and

of TKS Brothers bought the rights to the play. He later adapted it into a film with the same name, and starred as the title character, with M.S. Draupathi playing princess Yamini and T. K. Bhagavathi playing her father, the king. Sami rewrote the script for the film adaptation, which K. V. Srinivasan directed. Shooting took place at Central Studios in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by T. A. Kalyanam. One of the songs, "Thoondir Puzhuvinaipol" that was sung by the TKS brothers, used lyrics by the late Tamil poet

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

. Film producer A. V. Meiyappan, who held the copyright to all of Bharati's work, sued the TKS Brothers for copyright infringement.

Release and reception

''Bilhanan'' was released on 23 April 1948. According to film 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 ...

, the film was an average success because audiences "felt it was stagy in presentation". He did, however, note that the film would be "Remembered for the interesting storyline, impressive performances by Shanmugam, Bhagavathi and Draupathi".

References

{{reflist 1940s historical drama films 1940s Tamil-language films Indian black-and-white films Indian films based on plays Indian historical drama films 1948 drama films 1948 films Films directed by K. V. Srinivasan Films scored by T. A. Kalyanam