''Chakra Dhari'' () 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 film produced by

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Sub ...

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

and Pushpavalli star, while

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

who was a budding actor then, appeared in a minor role.

Plot

Gora is a potter who lives in a village near Pandharpur in Maharashtra. He is a strong devotee of

Lord Panduranga Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

. He is not interested in earning money which worries his wife Thulasi. Venkat is Gora's elder brother and an affluent man. His wife Sona does not like Gora and his family. One day while Gora was mixing clay, his child Hari comes there, playing. Gora was in a devotional ecstasy and did not notice his child. The child is killed trampled under the mud. Thulasi threatens to destroy the idol of Panduranga but Gora tries to kill her with an axe. She tells Gora that he should not touch her in future and he also vows that he will not touch her. However, Thulasi gets her sister Shantha to marry her husband Gora so that they can beget a child. But Gora refuses to touch Shantha too. The sisters seduce Gora one night. Gora is shocked and cuts his hands for breaking the vows. Lord Panduranga and his consort Rukmini come in disguise and work for Gora. Due to their divine powers happiness is restored in the family. Gora gets back his hands and Hari come back alive. The whole family becomes devotees of Lord Panduranga.

Cast

;Adapted from the film credits. (See External links) *

Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

as Gorakumbar * Pushpavalli as Thulasi Bai *Suryaprabha as Shantha Bai *Nagarcoil Mahadevan as Namadhevar *L. Narayana Rao as Venkaji *K. N. Kamalam as Sona *

Ganesh Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...

as Pandurangan * Varalakshmi as Rukmani *S. Krishnamoorthy as Penda *Subbaiah Pillai as Sevaji *T. V. Kalyani as Parvathi Bai *Nandi Velayutham as Guard *G. V. Sharma as Goldsmith *Baba Narayanan as Mali *N. Thyagarajan as Astrologer *M. Ramamoorthi, V. P. S. Mani,
N. Narasimhan, Raja Rao,
K. T. K. S. Mani as Thieves *Balaraman, K. Sampathkumar as Officers *Panduranga Das, T. S. B. Rao,
Vijaya Rao as Bhandari Devotees *Chopra and A. Chandra as Dancers *S. R. Lakshmi as Betel Seller *Kumari V. Thulasi as Flower Seller *B. Ramakrishna Rao as Bangle Seller *Pudukottai Seenu as Areca Nut Seller *Balan as Beggar =

Production

This tale has been filmed many times in many languages such as Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and twice in Tamil.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by M. D. Parthasarathy with P. S. Anantharaman as assistant. Parthasarathy also sang one or two songs. Lyrics were penned 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 ...

, Kothamangalam Subbu and Sangu Subramaniam. Singers are

and Nagarcoil Mahadevan. Playback singers are S. S. Mani (S. Subramanian),

T. V. Rathnam Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam ( ta, தென்காசி வள்ளிநாயகம் (டி.வி.) ரத்தினம்) (1930 - 17 October 1984) hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singe ...

, Balasaraswathi and M. Kalpagam. The song ''Kadhali Radhaiyai kalangavittan'' is set in the raga Kharaharapriya.

Reception

The film was a success at the box-office. Film historian Randor Guy wrote in 2008 that the film is "Remembered for its soul-filling music, fine photography and Nagayya’s performance."

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Gemini Studios 1948 films 1940s Tamil-language films Indian black-and-white films Gemini Studios films