''Gnana Soundari'' 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 written, produced and directed by the duo F. Nagoor and

Joseph Thaliath Jr. Joseph Thaliath Jr. was an Indian film director and producer. Early life Hailing from a Christian family, he was the son of a High Court Judge in Thiruvananthapuram when it was known as Trivandrum in the Princely State of Travancore before indep ...

The film stars T. R. Mahalingam, M. V. Rajamma in lead roles with D. Balasubramaniam, Sivabhagyam, Lalitha and Padmini playing supporting roles. The film revolves around Gnana Soundari, daughter of King Dharmar who is ill-treated by her stepmother Lenal. In order to get rid of her, Lenal sends her to a forest. In the process, Soundari loses both of her hands and she gets saved by prince Pilenthiran. The film was adapted from a stage play conducted by Nawab Rajamanickam which itself adapted from a Christian folk tale. The film's screenplay was written by Nanjil Nadu T. N. Rajappa. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman. Jithin Banerjee and Selvaraj handled the film's cinematography respectively. The film was edited by V. B. Nagaraj. ''Gnana Soundari'' was made with an estimated budget of ₹30,000 with a final film reel length of . Development of the film began when Citadel Pictures decided to adapt the film while S. S. Vasan directing another version of the same play at that time. The film was released on 21 May 1948 with this version being successful while the version of Vasan failed.

Cast

;Male cast * T. R. Mahalingam as Pilendiran *

D. Balasubramaniam D. Balasubramaniam was an Indian actor whose career spanned from the late 1930s through the late 1950s. He was well known for his roles in mythological films and later switched to character roles. Filmography References Male actors in Tam ...

as Dharmar * C. V. Nayagam as Simion * P. G. Venkatesan as Michael (Oracle) * Pulimootai Ramasami as Anthony * Buffoon Shanmugam as Susai ;Female cast *

M. V. Rajamma M. V. Rajamma (10 March 1918 – 23 April 1999) was an Indian actress, producer and playback singer of films mostly in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages from the 1930s through 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine an ...

as Gnana Soundari * P. S. Sivabhagyam as Lenal * B. Saradambal as Bhagyam * Baby Rajamani as Young Gnana Soundari * P. R. Mangalam as Arogyam * Lalitha- Padmini as Palace Dancers

Production

F. Nagoor and Joseph Thaliath Jr., son of judicial officer in Trivandrum decided to produce and direct the film based on a stage play conducted by Nawab Rajamanickam which itself adapted from a Christian folk tale. During the same time, S. S. Vasan announced making the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of same stage play for which he had cast M. K. Radha and Kannamba in lead roles. S. V. Venkatraman composed the film's music and Jithin Banerjee and Selvaraj were the film's cinematographers. The film was edited by Nagaraj while Nagoor was the film's art director. The film's screenplay was written by NanjilNadu T. N. Rajappa. The producers had originally chosen Bhanumathi for the titular character. However she opted out as she felt uncomfortable shooting with her hands being tied back for many scenes. Kannada actress M. V. Rajamma was chosen for the role. Makeup man Haribabu made her look young as she was elder than T. R. Mahalingam. To develop the scenes of lead character struggling in forest, makers watched a Hollywood film on Jesus Christ and developed the scenes by getting inspired from the film. The film was made on a budget of shoestring budget of ₹30,000 (worth ₹2.1 crore in 2021 prices) with Rajamma being paid ₹1,500 and Mahalingam ₹5,000 with additional amount of ₹2,500. It became the first Tamil film where a song sequence presented the life of Christ on screen.

Soundtrack

As per film titles, the film's soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman. M. S. Gnanamani composed music for 3 songs. Lyrics were penned by

Kambadasan Kambadasan (1916–1973) was an Indian writer, poet and film lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil-language films. Early life Kambadasan was born as Appaavu a.k.a. Rajappa at Ulagapuram, a village near Tindivanam in the then South Arcot District ( ...

, Balasundara Kavi,

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 ...

, K. R. Sarangapani, T. N. Rajappa and K. D. Santhanam. The song "Arultharum Devamatha" was well received and it is a cult classic. The song was sung by

P. A. Periyanayaki P. A. Periyanayaki (14 April 1927 – 1990) was an Indian playback singer and actress who worked mainly in Tamil-language films. She also performed stage concerts as a Carnatic singer. Early life She hails from Thiruvadhigai near Panruti. ...

and young

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese languag ...

. Songs are from the song book: The song Arunothayaanandhame penned by Papanasam Sivan was set as a Ragamaliga comprising Kambodhi, Simmendra Madhyamam and Sama ragas. Lyricist details taken from the film's credits.(See External links).

Release and reception

''Gnana Soundari'' was released on 21 May 1948. ''The Indian Express'' wrote, "M. V. Rajamma plays the title role creditably, exciting the sympathy of the audience by her characterisation of the ingenuous princess in the very many pathetic situations that abound in the play".

had to release the film on his own at Paragon theatre as part of sharing revenue basis since no distributor were willing to buy the film as they felt Vasan's version was larger in appeal. However the film of Vasan failed at box office as audience could not accept characters speaking in a Brahmin accent and this version was well received at box office. S. S. Vasan, withdrew his film from the theatres as a respect to the tremendous victory of the Citadel version.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* *{{youTube, 7ju01tk1uws, Arunothayaanandhame - A song sung by T. R. Mahalingam included in the original film but not available in the You Tube video copy. 1948 films Indian black-and-white films 1940s Tamil-language films Films scored by S. V. Venkatraman Films directed by Joseph Thaliath Jr. Indian historical films 1940s historical films Films about Christianity Films based on Indian folklore Portrayals of Jesus in film Portrayals of the Virgin Mary in film Marian apparitions in film Films scored by M. S. Gnanamani