''Gokuladasi'' () is a 1948 Indian

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 ...

film directed and produced by

K. Subrahmanyam Krishnaswamy Subrahmanyam (19 January 1929 – 2 February 2011) was a prominent international strategic affairs analyst, journalist and former Indian civil servant. Considered a proponent of ''Realpolitik'', Subrahmanyam was an influential vo ...

. The film stars C. Honnappa Bhagavathar and

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 ...

, with T. R. Ramachandran, N. Krishnamurthi, Lalitha and Padmini playing supporting roles.

Plot

Kamaroopan is a lustful king who faces the curse of Goddess

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

and is reborn as a common jeweller in the town of Gokulam. The jeweller happens to set his eyes on a ''

Devadasi In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

'' named Anuradha and tries to woo her. Anuradha, on the other hand, was a singer-dancer in her previous birth and a devotee of Parvati. She was cursed by sage

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

for displeasing him and is reborn as Anuradha. The jeweller keeps trying to seduce Anuradha not realising the actions he had committed in his previous birth. To settle the matter,

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 ...

rids both the jeweller and the ''Devadasi'' of their curses.

Cast

Adapted from

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 ...

and ''

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 ...

''. * C. Honnappa Bhagavathar as

/Kamaroopan/a jeweller *

as a singer-dancer/Anuradha * T. R. Ramachandran *N. Krishnamurthi * Lalitha * Padmini as

*Sowdhamini *R. M. Somasundaram *N. Thiruvengadam *K. S. Angamuthu *S. Sarojini *Baby Sathyavathi ;Dance *Lalitha *Padmini

Production

directed and produced the film under his own banner, the Madras United Artistes Corporation. The story and dialogues were written by Ilangovan while Subrahmanyam himself handled the screenplay.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

for the film took place at Neptune Studios. One of the film's associate directors was L. Krishnan, who later went on to become a prominent filmmaker in

Malaysian cinema The cinema of Malaysia consists of feature films produced in Malaysia, shot in the languages Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, various indigenous languages, and English. Malaysia produces about 60 feature films annually, and between 300–400 ...

and earned the

Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldest ...

honorific.

Soundtrack

S. V. Venkatraman was in charge of the music and score for ''Gokuladasi'' while the songs' lyrics were written 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 ...

and Rajagopal Iyer.

Reception

Film historian Randor Guy notes that ''Gokuladasi'' is "remembered for the pleasing music, song and dance numbers by the Travancore Sisters and impressive performances by Rajamma, Honnappa Bhagavathar and T. R. Ramachandran." The film did not perform well at the box office.

References

{{reflist 1948 films 1940s Tamil-language films Indian drama films Indian black-and-white films Films about reincarnation 1948 drama films Films directed by K. Subramanyam