''Gulebakavali'' () is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language

action adventure film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

produced and directed by

T. R. Ramanna Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Ramachandran (T.R.Ramanna) (1923–1997) was an Indian film director and producer. Film career Ramanna started his life as a sound recordist in a city studio and then made his way to film direction. He started the prod ...

, and written by

Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass (1914-1965) was an Indian poet and script writer who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He wrote more than 500 lyrics for Tamil films. Early life Born to Narayanasamy and Pappu at Manampoochavadi in Thanjavur district, h ...

. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran,

T. R. Rajakumari Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Rajayee (5 May 1922 – 20 September 1999), known by her screen name T. R. Rajakumari, was an Indian actress, Carnatic singer and dancer. She has been called the first "dream girl" of Tamil cinema. Film career Ra ...

, Rajasulochana and

G. Varalakshmi Garikapati Varalakshmi (27 September 1926 – 26 November 2006) was an Indian actress, stage artist, singer, and director who worked in Telugu and Tamil films. Biography Varalakshmi was born in 1926 in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her fath ...

. Based on the story of the same name from the Arabic folklore collection, ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'', it tells the story of a young prince who sets out to the kingdom of Bakavali to find a mysterious flower which is believed to have the power to restore his father's eyesight. The film was released on 29 July 1955.

Plot

A king has two wives. He banishes his first wife as an astrologer told him that he would lose his vision because of her son Dasan. The mother and son live in the woods and when he meets his father without knowing his identity, the king loses his sight. When the son gets to know about the sad tale from his mother, he sets out to bring a rare flower from the kingdom of Bakavali, which would restore the king's sight. To achieve it, Dasan undergoes many adventures — enters into a debate with the queen Bakavali and wins the battle of wits, challenges a woman Lakbesha held captive by a crook Sukur in a fake dice contest, and rescues a slave dancer Mehmoodha of a tribal chief. Dasan wins them all and succeeds in getting the flower along with the three women who turn out to be princesses and siblings. Meanwhile, his stepbrothers try to steal the flower, but are exposed.

Cast

* M. G. Ramachandran as Prince Dasan *

as Princess Lakbesha * Rajasulochana as Princess Mehmoodha *

as Queen Bakavali *

K. A. Thangavelu Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu (15 January 1917 – 28 September 1994) popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporarie ...

as Sukur *

Chandrababu Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, director, singer and dancer, whose Chaplinesque-style on-screen movements and singing style made him popular from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. He had ...

as Gulam *

E. R. Sahadevan E. R. Sahadevan was a Tamil veteran villain actor. He acted as the villain along with M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He made his debut film Rajasekaran Emantha Sonagiri, rele ...

A. Karunanidhi A. Karunanidhi ( Tamil : கருணாநிதி) was an Indian actor and comedian who featured mainly in Tamil-language films. He was active in the field from 1948 till 1978. Though he was a comedian, the roles he played in some of the film ...

as Prince *

E. V. Saroja E. V. Saroja (1935 - 2006) was an Indian actress and dancer. She was born on 3 November 1935 as Engan V. Saroja. She belonged to Engan village of Thiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. Her debut film was '' En Thangai'' in 1952 starring M. G. Ramacha ...

as Gulzar * S. D. Subbulakshmi as Dasan's mother

Production

''Gulebakavali'' is the second Tamil film to be based on the story of the same name from the Arabic folklore collection ''

'', following a 1935 film. The film also involved a fight sequence between lead actor M. G. Ramachandran and a tiger.

, who wrote the screenplay, also wrote the songs' lyrics.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by the duo

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's ''Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy wor ...

and all Lyrics written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. The song "Mayakkum Maalai" is one of the earliest film songs to be set in the

Carnatic raga Carnatic raga refers to '' ragas'' used in Carnatic music. A Carnatic raga has several components - primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system ('' swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka'') and important tones. Origins and hist ...

named ''

Bageshri Raga Bageshri or Bageshree () is a Hindustani classical raga. It is a popular night raga, which is meant to depict the emotion of a woman waiting for reunion with her lover. It is said to have been first sung by Miyan Tansen, the celebrated co ...

''. It was originally composed by K. V. Mahadevan for Ramanna's previous film ''

Koondukkili ''Koondukkili'' () is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and co-produced by T. R. Ramanna. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan and B. S. Saroja. Although a commercial failure, it gained historical reputation over ...

'' (1954). As that film was getting delayed and the song was yet to be filmed, Ramanna instead used it in ''Gulebakavali''. Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were credited as the composers instead of Mahadevan.

Release

''Gulebakavali'' was released on 29 July 1955, and was distributed by K. S. Pictures in Madras.

Namesake

The 2018 film '' Gulaebaghavali'' was named after this film, but with a different spelling. To connect these two films, director Kalyaan devised a "special flashback sequence".

References

External links

* {{T. R. Ramanna 1950s action adventure films 1950s Tamil-language films 1955 films Films based on One Thousand and One Nights Films directed by T. R. Ramanna Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Indian action adventure films Indian swashbuckler films Polygamy in fiction Indian black-and-white films