''Kathavarayan'' is a 1958 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

Hindu mythological film This is a list of genres of literature and entertainment ( film, television, music, and video games), excluding genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of a ...

produced and directed by T. R. Ramanna, and written by Thuraiyur K. Murthy. An adaptation of the 1941 film '' Aryamala'', it stars

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

and Savitri. The film was released on 7 November 1958.

Plot

Due to quarrel between Lord Shiva and Shakti, Shakti and her son Veerabahu are cursed to be born on Earth and live as mortals. Veerabahu is Kathavarayan whom the tribals adopt and he becomes the prince of the mountains. Kathavarayan grows up and goes on a world tour, his mother Shakti blesses him with the divine power of transforming into any form he wishes when he is in danger. During his quests Kathavarayan falls in love with Princess Aryamala. Aryamala is reborn to a Rajaguru who predicts a tragic life for her, but the King adopts her and names her Aryamala. But the King is against their love. Kathavarayan is arrested by the King and taken to be impaled when Shakti prays to Shiva who saves him. Kaathavarayan and Aryamala live happily thereafter.

Cast

as Kathavarayan * K. Savithri as Princess Aryamala *

P. Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu language, Telugu cinema, of Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produce ...

as Goddess Parvathi / Kamakshi *

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 Swarnam * M. N. Rajam as Aravalli *

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fiel ...

as Chinnan * K. A. Thangavelu as General * J. P. Chandrababu as Mannaru *

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 ...

as King Aryan * O. A. K. Thevar as Gypsy's head

Production

''Kathavarayan'' was adapted from '' Aryamala'' (1941). It was produced and directed by T. R. Ramanna under R. R. Pictures, and written by Thuraiyur K. Murthy. Cinematography was handled by T. K. Rajabathar, and editing by M. S. Mani and T. Durai Rajan. The original lead actor was

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

, who withdrew due to creative differences with Ramanna, resulting in

replacing him. To differentiate ''Kathavarayan'' from ''Aryamala'', Ramanna added a number of song and dance sequences.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan. All songs are penned by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. Some of the songs such as "Vaa Kalaba Mayile" and "Vidhiya Sadhiya" became huge hits.

Release and reception

''Kathavarayan'' was released on 7 November 1958. ''

Kumudam ''Kumudam'' is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1948 by S.A.P. Annamalai, and his close friend and confidante P.V. Parthasarathy. Now the magazine is published under the Kumudam Group, which also publishes ...

'', in its review, gave the film a single line remark: "Kattharavaayan" (a pun on the film's title and the Tamil word for shouting, ), reflecting on how it looked like a photographed play with most of the focus on aggressive dialogue delivery, similar to '' Parasakthi'' (1952).

References

External links

* {{T. R. Ramanna 1950s Tamil-language films 1958 films Films directed by T. R. Ramanna Films scored by G. Ramanathan Hindu mythological films Remakes of Indian films