''Prithivirajan'' is a 1942 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 by B. Sampathkumar. The film stars

P. U. Chinnappa Pudukkottai Ulaganathan Pillai Chinnappa (5 May 1916 – 23 September 1951) was an Indian singer and film actor during the 30s era from Pudukottai, India. He is also credited as one of the first major influential actors of South Cinema. His no ...

and A. Sakunthala.

Plot

The story is based on the popular folk legend Prithviraj, the king of Kanauj, of the Chauhan dynasty. Prithivirajan falls in love with Samyuktha the princess and daughter of the King of Delhi, Jayachandran. Though Prithivirajan and Jayachandran joined hands and defeated Mohammed Ghori, something happened and they became enemies. Jayachandran places a statue of Prithivirajan in the hall where Samyuktha is to choose her life partner from among the princes who were gathered there. She puts the garland to the statue of Prithivirajan. But, lo and behold, the statue turns into real life Prithivirajan who takes the hand of Samyuktha and off they went to the utter astonishment of King Jayachandran and others.

Cast

The list is adapted from

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 ...

article. *

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...

*A. Sakunthala *

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 ...

*T. M. Ramaswami Pillai *

M. R. Santhanalakshmi M. R. Santhanalakshmi ( ta, எம். ஆர். சந்தானலட்சுமி; 1905–1957) was a Tamil film actress who played lead roles in movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Filmography References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santhanal ...

*S. D. Subbaiah *G. M. Basheer *

N. S. Krishnan Nagercoil Sudalaimuthu Krishnan, popularly known as Kalaivanar () and also as NSK, was an Indian actor-comedian, theatre artist, playback singer and writer in the early stages of the Tamil film industry – in the 1940s and 1950s. He is conside ...

T. A. Mathuram T. A. Mathuram (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1974) was an Indian stage and film actress and singer. Biography and career Mathuram was born in Srirangam on 14 October 1918 in a family of artists. Her first Tamil film was Rathnaavali released in ...

* T. K. Sampangi *T. R. B. Rao *S. Velusami Kavi *

Kali N. Rathnam Narayana Padaiyatchi Ratnam (c. 1897 – August 1950), popularly known as "Kali" N. Ratnam, was a Tamil stage and film artist known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Renowned Tamil actor and politician M. G. Ra ...

*C. T. Rajakantham *P. S. Gnanam *K. K. Krishnaveni

Production

Though this was a historical film,

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

's song ''Bharata Samudhaayam Vaazhgave'', of the 1930s Indian Freedom Movement period, was included in the film and sung by the hero P. U. Chinnappa. Bharati was not credited in the titles because there was British rule in India at that time and Bharati's songs were banned. The same story was again filmed in 1962 in Tamil with M. G. Ramachandran and Padmini in the lead roles. The title was given as ''

Raani Samyuktha ''Rani Samyuktha'' () is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language historical romance film directed by D. Yoganand. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran as Prithviraj Chauhan and Padmini as the eponymous queen. It was released on 14 January 1962, and performe ...

''.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

G. Ramanathan Gopalan Iyer Ramanathan was an Indian music composer for Tamil movies. He is also known as ''Isai Methai'' (Genius of Music) or ''Sangeetha Chakravarthy'' (Emperor of Music) and is considered to be one of the influential Tamil music composers ...

while the lyrics were penned by A. Natarajan and Velusamy Kavi.

Reception

The film did not fare well at the box office. However, the comic scenes by N. S. Krishnan & T. A. Mathuram and Kali N. Rathnam & C. T. Rajakantham provided good entertainment. The film is remembered for PUC's impressive performance and melodious music.

References

{{reflist Indian historical films Films scored by G. Ramanathan Films set in the Rajput Empire Indian black-and-white films 1940s historical films