''Ratnakumar'' is a 1949 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 starring P. U. Chinnappa and

P. Bhanumathi P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

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 ...

did a supporting role. The film was released on 15 December 1949.

Plot

Despite his poverty, the protagonist Rathnakumar woos and wins the hand of Bhanumati. At the bidding of the hero, a skeleton hurls a giant rock on the ground, and diamonds, rubies and emeralds pop out. Falling into evil company, he becomes addicted to vices that make him ill-treat his wife and then desert her without any qualms. He proceeds to fall for a beautiful princess and impresses her under false pretences. However, he eventually receives his comeuppance as his dubious past is revealed and he is imprisoned. Thereupon his conscience awakes and he is filled with remorse at the thought of his patient wife. Rathnakumar is an ordinary man of shifting loyalties, greed, lust, deceit and ultimately penitence.

Cast

;Male cast * P. U. Chinnappa as Rathnakumar *

as Balathevan * Mahadevan * D. Balasubramanyam *

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 ...

as Begger *

T. S. Durairaj T. S. Durairaj (31 December 1910 – 2 June 1986) was a Tamil film comedian, drama artist, producer and director in the early stages of the Tamil film industry (Kollywood). He received a Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu Government in ...

K. Radhakrishnan Koppillil Radhakrishnan (born 29 August 1949) is an Indian space scientist who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) between November 2009 and December 2014 as Chairman of Space Commission, Secretary of the Department of Spac ...

as Kingdom's guard * K. P. Kesavan * T. P. Ponnusami Pillai * C. S. Pandian ;Female cast *

as Malathi * T. A. Mathuram as Nandini * K. Malathi * Parvathi

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan and C. R. Subbaraman. The 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 Surabhi. C. R. Subburaman made K. Malathi to sing a solo and a duet with PUC in this film. Although she is a talented singer, this is the only film in which she sang.

Reception

The film did poorly at the box office.

References

External links

* {{Krishnan–Panju 1940s Tamil-language films 1949 films Films directed by Krishnan–Panju Films scored by G. Ramanathan Films scored by C. R. Subbaraman Indian black-and-white films Indian epic films