''Sevasadanam'' () is a 1938 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by K. Subrahmanyam. It is one of the early Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social policies. This was the first film for

M. S. Subbulakshmi Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) was an Indian Carnatic singer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. She is ...

and the Tamil debut of Telugu actress

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

Plot

An abused wife Sumathi (

) is driven out of her house by husband and later forced into prostitution. Later she reforms her ways and devotes her life to running an institution for the children of prostitutes.

Production

After the success of ''

Balayogini ''Balayogini'' ( ''Girl Saint'') is a 1937 Indian film made in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu languages. It was directed by K. Subramanyam. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to ...

'' (1937), director Subramanyam was encouraged to make more socially oriented films. In 1938 he decided to make a film version of Premchand's novel ''

Bazaar-e-Husn , hi, सेवासदन , image = , author = Munshi Premchand , illustrator = , cover_artist = , country = British India , language = Hindustani , genre = Novel , publisher = , release_d ...

'' and bought the rights for 4,000 (worth 72 lakh in 2021 prices). While ''Balayogini'' was about the travails of widows, ''Sevasadanam'' dealt with domestic abuse, prostitution and women's liberation. Subramanyam wrote the screenplay himself and made the film under his Madras United Artists Corporation Banner. The completed film was 18,900 feet in length with a run time of 210 minutes.

Cast

- Sumathi *

F. G. Natesa Iyer F. G. Natesa Iyer (11 November 1880 – 23 January 1963) was an Indian activist in the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement. He was also one of the pioneers of modern Tamil drama and Tamil cinema. He was a talent s ...

- Eashwara Iyer *

*S. G. Pattu Iyer *

Kumari Kamala Kumari Kamala (born 16 June 1934) is an Indian dancer and actress (also known as Kamala Lakshman). Initially featured as a child dancer, Kamala appeared in almost 100 Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films throughout her career. In the 1970s, she ...

*"Jolly" Kittu Iyer *Jayalakshmi *Ram Pyari

Reception

''Sevasadanam'' was released on 2 May 1938. It was a critical and commercial success.

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

favourably reviewed the film on 8 May 1938: As was the case with ''Balayogini'', conservative Hindus were upset with ''Sevasadanam''. The veteran Marxist leader N. Sankaraiah, has described Seva Sadhanam as an "unusual film" for choosing the subject of marriages between young girls and old men (which had social sanction). According to him, the film successfully broughout the "sufferings of the girl" and the "mental agony of the aged husband". Sankariah particularly appreciated Natesa Iyer's performance in the role of the old man, which he said " was impressive". Tamil film critic and historian Aranthai Narayanan observes in his book ''Thamizh Cinemavin Kathai'' (The Story of Tamil Cinema) that "Seva Sadhanam proved a turning point in the history of Tamil cinema. In the climax, the aged husband, now a totally changed man, was shown as casting aside with utter contempt his `sacred thread', which symbolises his Brahmin superiority. It came as a stunning blow to the then Brahmin orthodoxy."

Availability

No print of ''Sevasadanam'' is known to survive, making it a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. While K. Subrahmanyam's family only have a few surviving photographs related to the film in their possession, the complete set of 78 rpm gramophone records in their original envelopes has survived in the collection of musicologist V. A. K. Ranga Rao in Chennai.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0274825, Sevasadan * http://www.dhingana.com/maa-ramanan-song-sevasadanam-tamil-oldies-399aa31 *Film India Magazine 1938 a
Archive.org
1938 films Adaptations of works by Premchand 1930s Tamil-language films Films scored by Papanasam Sivan Lost Indian films Indian drama films 1938 drama films Indian black-and-white films 1938 lost films Lost drama films Films directed by K. Subramanyam Films based on works by Premchand