''Sivakavi'' is a 1943 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 directed, initially, by P. K. Raja Sandow and later, S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. It starred

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...

S. Jayalakshmi Sundaram Jayalakshmi (25 July 1920 - 21 July 2007) was an Indian Tamil-language film actress and singer who played lead parts in movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Starting her film career with ''Seetha Kalyanam'' in 1934, she acted in about a doz ...

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, Thirupurambal, T. R. Rajakumari,

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 ...

and T. A. Mathuram. The film's screenplay was written by Thiru Muruga Kirubanandha Variyar. The film was shot at Central Studios and released by

Pakshiraja Films {{Use Indian English, date=February 2018 Pakshiraja Films was an Indian Movie production company based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.It was owned and operated by Film Director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu.From 1937 to 1945 the company released movies ...

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

. The film was released on 10 April 1943.

Plot

Cast

;Male cast *

as Sivakavi *

as Cheenakkan * P. B. Rangachari as Independent Bandyman * V. Sundarama Iyer as Pedagogue *

D. Balasubramaniam D. Balasubramaniam was an Indian actor whose career spanned from the late 1930s through the late 1950s. He was well known for his roles in mythological films and later switched to character roles. Filmography References Male actors in Tam ...

as Chozha Natarajan * S. Rajam as Old Man, Boy, Hunter *

as Saravana Muthu * Nat Annaji Rao as Kalingaraya Prabhu * Vasudeva Pillai as Sambantham Pillai * Master Sethuraman as Murugan * Ramaiah Shastri as Chozha's scholar * Sundara Bhagavathar as Chozha's scholar * Pulimootai Ramasamy as Saravana Muthu's friend ;Female cast *

as Amrithavalli (Sivakavi's wife) * M. S. Thirupurambal as Valli (Cheenakkan's wife) * T. R. Rajakumari as Vanji * T. A. Mathuram as Yogambal * D. Kappalakshmi as Dasi * K. R. Rayalakshmi as Dasi * Pushpakanthammal as Dasi * Kannapani Bai as Dasi * C. K. Saraswathi as Amrithavalli's friend

Production

Principal photography began in 1942 with P. K. Raja Sandow as the director. But soon afterwards, there were disputes between him and the producer S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. With the progress of the filming, the disagreement between the two reached such high proportions that eventually, Sriramulu Naidu dismissed Raja Sandow and took over the reins himself. The script for the film was written by Elangovan. T. R. Rajakumari, in one of her early roles, plays a court dancer or ''devadasi'' who falls in love with M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar.

who was married at that time played the character of Amrithavalli. Her brother S. Rajam played the role of Lord Muruga. Her father Sundaram Iyer played the role of a teacher of young Srikavi in sequences with N. S. Krishnan and others.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film consisted of 29 songs were composed 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 ...

who also penned the lyrics for all songs while G. Ramanthan took care of orchestration. Sivan originally penned the song "Vadaname Chandra Bhimbamo" as "Mugam Adhu Chandra Bimbamo". When M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar pointed out to Sivan how "Mugam Adhu" sounded like "

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

", Sivan changed it to "Vadaname". The song "Soppana Vazhvil" was based on Vijayanagari raga which resembles Sivaranjini raga. The song "Amba Manam" is based on Pantuvarali raga. The song "Vallalai Paadum" is based on Senchuruti raga. The song "Vasantharuthu" is based on Vasantha raga. The song "Kavalayai" is based on Natakurinji raga. The song "Vadhaname" is based on Sindhubairavi raga. The song "Ellam Sivan Seyal" is based on Thodi raga. The song "Manam Kanidhe " is based on Rathipatipriya raga. The soundtrack was well received with the songs particularly "Soppana Vazhvil" and "Vadanamae" were well received. G. Dhananjayan said in his book ''Pride of Tamil Cinema'' that the songs contributed to the film's success. According to critic Randor Guy, the film is remembered for its scintillating songs mostly rendered by Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. Singer Charulatha Mani wrote for

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 ...

on the song "Vallalai" that, "M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar’s voice is at its pliable best in this piece, and challenging sangatis flow unfettered, like liquid gold". For the song "Vadhaname", she said "the complete octave is explored with splendid vocalisation in ‘...Madura Gaanamo...’, in lightning speed".

Release

''Sivakavi'' was released on 10 April 1943. The film was a major success and ran for a prolonged period even in non-Tamil speaking areas in the Madras Presidency.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=6239226 1940s Tamil-language films 1943 films Films scored by Papanasam Sivan Indian black-and-white films Films directed by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu