''Sudharshan'' is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language film directed by

A. S. A. Sami Arul Soosai Anthony Sami (1915–1998) also written as A. S. A. Samy, was an Indian director and screenwriter who worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Early life Born in 1915, A. S. A. Samy was from a devout Catholic family. His father had ...

and

Sundar Rao Nadkarni Sundar Rao Nadkarni was an Indian film actor, editor, cinematographer, producer and director. He was the director of the first hit film for AVM productions Bhookails in Telugu in the year 1940, and later the record-creating Tamil film '' Haridas ...

. The film stars P. U. Chinnappa and

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 ...

. The story is based on a popular folk myth about a

Panduranga Vithoba, also known as Vi(t)thal(a) and Panduranga, is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian state of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is generally considered as a manifestation of the god Vishnu, or his avatar Krishna. Vithoba is o ...

devotee Gora who was a potter by trade. The same story was filmed simultaneously by Gemini Studios. The Gemini version ''

Chakra Dhari ''Chakra Dhari'' () is a 1948 Indian Tamil-language film produced by Gemini Studios. V. Nagayya and Pushpavalli star, while Gemini Ganesan who was a budding actor then, appeared in a minor role. Plot Gora is a potter who lives in a village near ...

'' was released early and due to unknown reason ''Sudharshan'' was delayed.

Plot

Refer to

this This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts, e ...

for details.

Cast

Cast according to the opening credits of the film ;Male Cast * P. U. Chinnappa as Gorakumbhar *

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 Namadhevar *

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 Sevaji * P. B. Rangachari as Pandurangan *

Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...

as Venkaji * K. Sayeeram as Penda * C. P. Kittan as Goldsmith ;Female Cast *

as Thulasi Bai * Lalitha as Rukmani *(Yoga) Mangalam as Shantha Bai * C. K. Saraswathi as Sona

Production

S. S. Vasan Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language maga ...

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Subr ...

and Jupiter Pictures started producing the same story under different titles almost simultaneously. However, Gemini's version titled ''Chakradhari'' was released in 1948 and was successful at the box-office. Sudharsan was delayed for reasons unknown and was released almost 3 years later in 1951.
Popular Carnatic musician and playback singer

M. L. Vasanthakumari Madras Lalitangi Vasanthakumari (popularly referred to as MLV) (3 July 1928 – 31 October 1990) was a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. MLV and her contemporaries D. K. Pattammal and M. S. Subbulak ...

was cast initially to do the character of the second wife of Gora (PUC). She left the film for undisclosed reasons after a few reels were shot. She was replaced by Mangalam of the famous Yogam-Mangalam dance duo. Likewise, A. S. A. Sami who was directing the film, was replaced by Sundar Rao Nadkarni.
P. U. Chinnappa who played the male lead role, died at a young age, before the film was released.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by G. Ramanathan and the lyrics were penned 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 K. D. Santhanam. Singers are P. U. Chinnappa, P. B. Rangachari &

Playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

s are

P. A. Periyanayaki P. A. Periyanayaki (14 April 1927 – 1990) was an Indian playback singer and actress who worked mainly in Tamil-language films. She also performed stage concerts as a Carnatic singer. Early life She hails from Thiruvadhigai near Panruti. ...

& T. R. Gajalakshmi. The singing star, P. U. Chinnappa sang many songs one of which, ''Anna sedan papa…'' was a hit.

References

{{reflist 1951 films 1950s Tamil-language films Hindu devotional films Films scored by G. Ramanathan