''Maheswari'' is a 1955 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 P ...

film produced by

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of ...

and directed by T. R. Raghunath. The film stars

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

and Savithri. It was released on 13 November 1955.

Plot

Manickam is wanted by the army of

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. He is absconding and takes refuge in the house of Maheswari. Manickam and Maheswari fall in love with each other. Manickam's father Dharmalingam demands a large dowry from Maheswari's mother, Kanthimathi, who somehow manages to give the amount. However, Dharmalingam learns that Kanthimathi is ridiculed by the villagers as a woman of loose moral character. So, he sends back Maheswari to her home. Manickam is helpless because he depends on his father for everything. Kanthimathi kills herself. Maheswari starts looking for a means to earn a living and she comes across Mayathevan, the leader of a gang of robbers who is wanted by the East India Company. She is employed by him as chief assistant. Mayathevan renames Maheswari as Rani Rangamma. Though she lives like a queen, her heart yearns for Manickam. In the meantime, at the insistence of his father, Manickam has married another woman. What happens to Maheswari forms the rest of the story.

Cast

* Savitri as ''Maheswari'' *

as ''Manickam'' * K. A. Thangavelu as ''Dharmalingam'', Manickam's father * Saradamba as ''Kanthimathi'', Maheswari's mother * N. S. Narayana Pillai as ''Mayathevan'' * M. N. Rajam * A. Karunanidhi * C. K. Saraswathi as ''Kamakshi'', Dharmalingam's wife * P. Dhanam * O. A. K. Thevar * T. P. Muthulakshmi Dance * Lakshmikantha

Soundtrack

Music was composed by G. Ramanathan while the lyrics were penned by M. K. Athmanathan,

A. Maruthakasi A. Maruthakasi (13 February 1920 – 29 November 1989) was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote mainly in the Tamil language. He penned more than 4000 lyrics in more than 250 Tamil films. Early life Born in Melakudikadu in Tiruchirappal ...

and

Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram (13 April 1930 – 8 October 1959) also known as Pattukottaiyar was an Indian Tamil poet and lyricist. Considered to be the most popular Tamil lyricist of the 1950s, he is particularly remembered for the phil ...

Playback singers 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 ...

are: M. L. Vasanthakumari,

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese langua ...

T. V. Rathnam Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam ( ta, தென்காசி வள்ளிநாயகம் (டி.வி.) ரத்தினம்) (1930 - 17 October 1984) hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singe ...

, A. G. Rathnamala,

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

and

S. C. Krishnan S. C. Krishnan (1929-1983) was an Indian actor and playback singer who worked mainly in Tamil dramas and films. Early life He was born into a Saurashtra family as the fourth son of a jeweller ''Chelvam Achary'' in Sivaganga that was part of ...

. ;Telugu For the Telugu-dubbed version ''Rani Rangamma'', the music was composed by S. Dakshinamurthi. Lyrics were by Sri Sri and

Aarudhra Arudra (born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry; 31 August 1925 – 4 June 1998) was an Indian author, poet, lyricist, translator, publisher, dramatist, playwright, and an expert on Telugu literature. He is also known for his works in Telugu ci ...

. Playback singers are P. B. Sreenivas, Pithapuram Nageswara Rao,

R. Balasaraswathi Devi Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (born 28 August 1928) is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the Telu ...

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, Swarnalatha & T. Sathyavathi. All the tunes for all the songs for both languages are the same.

Reception

''Maheswari'' was released on 13 November 1955, and was not a commercial success during its original release.

References

External links

{{Modern Theatres 1950s Tamil-language films Films directed by T. R. Raghunath Films scored by G. Ramanathan Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar