''Parthiban Kanavu'' () is a 1960 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, na ...

-language

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

film, directed by D. Yoganand. The film stars

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...

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

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history o ...

, with Ragini, S. V. Subbaiah,

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 ...

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 fie ...

, P. S. Veerappa and

S. A. Ashokan S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelled Asokan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles but was also a successful character actor. Early life Ashokan was bo ...

in supporting roles. It is based on the 1942 historical novel of the same name, written by

Kalki Krishnamurthy , birth_name = Ramasamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy , birth_date = , birth_place = Puthamangalam, near Manalmedu , death_date = , death_place = Chennai, India , occupation = journalist, critic and writer , nationality = Indian , education = H ...

. The film also had actor

K. Balaji Krishnamachari Balaji (24 June 19342 May 2009) was an Indian film producer and actor. He was a prominent actor in the 1960s and 70s, playing lead, supporting and antagonist roles. He appeared in many Sivaji Ganesan films. Early life Balaji was ...

in a special appearance and actress B. Saroja Devi as an extra. ''Parthiban Kanavu'' was produced by V. Govindarajan under his Jubilee Films. Upon release, the film was well received by critics, where it won the Best Feature Film in Tamil at the

8th National Film Awards The 8th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1960. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 31 ...

. In 2011, the film was criticised for its historical inaccuracies.

Plot

In the 7th century AD. Parthiban, the Chola King, dies in battle leaving incomplete his desire to be free from the yoke of the Pallavas. His son Vikraman (

) is determined to fulfill his father's dream. He is captured by the Pallava king, Narasimhavarman (

) and exiled to an island where he is chosen as the king. Though he has banished him, Narasimhavarman, in fact, cares a great deal about Vikraman as the latter loves his daughter Kundhavi (

). Vikraman returns to the mainland to see his mother and is attacked by robbers. Narasimhavaraman, in the guise of a sage and who has been helping Vikraman constantly, rescues him. Vikraman weds Kundhavi and rules over the independent Chola Kingdom, thus fulfilling his father's dream.

Cast

''Cast according to the film songbook and the opening credits of the film'' ;Male cast *

as Vikraman *

as Mamallar *

as Marappa Bhoopathi * S. V. Subbaiah as Ponnan * P. S. Veerappa as Kapala Bhairavan *

as Parthiban *

Javar Seetharaman Javar ( fa, جور, also Romanized as Jūr) is a village in Baraan-e Shomali Rural District, in the Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persi ...

Siruthondar Paranjothi ( ta, பரஞ்சோதி), popularly known as Sirruthondar was an army general of the great Pallava king Narasimavarman I who ruled South India from 630–668 CE. He also led the Pallava army during the invasion of Vatapi in 64 ...

* Balaji as Mahendran * G. Pattu Iyer as Appar ;Female supporting cast * Indira, Sakunthala, and Indirani John. ;Male supporting cast * P. S. Venkatachalam * Pottai Krishnamoorthi * T. V. Sivanatham * Gemini Sampath * M. Krishnamoorthi * K. G. Arjunan * C. R. Chandar * Master Anantharaman * Ilaiyoor Thiyagarajan * (Late) G. M. Basheer * Subramaniam, Manavalan ;Female cast *

as Kundavi * Ragini as Valli * K. Malathi as Arulmozhi * B. Saroja Devi as Kamali * Kamala Lakshmanan as Sivakami * Radhabhai as Thiruvenkattu Nangai ;Dance * Jayanthi, Kamala, Jothi, Rajam
Rajeswari, Mohana, Chandra, Shanthi, Rathnakumari, K. S. Kamala, Leela, and G. Kamala.

Production

The film was many years in the making. Saroja Devi appeared as an extra as Kundavi's companion. These scenes began disappearing later. The production was halted for many years, meanwhile Saroja Devi had become a star and was no longer available for small roles. Later, her name appeared in the credits as a guest appearance. Maniyam, who was an associate of Kalki Krishnamurthy was chosen as the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

Vedha ‌ ''Vedha'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil language action drama film, directed by R. Nithyakumar starring Arun Vijay and Sheela. The music is composed by Srikanth Deva. The film opened to negative reviews. Plot Vijay (Arun Vijay) is crazy about his ...

, with the lyrics by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

, Vindhan and A. Maruthakasi. The song "Andhi Mayanguthadi" is set in

Yaman Kalyan Yaman Kalyan is a Hindustani classical raga, related to Yaman. The movement of this raga is like Yaman, except that in the descent, it gently touches the flat madhyam using the GmG pattern occasionally. Description Ustad Dhyanesh Khan used t ...

raga.

Release and reception

''Parthiban Kanavu'' was released on 3 June 1960. Kanthan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' said the novel had been adapted well for the screen without losing out its taste. However, according to historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of the ...

, the revealing of the yogi's identity in the beginning of the film was criticised as it did not build up the suspense, which had been the plus point of the novel, among the audience. He noted that this was a huge factor in the commercial failure of a good film, though the lead pair Vyjayanthimala and Ganesan proved to be an attractive pair and their scenes with excellent songs sustained interest in the film. At the

, ''Parthiban Kanavu'' won the award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. The film was dubbed into Telugu as ''Veera Samrajyam'' in 1961.

Controversy

While analysing the 2011

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

film ''

7aum Arivu ''7aum Arivu'' (; ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language science fiction martial arts film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, featuring Suriya, Johnny Trí Nguyễn and Shruti Haasan. In the film, a medical student enlists the help of a cir ...

'', where it was compared with other Tamil films about history and folklore, which had been historically inaccurate like ''

Veerapandiya Kattabomman Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an 18th-century Tamil Palayakarrar and king of Panchalankurichi in Tamil Nadu, India. He refused to accept the sovereignty of the British East India Company and waged a war against them. He was captured by the Briti ...

'', '' Rajaraja Cholan'' and ''Parthiban Kanavu'' itself, the film historian

S. Theodore Baskaran Sundararaj Theodore Baskaran (born 1940) is a film historian and wildlife conservationist from Tamil Nadu, India. Early life and education Theodore Baskaran was born in Dharapuram, (in present-day Tiruppur district, Tamil Nadu) in 1940. He ...

had quoted that, "The crew of ''Parthiban Kanavu'' — a film on the

Pallava dynasty The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as f ...

— did not even visit

Mahabalipuram Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It ...

ruled by the Pallavas", while criticising the filmmakers, saying that "They do not even do basic research".

References

External links

* {{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilmTamil 1960 films 1960s historical films 1960s Tamil-language films Adaptations of works by Kalki Krishnamurthy Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners Films directed by D. Yoganand Films set in ancient India Films set in India History of India on film Indian epic films Indian historical films