''Saalivaahanan'' is a

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 Pudu ...

film starring Ranjan, T. R. Rajakumari,

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

and

K. L. V. Vasantha Kundrathur L. V. Vasantha (1923–2008) was an Indian actress, singer and dancer who worked mainly in Tamil language films. Biography Vasantha was born in 1923 in Kundrathur, then based in Ramanathapuram district. As a young girl, she was ...

. The film was released in 1945. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.

Cast

;Male * Ranjan as Saalivahanan *

as Vikramaditya *Nagercoil K. Mahadevan *

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 ...

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 ...

;Female * T. R. Rajakumari as Princess Chandralekha *

as Vikramaditya's sister *

M. R. Santhanalakshmi M. R. Santhanalakshmi ( ta, எம். ஆர். சந்தானலட்சுமி; 1905–1957) was a Tamil film actress who played lead roles in movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Filmography References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santhanal ...

T. A. Madhuram T. A. Mathuram (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1974) was an Indian stage and film actress and singer. Biography and career Mathuram was born in Srirangam on 14 October 1918 in a family of artists. Her first Tamil film was Rathnaavali released in ...

Production

The film had a sequence, a love scene between Ranjan and T. R. Rajakumari, in colour. It was done by ''hand-tinting'' each frame of the sequence. M. G. Ramachandran, who was acting in minor roles at that time, played as villain. According to film 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 ...

, during the shooting of a sword fight between Ranjan and Ramachandran, the latter complained to the director that "Ranjan was putting in too much of ''realism'' in the fencing which was likely to hurt him!"

Soundtrack

# Kayirai edutthukko by

Reception

According to film historian Randor Guy, Saalivaahanan did not do well at the box office and the producers lost heavily in the process. He stated the film would be remembered for coloured sequence and the comedy of Krishnan-Mathuram.

References

1940s Tamil-language films 1945 films Lost Indian films Indian black-and-white films 1940s lost films {{1940s-Tamil-film-stub