Chandralekha (1948 film)

This article is about the 1948 film. For other uses, see Chandralekha (disambiguation).

Chandralekha
Directed by	S. S. Vasan
Produced by	S. S. Vasan
Written by	Pandit Indra Agha Jani Kashmiri
Starring	M. K. Radha Ranjan T. R. Rajakumari N. S. Krishnan T. A. Madhuram
Music by	S. Rajeswara Rao
Distributed by	Gemini Studios
Release date(s)	1948
Running time	207 mins
Language	Tamil
Budget	$600,000
Box office	$200,000

Chandralekha is a 1948 Tamil epic film directed and produced by S. S. Vasan. It features an ensemble cast consisting of M.K.Radha, Ranjan, T. R. Rajakumari, N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Madhuram. Made on a lavish budget of $600,000 ($28 million in 2010 prices) it held the record of the most expensive Tamil film of its time.

Begun in 1943, the filming was completed over five years, mainly in the famous erstwhile Gemini Studios while at the same time, Uday Shankar's famous movie - Kalpana was also shot here.

Plot

Chandralekha was based on the story of a young prince Veer Singh (M. K. Radha) who falls in love with a dancer called Chandralekha (T. R. Rajakumari). At the same time, Veer Singh's brother Shashank (Ranjan) too desires to marry her. Shashank kidnaps Chandralekha and forces her to wed him. But Chandralekha insists on a drum dance prior to their marriage. The drum dance is held; but at the end of the drum dance, Veer Singh's soldiers rush forth from the drums and attack the palace. In the melee, Shashank's men are defeated and in the sword fighting sequence, regarded as the longest in any Indian film, Shashank is defeated by Veer Singh and killed.

The comedy track for the film is by N. S. Krishnan and his wife Madhuram. The film even features circus scenes in which M. K. Radha and T. R. Rajakumari perform as a part of a circus troupe and dances by hill tribes.

Cast

• T. R. Rajakumari as Chandralekha
• M. K. Radha as Veer Singh
• Ranjan as Shashank
• Sundarabai as Sundaribai

Production and distribution

Produced and directed by S. S. Vasan, Chandralekha released in 1948 after being in production for over five years.^[1] The film was Vasan's first directorial venture and was made at a massive financial budget of $600,000 ($28 million in 2010 prices) making it easily the costliest film ever made in Tamil.^[2] He even termed the film "a pageant for our peasants."^[3] It featured a drum-dance sequence^[4] and also had the longest sword fight sequence in film history.^[2][4][5] Chandralekha is also recognized as the first Indian film to get nationwide distribution.^[5] Vasan is believed to have been inspired by Uday Shankar's Kalpana (1948) which is the first Indian film to have a drum-dance sequence.

Gemini became the first Indian studio to attempt a nationwide distribution. The film was released in 609 screens worldwide with subtitles. The dialogues of this movie were written by Aghajani Kashmiri. In Japan, the film was titled as Shakunetsu-no ketto.^[6]

Notes

1. ^ "A legend in her time: T. R. Rajakumari". http://www.cscsarchive.org/MediaArchive/art.nsf/(docid)/698DD498239CE50465256940004C8B17. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Tamil Cinema History - The Early Days". indolink.com. http://www.indolink.com/tamil/cinema/Memories/98/fna/fna3.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
3. ^ "The Indian Film Industry - The 1930s and 1940s". thinkquest.org. http://library.thinkquest.org/11372/data/film.htm#30s. Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Tamil Films". http://entertainment.indianetzone.com/films/1/tamil_film_industry.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Kisselgoff, Anna. "Chandralekha". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/138266/Chandralekha/overview. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
6. ^ Shankunetsu-no ketto

References

• Banerjee, Shampa; Anil Srivastava (1988). One Hundred Indian Feature Films: An Annotated Filmography. Taylor & Francis. pp. 58. ISBN 0824094832. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zX4GY37rG8kC&printsec=frontcover#PPA58,M1. 
• Bhaskaran, Theodore, Sundararaj (1996). Eye of The Serpent: An Introduction to Tamil Cinema. East West Books. 
• Gokulsing, K.; Moti Gokulsing, Wimal (2004). Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change. Trentham Books. pp. 132. ISBN 1858563291. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=_plssuFIar8C&pg=PA132&sig=U92GBlAnx26kNt5xUxX822q76ok. 
• Shohini Chaudhuri (2005). Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 149. ISBN 074861799X. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=qOXoeyesZOIC&pg=PA149&sig=XPeN0qf7VixSsgHUQEk2EdScx5o. 
• Kisselgoff, Anna. "New York Times Review". New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/138266/Chandralekha/overview. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 

External links

• Chandralekha at the Internet Movie Database
• The drum dance song from Chandralekha (in public domain in India)