Meera (1945 film): Difference between revisions
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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The story is set around 1580 [[Anno Domini|AD]] during the time of king [[Akbar]]. Young [[Meera]] ([[Radha Viswanathan]]), influenced by the [[Andal]]-[[Krishna]] story, is deeply in love with Krishna, so much so that she considers Krishna to be her husband after she garlands him on an auspicious day as advised by her mother. As Meera grows into a young woman ([[M. S. Subbulakshmi]]), her devotion to Krishna grows. |
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The story is set around 1580, in the time of King [[Akbar]]. Biramdev is the king of Medta, a province in [[Rajasthan]]. He has 2 daughters, Meera and Krishna and a son, Jaimal. Meera is in deep emotional love with [[Krishna|Lord Krishna]], so much so that she consider Lord Krishna to be her husband. Akbar is becoming stronger day by day and hence other small provinces are trying to join against Akbar. Medta, in one such political agreement, decides to join hands with Raja Vikramajit . As a part of this agreement Meera is married (against her wish) to Vikramajit's son, Rana Bhojraj. But even after getting married her love for Lord Krishna remains the same and she follows her own ideals and way of living which are not very acceptable to Bhojraj and his family. One thing leads to another and one day Meera is declared as an outcast and traitor who failed to play a wife's duties towards her husband, a bride's duties towards her family, and a woman's duties towards society. She is jailed and a public trial is ordered to decide her fate. But Meera is still unshakable and her spirituality keeps her going. She is not even afraid of death. Finally, she is given a death sentence and ordered to publicly drink a cup of poison. |
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Much against her wishes, Meera is married to Rana ([[Chittor V. Nagaiah]]), the king |
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of [[Mewar]]. But even after marriage, her love for Krishna remains unchanged. |
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She follows her own ideals and way of living which are not acceptable to Rana |
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and his family, especially his brother Vikraman ([[T. S. Balaiah]]) and sister Udradevi. |
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Meera requests Rana to construct a temple for Krishna in [[Chittoor]] (capital |
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of Mewar). Out of his love for her, Rana agrees and constructs a temple. An |
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overjoyed Meera remains in the temple most of the time, singing in praise of Lord |
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Krishna along with other devotees and avoids staying at the palace. |
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On [[Vijayadasami]] day, Rana expects Meera to be with him at the royal assembly, |
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when other kings come to offer their respects. But on her way to the assembly, |
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Meera hears Krishna's flute playing, returns to the temple and remains there. |
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The king gets angry when he realises that Meera has gone back to the temple |
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again, thus ignoring her duties as a wife. To get rid of Meera, Vikraman gives a |
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poisoned drink through Udra, but Meera is saved by Krishna and |
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the poison does not affect her. Instead, Krishna's |
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idol at the [[Dwarakadheesh Temple]] (the origin of Krishna) |
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becomes deep blue (the poison effect), the temple doors |
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close spontaneously, and remain closed. |
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At [[Delhi]], Emperor Akbar comes to know about Meera's singing and devotion to Krishna. He sends her a [[Pearl#Pearls in jewelry|pearl necklace]] as a gift. which Meera puts on Krishna's idol. Rana gets angry when he comes to know of these developments and her disinterest to fulfill her duties as a wife and queen; he orders the demolition of the temple using guns so that she will come out. Vikraman goes to the temple and orders Meera and the other devotees to come out before the demolition begins. However, Meera refuses, stays back in the temple and continues her [[bhajan]]s. |
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Meanwhile, Rana comes to know from his sister Udra |
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about Vikraman's failed attempt to kill Meera by poison. |
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Shocked when he realises Meera's real identity (she is |
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one with Krishna), he rushes to meet her in the |
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temple which is about to be demolished. When the gun |
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is fired, Rana stops it and gets injured. When Meera hears Krishna calling her, she admits to Rana that she has |
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failed in her duties as a wife. She explains that her heart |
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is with Krishna and seeks Rana’s permission to leave |
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palace life and her desire to visit Krishna's temple at |
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[[Dwaraka]]. Rana realises her devotion and allows her to go. |
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Once Meera leaves, the Mewar kingdom suffers serious |
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[[drought]] and the subjects plead with Rana to bring Meera |
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back, so Rana goes in search of her. Meera first goes to |
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[[Brindavanam]] and meets the sage (Serukalathur Sama) |
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who originally predicted about her devotion. Together, |
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they leave for Dwaraka, the birthplace of Krishna; |
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on reaching the temple, she starts singing in praise of |
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Krishna. Rana, who has followed her, also reaches the |
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temple. The doors of the temple, which were closed till |
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then, open. Krishna appears and invites Meera inside. |
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Meera walks towards the god and falls dead while her |
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soul merges with him. Rana comes rushing in |
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only to find Meera’s corpse. Meera’s devotion to Krishna is finally rewarded and she is united with him. |
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== Cast == |
== Cast == |
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Revision as of 05:06, 15 November 2013
| Meera | |
|---|---|
| File:Meera 1945.jpg Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Ellis R. Dungan |
| Starring | M. S. Subbulakshmi Kumari Kamala T. S. Baliah and Chittor V. Nagaiah |
Release date | 1945 |
| Language | Tamil |
Meera is a 1945 Tamil-language film starring M. S. Subbulakshmi, Kumari Kamala, T. S. Baliah and Chittoor V. Nagaiah based on the life of the devotional singer and dancer Meera. The film was directed by American film director Ellis R. Dungan.[1] IBN Live included the film in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.[2]
Plot
The story is set around 1580 AD during the time of king Akbar. Young Meera (Radha Viswanathan), influenced by the Andal-Krishna story, is deeply in love with Krishna, so much so that she considers Krishna to be her husband after she garlands him on an auspicious day as advised by her mother. As Meera grows into a young woman (M. S. Subbulakshmi), her devotion to Krishna grows.
Much against her wishes, Meera is married to Rana (Chittor V. Nagaiah), the king of Mewar. But even after marriage, her love for Krishna remains unchanged. She follows her own ideals and way of living which are not acceptable to Rana and his family, especially his brother Vikraman (T. S. Balaiah) and sister Udradevi. Meera requests Rana to construct a temple for Krishna in Chittoor (capital of Mewar). Out of his love for her, Rana agrees and constructs a temple. An overjoyed Meera remains in the temple most of the time, singing in praise of Lord Krishna along with other devotees and avoids staying at the palace. On Vijayadasami day, Rana expects Meera to be with him at the royal assembly, when other kings come to offer their respects. But on her way to the assembly, Meera hears Krishna's flute playing, returns to the temple and remains there. The king gets angry when he realises that Meera has gone back to the temple again, thus ignoring her duties as a wife. To get rid of Meera, Vikraman gives a poisoned drink through Udra, but Meera is saved by Krishna and the poison does not affect her. Instead, Krishna's idol at the Dwarakadheesh Temple (the origin of Krishna) becomes deep blue (the poison effect), the temple doors close spontaneously, and remain closed.
At Delhi, Emperor Akbar comes to know about Meera's singing and devotion to Krishna. He sends her a pearl necklace as a gift. which Meera puts on Krishna's idol. Rana gets angry when he comes to know of these developments and her disinterest to fulfill her duties as a wife and queen; he orders the demolition of the temple using guns so that she will come out. Vikraman goes to the temple and orders Meera and the other devotees to come out before the demolition begins. However, Meera refuses, stays back in the temple and continues her bhajans.
Meanwhile, Rana comes to know from his sister Udra about Vikraman's failed attempt to kill Meera by poison. Shocked when he realises Meera's real identity (she is one with Krishna), he rushes to meet her in the temple which is about to be demolished. When the gun is fired, Rana stops it and gets injured. When Meera hears Krishna calling her, she admits to Rana that she has failed in her duties as a wife. She explains that her heart is with Krishna and seeks Rana’s permission to leave palace life and her desire to visit Krishna's temple at Dwaraka. Rana realises her devotion and allows her to go. Once Meera leaves, the Mewar kingdom suffers serious drought and the subjects plead with Rana to bring Meera back, so Rana goes in search of her. Meera first goes to Brindavanam and meets the sage (Serukalathur Sama) who originally predicted about her devotion. Together, they leave for Dwaraka, the birthplace of Krishna; on reaching the temple, she starts singing in praise of Krishna. Rana, who has followed her, also reaches the temple. The doors of the temple, which were closed till then, open. Krishna appears and invites Meera inside. Meera walks towards the god and falls dead while her soul merges with him. Rana comes rushing in only to find Meera’s corpse. Meera’s devotion to Krishna is finally rewarded and she is united with him.
Cast
- Jayaman - T. S. Balaiah
- Kumari Kamala, Krishnaan
- Chittor V. Nagaiah, King of Mewar
- Radha, Young Meera
- M. S. Subbulakshmi, Meera
Initially, the Kannada singer C. Honnappa Bhagavathar was chosen to play the part of the Rana, but later due to reasons unknown, he was replaced with Chittoor V. Nagaiah.[3]
Production
M. S. Subbulakshmi held the view that the shooting locations should be as similar to the actual pilgrimage spots connected with the life of the saint Mirabai as possible. Hence,she insisted that they shoot the film at the very pilgrimage spots Mirabai had visited.[4]
Ellis R. Dungan agreed and with a vast entourage, the crew set out for North India.[4] Dungan was familiar with Rajputana and its culture to the extent of the color of the bangles the Rajput women used.[4]
Once when the entourage passed through the town of Vrindavan with M. S. singing "Brindavan ki mangal lila", the renditions remained in the memories for many days.[4] On another occasion, she almost drowned during the filming of a rescue scene in the river Yamuna.[4]
Being a Christian, Ellis R. Dungan was not allowed inside Hindu temples.[3] Hence,in order to shoot inside Hindu temples he would occasionally disguise himself as a Kashmiri pandit.[3]
Ellis R. Dungan introduced some new and advanced filming techniques while shooting the movie.[5] The transition of young Mirabai (played by baby Radha) into the adult (M. S. Subbulakshmi) during the song "Nandha Balaa En Manalaa.." was shot in a rapidly-cut extremely fast-paced sequence.[5]
"Kaatrinile Varum Geetham...", written by Kalki, was one of the popular songs in the movie.[3] The tune and melody for the song were taken from a song by the Bengali singer Juthika Roy and were suggested by Kalki to the music director S. V. Venkataraman.[3]
Reception
The film was a success and made in Hindi. It was also a success in Hindi. The Hindi version of the film had an introduction by the "Nightingale of India", Sarojini Naidu.
Awards and honours
The film was screened at various film festivals such as Prague Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival. IBN Live included the film in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.[2]
Notes
- ^ "Artists: M.S.Subbulakshmi, Nat Geo Music". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ a b "100 Years of Indian Cinema: The 100 greatest Indian films of all time". IBN Live. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Guy, Randor (17 December 2004). "Full of technical innovations". The Hindu:Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ a b c d e Ramnarayan, Gowri (17 September 2004). "Brindavan to Dwaraka — Meera's pilgrimage". The Hindu Cinema Plus. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ a b Muthiah, S. (1 February 2002). "He transcended barriers with aplomb". The Hindu:Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
References
- Guy, Randor (28 March 2008). "Meera 1945". The Hindu Cinema Plus. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
