Kalidas (film)

Kalidas
Directed by	H. M. Reddy
Produced by	Ardeshir Irani
Starring	T. P. Rajalakshmi P. G. Venkatesan
Release date	31 October 1931
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kalidas (The Servant of Kali), also known as Kalidasa, was a 1931 Indian mythological film, most notable for being the first sound film made in Tamil, as well as the first sound film ever to be made in South India. It was produced by Ardeshir Irani, and directed by his former assistant H. M. Reddy. The film was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa. It features P. G. Venkatesan as the eponymous character and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.

The film, principally in Tamil, contains additional dialogue in Telugu and Hindi as well. Despite its mythological theme, the film featured songs from much later time periods, such as the compositions of carnatic musician Tyagaraja, and publicity songs of the Indian National Congress. It was shot in Bombay (now Mumbai) on the sets of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931) and was completed in eight days.

Amid much hype, Kalidas released on Diwali, 31 October 1931—the only Tamil film—that year. It received critical acclaim, with Rajalakshmi's singing performance being praised. The film also became a commercial success, grossing ₹75,000 (equivalent to ₹23 million or US$270,000 in 2023) against a budget of ₹8,000 (equivalent to ₹2.4 million or US$29,000 in 2023). The success of Kalidas spawned numerous other films based on the character in various languages. No print, gramophone record or songbook of the film is known to have survived, making it a lost film.

Plot

A still from the film.

Vidhyadhari is the daughter of Vijayavarman, the king of Thejavathi. His minister wants the princess to marry his son but she refuses. Annoyed, the minister sets out to find a different husband for Vidhyadhari. In the forest, the minister comes across an illiterate cowherd sitting in a tree and cutting down the branch on which he is sitting. The minister persuades the cowherd to come to the palace and has Vidhyadhari marry him. When Vidhyadhari realises she has been cheated and is married to a cowherd, she prays to the goddess Kali for a remedy. Kali appears before her, names her husband "Kalidas", and endows him with phenomenal literary talents.

Cast

• T. P. Rajalakshmi as Vidhyadhari
• P. G. Venkatesan as Kalidas
• L. V. Prasad as the temple priest

Production

Kalidas was the first Tamil sound film, as well the first sound film ever produced in South Indian cinema. It was based on the life of the fourth century Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa. The film was produced by Ardeshir Irani—who directed India's first sound film Alam Ara—and was directed by his former assistant, H. M. Reddy, for the studio Imperial Movi-Tone. P. G. Venkatesan was chosen to play the title role. L. V. Prasad—who later founded Prasad Studios—played a temple priest. Prasad also acted in Alam Ara and Bhakta Prahlada—the first Telugu sound film—earning the rare distinction of appearing in three of the first sound films in India. Theatre artiste T. P. Rajalakshmi was chosen to play the female protagonist; she was "the automatic choice to play the heroine." Other supporting roles were played by Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila and M. S. Santhanalakshmi. The sound recording was done by German technicians using the Vitaphone process and their equipment. Kalidas was shot in Bombay (now Mumbai) on the sets of Alam Ara and was completed in eight days, using 6,000 feet (1,800 m) or 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of film.

The characters of Kalidas spoke a variety of languages, including Tamil (Vidhyadhari), Telugu (Kalidas) and Hindi (the temple priest). As Venkatesan's first language was Telugu and he could not get his Tamil right, his dialogue was in Telugu. Because the characters spoke multiple languages, experts including "Film News" Anandan, Birgit Meyer, G. Dhananjayan and Randor Guy have refused to call Kalidas the first Tamil sound film, with the latter two instead calling it India's first multilingual film. In the 2010 book Cinemas of South India, Sowmya Dechamma believes that Telugu dialogues were included in the film to "increase its market potential in the two important language markets of southern India". Dhananjayan stated in his 2014 book Pride of Tamil Cinema that the film had dialogues in Tamil and Telugu because during that period, both languages were spoken in the Madras Presidency.

Music

The film featured fifty songs, composed and written by Bhaskara Das. All of them were in Tamil, and only because of that, the film historian S. Theodore Baskaran considers Kalidas mainly a Tamil film despite the various languages spoken by the characters. Although the film was based on mythology, it featured compositions of the carnatic musician Tyagaraja, and the Indian National Congress publicity songs. "Film News" Anandan believes that Reddy was "probably pleased to add on anything artistic that came his way. Relevance was hardly an issue" while scholars Selvaraj Velayutham and Birgit Meyer believe that the nationalistic songs featured in the film had nothing to do with the main plot. According to Randor Guy, during that period, "Historical accuracy wasn't as important as the music. It wasn't uncommon for the deities to sing modern poems or nationalist songs."

Some of the most notable songs in the film were the patriotic "Gandhiyin Kai Rattiname" (also known as "Rattinamam ... Gandhi Kai Baanamaam...") sung by T. P. Rajalakshmi, the Tyagaraja composition "Enta Nerchina" (also sung by Rajalakshmi) another Rajalakshmi number "Manmada Baanamadaa" which became very popular among young women, and the freedom-movement themed "Indhiyargal Nammavarkkul Eno Veen Sandai". Randor Guy described "Manmada Baanamadaa" as the "first hit song of Tamil Cinema". No songbook of the film is known to have survived.

Release

Pre-release advertisement for Kalidas

An advertisement announcing Kalidas was published in the 30 October 1931 issue of the Tamil newspaper Swadesamitran, where it was billed as the "First Tamil-Telugu Talking Picture". Kalidas was first released theatrically at the Madras-based Kinema Central (now known as the Murugan Theatre) on 31 October 1931, during the festive occasion of Diwali day and coincided with the Civil Disobedience Movement.

When the film reels were taken to Madras, thousands of people gathered at the city's central railway station and followed the reel box to Kinema Central along Wall Tax Road, throwing rose petals, breaking open coconuts and burning incense. An earlier attempt at producing a Tamil sound film, a four-reel short titled Kurathiyin Aadal Paadal (loosely translated as Korathi Dance and Songs), was screened alongside Kalidas as a side attraction. It starred Rajalakshmi and the gypsy dancer Jhansi Bai.

Randor Guy, in his 1997 book Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema, described the film as a "crude experiment" that had poor lip sync; when characters opened their mouths, there was no sound, and when dialogue or song was heard, artistes remained doggedly silent. He noted that the public, however, did not care about technical niceties and flocked to see the film. Swadesamitran printed a favourable review for Kalidas on 29 October 1931, two days prior to the film's theatrical release. The reviewer stated, "The film will certainly run for a few weeks" and appreciated the singing of Rajalakshmi, calling the film a "must watch" for all. Kalidas was commercially successful, grossing over ₹75,000 (equivalent to ₹23 million or US$270,000 in 2023) and easily covering its budget of ₹8,000 (equivalent to ₹2.4 million or US$29,000 in 2023).

Legacy

In addition to being critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Kalidas became a trendsetter for sound films in Tamil cinema. It was a major breakthrough in Rajalakshmi's career, and also made her a bankable singing star. The film was remade as Kaviratna Kalidas in 1937, and in Kannada by K. R. Seetharam Shastry as Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955), which was also critically appreciated and commercially successful. Other Kālidāsa-themed films include the Kannada film Kaviratna Kalidasa (1983), the Tamil film Mahakavi Kalidas (1966), the Telugu film Mahakavi Kalidasu (1960) and the Hindi film Kavi Kalidas (1959). Kalidas was the only Tamil film to be produced and released in 1931. No print or gramophone record of the film is known to have survived, making it a lost film.

See also

• Keechaka Vadham, the first South Indian silent film ever produced
• Alam Ara, India's first ever sound film produced
• List of lost films

Bibliography

• Baskaran, Sundararaj Theodore (1996). The eye of the serpent: an introduction to Tamil cinema. East West Books. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1931–1976. Galatta Media. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2013. Blue Ocean Publishers. ISBN 978-93-84301-05-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Ganesan, Sivaji; Narayana Swamy, T. S. (2007). Autobiography of an Actor: Sivaji Ganesan, October 1928 – July 2001. Sivaji Prabhu Charities Trust. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (2013). "The Civil Disobedience Movement and cinema". Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-67774-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Guy, Randor (1997). Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema. Amra Publishers. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Meyer, Birgit (2009). Aesthetic Formations. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60555-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1999). Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema. British Film Institute. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Rajan, Chandra (1997). The Complete Works of Kālidāsa Volume One: Poems. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-7201-824-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Sowmya Dechamma C. C.; Elavarthi Sathya Prakash (2010). Cinemas of South India: Culture, Resistance, Ideology. Oxford University Press.

• Thoraval, Yves (2000). The cinemas of India. Macmillan India. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-39680-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Kalidas at IMDb
• Kalidas at Upperstall.com