Thiruvilaiyadal

For the 2006 film, see Thiruvilayadal Aarambam.

Thiruvilayadal
File:Thiruvilayadal Sivaji.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	A. P. Nagarajan
Written by	A. P. Nagarajan
Produced by	A. P. Nagarajan
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Savitri K. B. Sundarambal
Cinematography	K. S. Prasad
Edited by	Rajan T. R. Natarajan
Music by	K. V. Mahadevan
Production company	Sri Vijayalakshmi Pictures
Distributed by	Sri Vijayalakshmi Pictures
Release date	31 July 1965
Running time	155 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Thiruvilaiyadal ([The Divine Game] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a 1965 Indian Tamil fantasy film written, directed, produced and distributed by A. P. Nagarajan. The film features Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri and K. B. Sundarambal in the lead roles with T. S. Balaiah, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, Manorama, T. R. Mahalingam and Nagarajan himself playing pivotal roles. The film's soundtrack and score were composed by K. V. Mahadevan.

The story of Thiruvilayadal was conceived by A. P. Nagarajan with inspiration taken from the tales of the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, a collection of 64 Shaivite devotional epic stories which record the actions and antics of Lord Shiva appearing on Earth in various disguises to test his devotees. Out of the 64 stories, four are depicted in the film. The first is of the tale of the poet Dharumi. The second is that of Dhatchayini (Sati). The third is where Parvati is born as a fisherwoman and how Shiva retrieves and remarries her in the guise of a fisherman. The fourth and final is that of the singer Banabhathirar. The soundtrack received positive reception and songs like "Pazham Neeyappa Gnaana Pazham", "Indroru Naal Pothuma", "Isai Thamizh Nee Seidha", "Paattum Naane" remain popular today among the Tamil diaspora. The length of the film was 4,450 metres (14,600 ft).

Thiruvilaiyadal released on 31 July 1965 to positive critical feedback, with praise directed at the screenplay, dialogues and performances of Ganesan, Savitri, Nagesh and T. S. Balaiah. The film became a trendsetter for devotional films as it was released at a time when Tamil cinema focused on making films based mainly on social melodramas. The film was dubbed into Kannada as Shiva Leela Vilasa and was the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Kannada after ten years.

Plot

Lord Shiva gives a sacred fruit brought by the sage Narada to his elder son, Ganesha for outsmarting his younger brother Kartikeya in a competition for winning the fruit. Angered by his father's decision, Kartikeya goes to Palani in the garb of a hermit despite Avvaiyar attempting to convince him to return to Mount Kailash. Goddess Parvati arrives there and narrates four of the divine games of Shiva to calm Kartikeya down.

The first story is about the opening of Shiva's third eye when he visits Madurai, the capital city of the Pandya Kingdom, ruled at that time by Shenbagapandian. Shenbagapandian wants to find the answer to a question posed by his wife (whether the fragrance from a woman's hair is natural or caused by the cosmetics she uses on her hair) and announces a reward of 1000 gold coins to anyone who could come up with the answer. A poor poet named Dharumi desperately wants the reward and starts breaking down in the Meenakshi Amman Temple. Shiva, who hears his cries, takes the form of a poet and gives Dharumi a poem containing the answer. Overjoyed, Dharumi takes it to the court and recites the poem, but the egoistic Tamil poet Nakkeerar claims the poem's meaning to be incorrect. After arguing with Nakkeerar about the poem's accuracy, Shiva burns him into ashes. Later, he revives Nakkeerar, saying that he only wanted to test his knowledge. Nakkeerar requests the king to give the reward to Dharumi, and he promptly does so.

The second story is when Shiva marries Dhatchayini against the will of her father Dhatchan. Dhatchan also performs a Mahayagna without inviting his son-in-law. Dhatchayini asks Shiva's permission to go to the ceremony but Shiva refuses to let her go as he feels no good will come out of it. Dhatchayini disobeys him and goes there, only to be insulted by Dhatchan. Dhatchayini curses her father and returns to Shiva to find him angry at her for disobeying him. Dhatchayini asserts that they are one and without her, there is no Shiva. Shiva refuses to agree with her and burns her to ashes trying to prove her wrong and performs his Tandava, which is noticed by the Devas, who pacify Shiva. Shiva decides to restore Dhatchayini to life.

The third story describes Parvati being banished by Shiva when her attention wavers for a moment while listening to Shiva, who was explaining the essence of the Vedas to her. Parvati, now born as Kayarkanni, is the daughter of a fisherman. When playing with her friends, a strange fisherman (Shiva) approaches and flirts with her, despite her disapproval. The fishermen often face problems due to a giant shark that disrupts their way of life. Shiva asserts that he alone can defeat the shark. After a long battle, Shiva subdues the shark (which is actually Nandi in disguise) and remarries Parvati.

The last tale narrated by Parvati is that of Banabathirar. Hemanatha Bhagavathar, a skilled singer, tries to conquer the Pandya Kingdom when he challenges the kingdom's musicians. The King's minister advises him to seek the help of Banabathirar, a devotional singer, to challenge Hemanatha Bhagavathar. When all musicians reject the competition, the King orders Banabathirar to compete against Hemanatha Bhagavathar. Knowing that he cannot win, the troubled Banabathirar prays to Shiva, who shows up outside Hemanatha Bhagavathar's house in the form of a firewood vendor, and shatters his arrogance by singing the song, "Paattum Naane". When Hemanatha Bhagavathar realises that the vendor was Banabathirar's student, he gets embarrassed and leaves the kingdom that very night, leaving a note to Banabathirar informing him of his departure. Shiva gives the letter to Banabathirar and reveals his true identity to him. Banabathirar thanks Shiva for his timely help.

After listening to these stories, Kartikeya's rage finally subsides and he reconciles with his family. The film ends with Avvaiyar singing the songs "Vaasi Vaasi" and "Ondranavan Uruvil" in praise of both Shiva and Parvati.

Cast

Lead actors

• Sivaji Ganesan as Shiva
• Savitri as Parvati (called by the names Sakthi, Dhatchayini and Kayarkanni in the film.)
• K. B. Sundarambal as Avvaiyar

Male supporting actors

• T. S. Balaiah as Hemanatha Bhagavathar
• R. Muthuraman as Shenbagapandian
• Nagesh as Dharumi
• O. A. K. Thevar as King Dhatchan
• A. Karunanithi as Ponna/Sovai
• T. R. Mahalingam as Banabhathirar
• K. Sarangkapanias Kayarkanni's father
• A. P. Nagarajan as Nakkeerar

Female supporting actors

• Devika as the wife of Shenbagapandian
• Manorama as Ponni/Kayarkanni's friend

History

Background

The first film Sivaji Ganesan and A. P. Nagarajan collaborated was Naan Petra Selvam (1956). An episode which centered around the Tamil poet Nakkeerar is seen in this film. The episode shows Nakkeerar's sense of right and wrong as being so precise that he even accuses Lord Shiva when He commits an error in composing a poem. This episode laid the foundation for Thiruvilaiyadal.

The story of Thiruvilaiyadal was conceived by Nagarajan with inspiration taken from the tales of the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, a collection of 64 Shaivite devotional epic stories which record the actions and antics of Lord Shiva appearing on Earth in various disguises to test his devotees. He also wrote and divided the film's screenplay into five portions. Nagarajan produced the film under the banner of Sri Vijayalakshmi Pictures. Savitri's portrayal of Goddess Parvati was the first on-screen portrayal of the deity in a South Indian film. Sivaji Ganesan was cast as Shiva, and K. B. Sundarambal was chosen to play Avvaiyyar, reprising her role from the 1953 film of the same name. Actors Nagesh, R. Muthuraman and T. S. Balaiah were cast as poet Dharumi, king Shenbaga Pandian and singer Hemanatha Bagavathar respectively. Nagarajan himself made an appearance in the film as Shenbaga Pandian's court head poet Nakeerar.

Production

The portions featuring the conversations between Shiva and the poet Dharumi were not pre-planned by Nagarajan. Rather they were scenes improvised by both Nagesh and Ganesan. Those portions were filmed in a specially erected set at Vasu Studios. Nagesh had a call sheet of one and a half days to finish his portions due to his busy schedule at that time. When Nagesh learned that Ganesan's arrival would be delayed due to his make-up for the scene not been completed yet, he asked Nagarajan whether they could finish off any solo sequences. This involved a scene where Nagesh was to rant about his misfortune. While filming the sequences, Nagesh spontaneously came up with the dialogue, Varamaattan. Varamaattan. Avan nichchaiyam varamaattan. Enakku nalla theriyum. Varamaattan. (English: He won't come. He won't come. He will definitely not come. I know. He won't come). According to Nagesh, the scene was inspired by Ganesan's delay, by two assistant directors discussing whether Ganesan would be ready before lunch; one said he would be ready while the other said he would not, and by a passerby who he spotted talking to himself about how the world had fallen on bad times near the tank located at Adikesava Perumal temple, Mylapore.

After the scenes featuring Nagesh and Ganesan were completed, the dubbing process for the sequences were subsequently finished. Ganesan wanted to see the sequences and asked Nagarajan to show him the scenes. Unknown to Gaensan, Nagesh was also present at the time of the screening. After watching the scenes twice, Ganesan requested Nagarajan not to remove a single footage of Nagesh's portions from the final film version as he felt that those scenes along with Balaiah's portions would be one of the film's major highlights and appreciated Nagesh's performance in the film.

Thiruvilaiyadal was also the first Tamil film since P. U. Chinnappa's Jagathalaprathapan (1944) to have the lead actor play five roles in one sequence. Ganesan does so in the song "Paattum Naane" where four roles play the Veena, Mridangam, Flute and Jathi while the fifth role has Ganesan singing. When asked about the Tandava he performs in the film, Ganesan stated that he simply learnt the movements necessary for that particular situation and perform according to the choreographer's instructions. The final length of the film was 4,450 metres (14,600 ft).

Music

The soundtrack of the film was composed by K. V. Mahadevan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.

Tracklist

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Pazham Neeyappa"	K. B. Sundarambal	06:29
2.	"Oru Naal Pothuma"	M. Balamuralikrishna	05:28
3.	"Isai Thamizh"	T. R. Mahalingam	03:50
4.	"Paarthal Pasumaram"	T. M. Soundararajan	03:44
5.	"Paattum Naane"	T. M. Soundararajan	05:54
6.	"Podhigai Malai Uchieley"	P. B. Sreenivas, S. Janaki	02:52
7.	"Ondraanavan Uruvil"	K. B. Sundarambal	03:04
8.	"Illadha Thondrillai"	T. R. Mahalingam	03:08
9.	"Vaasi Vaasi"	K. B. Sundarambal	05:57
10.	"Om Namasivaya"	Seerkazhi Govindarajan, P. Susheela	03:32
11.	"Neela Chelai Katti Konda"	P. Susheela	04:40
Total length:			45:30

Release and reception

Thiruvilayadal was well received. Ganesan's performance was also acclaimed and it contributed to his long string of successful films. Director Ameer told S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu, "Director A. P. Nagarajan’s Thiruvilaiyadal is imaginative. It treats a mythological subject in an interesting way. It is one of the best films in the annals of Tamil cinema." Ananda Vikatan, in its review dated 28 August 1965, appreciated the film wholeheartedly and mentioned, "When social films have started dominating Tamil Cinema, it is a welcome change to see a very good devotional film like this which made everyone happy. The film deserves another viewing." The film ran for 25 weeks in Shanti, a theatre owned by Sivaji Ganesan. Thiruvilayadal won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film in Tamil in 1966.

Legacy

Thiruvilaiyadal became a huge success for its screenplay,dialogues, songs, song-making and direction. The dialogues of various episodes became so popular that they were released on gramophone records, and sold well. Nagarajan and Ganesan went on to collaborate on several more films of the same genre, including Saraswathi Sabatham (1966), Thiruvarutchelvar (1967), Kandan Karunai (1967) and Thirumal Perumai (1968)

Legal issues

In 2012, legal issues cropped up when attempts were made to digitally re-release the film. Justice R. Subbiah of the Madras high court, hearing a suit filed by G. Vijaya of Vijaya Pictures, ordered maintenance of status quo for two weeks in respect of digitisation and release of Thiruvilaiyadal. The matter was again taken up for hearing on 16 August 2012.

In her suit, Vijaya contended that in the year 1975, Sri Vijayalakshmi Pictures, which was in possession of the rights of the film, had transferred the worldwide exclusive negative rights and all other rights such as exploitation and screening in cinema theatres in favour of Movie Film Circuit. In 1976, the latter had transferred all the rights to Vijaya Pictures.

Vijaya Pictures, perhaps buoyed by the performance of Karnan, approached the Gemini Colour Laboratory for digitisation of Thiruvilaiyadal so that it could be re-released. Vijayalakshmi Pictures, however, wrote to the laboratory asking it not to release the film without their prior consent.

In her suit, Vijaya said the worldwide exclusive negative rights for distribution and exhibition would also mean digitisation, as digital format is no different from the original format except for enhancement of viewing quality.

Noting that digitisation did not require any separate licence, Vijaya said the worldwide exclusive negative rights already conferred on her will encompass exploitation and exhibition of the film in digital format.

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1931 to 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; Narayanaswami, T. S. (2007). Autobiography of an Actor: Sivaji Ganesan, October 1928 – July 2001. Sivaji Prabhu Charities Trust. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Guy, Randor (1997). Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema. Amra Publishers. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Thiruvilayadal at IMDb