Sathi Leelavathi (1936 film)

This article is about the 1936 film. For the 1995 film, see Sathi Leelavathi (1995 film).

Sathi Leelavathi
File:Sathi Leelavathi 1936.jpg Poster
Directed by	Ellis R. Dungan
Screenplay by	Madras Kandaswamy Mudaliar
Produced by	A. N. Marudachalam Chettiar
Starring	M. K. Radha M. R. Gnanambal
Production company	Manorama Films
Release date	28 March 1936
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Sathi Leelavathi is a 1936 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Ellis R. Dungan, written by Madras Kandaswamy Mudaliar and produced by A. N. Marudachalam Chettiar. It is based on S. S. Vasan's serial novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast including M. K. Radha, T. S. Balaiah, M. G. Ramachandran, M. V. Mani, M. K. Mani, P. Nammalvar, T. N. Lakshmana Rao and M. R. Gnanambal. In Sathi Leelavathi, a wealthy man (Radha) is lured into drinking and other vices by his friend (Balaiah), and becomes abusive. After thinking he murdered his other friend (Nammalvar) in a drunken state, the man flees to Ceylon to live as a nameless labourer, while his wife (Gnanambal) and daughter are reduced to poverty.

Sathi Leelavathi was the first film for Dungan as director, and the cinematic debut of Radha, Balaiah and Ramachandran as actors; all were already theatre actors. Although the film was launched in 1934, its release was delayed because of a lawsuit filed by the Madurai Original Boy's Company, who accused the makers of Sathi Leelavathi of plagiarising their film Pathi Bhakthi, based on their own namesake play. The case was resolved when Vasan revealed in court that both Pathi Bhakthi and Sathi Leelavathi were plagiarised from Ellen Wood's story Danesbury House. Subsequently, Sathi Leelavathi was released on 28 March 1936, and became a commercial success. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.

Plot

Krishnamurthy is a wealthy man living with his wife Leelavathi and daughter Lakshmi in Madras. He is lured into drinking, gambling and other vices by his friend Ramanathan at a mock tea party arranged for this purpose; Ramanathan's collaborator is Rangaiah Naidu, a corrupt police inspector. Krishnamurthy is lured by the wiles of Mohanangi, a woman with loose morals. Infatuated by her, he promises to pay her ₹50,000 (equivalent to ₹17 million or US$200,000 in 2023).

Parasuraman, a good friend of Krishnamurthy, tries to reform him but his efforts yield no results. A Marwari moneylender, who had lent a huge sum to Krishnamurthy to meet his lavish lifestyle, issues a warrant for the recovery of his money and Krishnamurthy sinks into a deeper mess. In his drunken state, he finds fault with his wife and even accuses her of having an illicit relationship with Parasuraman. When Parasuraman visits Krishnamurthy to warn him about the warrant, Leelavathi advises him to leave as Krishnamurthy is not at home. Absent-mindedly, Parasuram leaves his umbrella behind. Krishnamurthy comes home drunk, notices the umbrella, and suspects that his wife is having an affair with Parasuraman. He beats her and rushes out with a revolver to shoot Parasuraman. Meanwhile, Ramanathan sends his servant in the guise of Parasuraman to steal the jewels of the Ekambareswarar Temple.

Krishnamurthi comes pursuing Parasuraman; a shot is heard and a man lies dead. This sudden and unexpected calamity brings the drunken Krishnamurthy to his senses. Krishnamurthy thinks he has murdered Parasuraman, decides to escape and leaves Leelavathi and Lakshmi in the custody of his faithful servant Govindan. He goes to Ceylon where he leads a wretched life as a nameless labourer in a tea estate. Ramanathan takes this opportunity to try to molest Leelavathi, who rejects his advances. Penniless, she goes with Govindan and Lakshmi and leads a poor but honourable life spinning the charka. Meanwhile, Krishnamurthy, during his labour work, finds a treasure trove and gives it to his master; his master is pleased with his honesty and adopts him as his own son.

Years later, Krishnamurthi returns to Madras to be with his family, but is arrested for Parasuraman's murder. Detective Sreenivasan's investigation reveals the malicious wiles of Ramanathan and Rangaiah; he supports this with evidence by producing the real Parasuraman in court as an old man, who discloses his true self, thus proving Krishnamurthy's innocence. Krishnamurthy, acquitted by the court, reunites with his family. Ramanathan is sentenced to death while Rangaiah is convicted with seven years' rigorous imprisonment. Lakshmi and Chandrakanthan (Parasuraman's son) later marry.

Cast

M. G. Ramachandran as Rangaiah Naidu

Adapted from the film's press book:

Male cast

• M. K. Radha as Krishnamurthy
• T. S. Balaiah as Ramanathan
• M. G. Ramachandran as Rangaiah Naidu
• M. V. Mani as Sreenivasan
• M. K. Mani as Lakshmi
• P. Nammalvar as Parasuraman
• T. N. Lakshmana Rao as Govindan
• P. N. Ramakrishnan as the devotee

Female cast

• M. R. Gnanambal as Leelavathi
• Dhanalakshmi as Bama
• Santhakumari as Mohanangi
• M. Chanthraboi as Shanbagavalli

Comedians

• M. S. Murugesan as the Marwari
• N. S. Krishnan as Balu
• S. Sundaram as Sesha Iyengar

Production

Pathi Bhakthi was a Tamil play written by Te. Po. Krishnaswamy Pavalar in the 1930s. It dealt with the evils of drinking and the impact drinking had on family life, and was staged all over the Madras Presidency with great success. It was performed by the troupe Madurai Original Boy's Company (MOBC). The original play by Pavalar was re-written for MOBC by another playwright, Madras Kandaswamy Mudaliar. Pathi Bhakthi attracted the attention of many film producers who were looking for popular plays to be filmed. One such producer was A. N. Marudachalam Chettiar of Manorama Films. He was anxious to produce Pathi Bhakthi as a film, but to his dismay, the proprietors of MOBC had already decided to produce the play as a film with P. Y. Altekar directing. Mudaliar's son M. K. Radha thought he would play the lead in this film, but both father and son were dismayed when they learnt that MOBC finalised K. P. Kesavan. Still determined to adapt the play for the screen, Mudaliar went after Chettiar. To please Mudaliar, Chettiar revealed that there was a novel called Sathi Leelavathi that was being serialised in the weekly magazine Ananda Vikatan, and had the same storyline as Pathi Bhakthi. Both men approached the novel's author S. S. Vasan, and he gave them the film rights to the novel. Shortly thereafter, Mudaliar began developing the screenplay of the novel's namesake film adaptation. Vasan was credited in the opening titles for "original story", and Sathi Leelavathi marked the beginning of his tryst with films.

Radha was chosen to play the male lead, thus making his cinematic acting debut. Three other theatre actors who made their cinematic acting debut with this film were N. S. Krishnan, T. S. Balaiah and M. G. Ramachandran. The actors who appeared in Pathi Bhakthi but were dropped from its film version by MOBC, were selected to appear in Sathi Leelavathi. Chettiar wanted Manik Lal Tandon to direct the film. Tandon was reluctant since he was busy directing Bhakta Nandanar (1935), but introduced Chettiar to his American friend Ellis R. Dungan and recommended Dungan be given the chance instead. Chettiar was reluctant since Dungan was new to India and did not know Tamil or much about Indian culture, but the fact that Dungan worked in Hollywood convinced Chettiar. Dungan was hired, and made his directorial debut with this film. Due to Dungan not knowing Tamil, Chettiar hired C. K. Satchi, an associate director, to help him. The casting of the male lead's wife Leelavathi was troubled; no actress was willing to play the character since, in Pathi Bhakthi, she was physically abused and ill-treated by Radha's inebriated character. In sheer despair, the exhausted producer requested Mudaliar and Radha to cast Radha's wife M. R. Gnanambal in the role, and both assented with no other option. Gnanambal herself was initially reluctant to accept the role. Though Sathi Leelavathi was the first film signed by Krishnan, Menaka (1935) which he signed later, became his first release.

Although Manorama Films was located at Coimbatore, Sathi Leelavathi was shot prominently at Vel Pictures Studio, then located at Eldams Road, Madras, while parts of the film were also shot at Ceylon. Since 1930s Madras did not have the facility of pre-recording songs, performers had to sing on set. The accompanying musicians sat on a trolley outside camera range and played the background musical score. This condition often restricted camera movement. During one sequence while Radha's character sang in an outdoor location, a tea plantation, the orchestra players sat under a nearby tree playing on the harmonium, tabla and the rest. The completed film was 18,000 feet (5,500 m) in length.

Music

Sundhara Vadhiyar worked as the film's lyricist. The song "Theyila Thottathle", which was composed in the carnatic raga known as Chenchurutti, became popular and was frequently performed by Carnatic musicians in concerts. It was re-used in the Malayalam film Balan (1938) as "Jaathaka Doshathale".

Release and reception

Sathi Leelavathi was released on 28 March 1936. Although the film was launched in 1934, its release was delayed as it became the subject of a court case. It was one of the earliest Tamil films to become the subject of a court case involving copyright violations. The makers of the Pathi Bhakthi film adaptation sued Chettiar and Mudaliar for plagiarising their story. The case was resolved when S. S. Vasan revealed in court that both Pathi Bhakthi and Sathi Leelavathi had been plagiarised from Ellen Wood's story Danesbury House. The court case meant that Sathi Leelavathi became Krishnan's second release.

The art magazine Aadal Paadal in its January 1937 issue appreciated the film for its social setting and praised it for its acting. Politician C. Rajagopalachari, who was a critic of cinema in general and did not think much about films, watched Sathi Leelavathi and praised it for its pro-prohibition stance. However, he sarcastically commented that "the main artiste in a charka-spinning sequence did not know how to handle it". The Hindu, in a review dated 14 February 1936, praised Radha for acting with "naturalness and ease", Balaiah's villainous performance and Gnanambal's portrayal of the "difficult role" of Leelavathi. The reviewer also lauded the sound recording, photography and direction.

Several new techniques introduced by Dungan were not understood by the audience and went unappreciated. Writing in the Silver Screen magazine on 1 August 1936, Pe. Ko. Sundararajan (journalist and writer of Manikodi movement) complained: "The new methods of depicting emotions are not understood by our people. In Sathi Leelavathi Dungan showed the dancing girl as viewed by the inebriated hero. (In another scene), he showed the hero's fright by his twitching fingers and feet. These techniques not only helped the actors but showcased his (Dungan) talent as well. But as a lot of people know, our audience shouted that the lighting was not clear in the first case and the film was stuck in the second case. This shows the ignorance of our audience." The film was a major commercial success, and encouraged Vasan to enter the film industry as a distributor. No print of it is known to survive, making it a lost film.

Bibliography

• Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The eye of the serpent: an introduction to Tamil cinema. East West Books. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Baskaran, S. Theodore (2004). Chithiram Pesuthadi [The Picture Speaks, Dear] (in Tamil). Chennai: Kalachuvadu. ISBN 81-87477-75-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Guy, Randor (1997). Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema. Amra Publishers. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Guy, Randor (2016). Memories of Madras: Its Movies, Musicians & Men of Letters. Creative Workshop. ISBN 978-81-928961-7-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Pillai, Swarnavel Eswaran (2015). Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-93-5150-212-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Sathi Leelavathi at IMDb