Meera (1945 film)

Meera
File:Meera 1945 Tamil.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ellis R. Dungan
Written by	Kalki Krishnamurthy
Produced by	T. Sadasivam
Starring	M. S. Subbulakshmi
Cinematography	Jitan Banerji
Edited by	R. Rajagopal
Music by	S. V. Venkatraman
Production company	Chandraprabha Cinetone
Distributed by	Narayanan & Company
Release date	3 November 1945 (1945-11-03)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Meera is a 1945 Indian Tamil-language musical drama film directed by Ellis R. Dungan, produced by T. Sadasivam and written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The film stars M. S. Subbulakshmi as the eponymous 16th century singer, a zealous devotee of Krishna, considering him to be her husband. Despite getting married to Rana (Chittor Nagaiah), she follows her own way of living which is not acceptable to her husband and the society.

Meera was released on 3 November 1945, Diwali day, and became a major critical and commercial success. This led to the creation of a Hindi-dubbed version, with a few scenes reshot, which was released two years later on 21 November and also achieved success. Despite the Hindi version making Subbulakshmi a national celebrity, it would be her last film as an actress, after which she decided to focus solely on her musical career.

Plot

Around 1580 AD during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, young Meera, influenced by the story of Andal and Krishna, 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, her devotion to Krishna grows.

Against her wishes, Meera is married to Rana, 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 and sister Udha. Meera requests Rana to construct a temple for Krishna in Chittor, the capital of Mewar. Out of love for her, Rana agrees and constructs a temple. An overjoyed Meera remains in the temple most of the time, singing in praise of Krishna along with other devotees and avoids staying at the palace.

On Vijayadashami, Rana expects Meera to be with him at the royal assembly, when other kings come to offer their respects. But en route to the assembly, Meera hears Krishna's flute playing, returns to the temple and remains there. Rana gets angry upon realising that Meera has returned to the temple again, ignoring her duties as a wife. To kill Meera, Vikraman gives a poisoned drink through Udha, but Meera is saved by Krishna and the poison does not kill her; instead, Krishna's idol at the Vithoba Temple turns blue, and sanctum double-doors at Dwarakadheesh Temple close spontaneously, and remain closed.

At Delhi, Akbar learns 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 becomes angry when he comes to know of these developments and her disinterest to fulfil her duties as a wife and queen; he orders the demolition of the temple using cannons 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 Udha about Vikraman's failed attempt to kill Meera. 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 a cannon 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 Dwarka. Rana realises her devotion and allows her to go. Once Meera leaves, Mewar suffers from 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 who originally predicted her devotion. Together, they leave for Dwarka, 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 runs towards Krishna 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

Stars

• M. S. Subbulakshmi as Meera
• Chittor Nagaiah as Rana
• Radha as young Meera
• Serukalathur Sama as Kupagoswami
• K. Sarangkapani as Udham
• T. S. Balaiah as Vikraman
• K. R. Chellam as Udha
• T. S. Mani and M. G. Ramachandran as Jayamal
• K. Duraisami as Messenger Rao
• T. S. Durairaj as Narendran
• R. Santhanam as Surendran

Supported cast

• Baby Kamala, Jayagouri, Leela

Production

Development

Producer T. Sadasivam had dreamt of taking his singer wife M. S. Subbulakshmi's music even to the common man, so he started looking for a good story. He had several discussions with friends like Kalki Krishnamurthy, and was of the opinion that if Subbulakshmi was to act in a film, it could not be a mass entertainer, but would need to carry a universal and uplifting message for the masses. After much deliberation, Subbulakshmi herself chose the story of the 16th century singer and dancer Meera. Sadasivam decided to produce the film, titled Meera, entirely on his own under the banner Chandraprabha Cinetone, and for the first time was not answerable to any financier or co-producer or co-partner. He chose Ellis R. Dungan to direct, while Krishnamurthy was hired as screenwriter. Jitan Banerji was the cinematographer, and R. Rajagopal the editor.

Casting

While Subbulakshmi was cast as the title character, her stepdaughter Radha Viswanathan was recruited to play the younger Meera. To prepare for the part, Subbulakshmi decided to go to all the places where Meera had wandered in search of the elusive Krishna, and would worship at all the temples at which Meera worshipped. Honnappa Bhagavathar was the first choice to play Meera's husband Rana which he accepted, but was eventually replaced by Chittor Nagaiah, much to Bhagavathar's annoyance. Nagaiah was the choice of the Dungan. An undisclosed person suggested P. U. Chinnappa, but Dungan refused as he felt Chinnappa was "uncouth" and lacked the "regal presence" needed for the role. According to Dungan, Nagaiah "proved the right choice for a Rajput king".

The husband-and-wife comedy duo N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Madhuram were supposed to have acted in Meera. However, Krishnan was arrested in December 1944 as a suspect in the Lakshmikanthan murder case, and he was replaced by T. S. Durairaj; Madhuram too did not remain on the project. T. S. Mani and M. G. Ramachandran shared the role of a minister named Jayamal, and T. S. Balaiah appeared as Rana's brother Vikraman. This was the only film where two future Bharat Ratna laureates (Ramachandran and Subbulakshmi) acted. Kumari Kamala, a girl was chosen to act as the male Krishna. She also appeared as Krishna in some "cut-away shots" in the scene of the song "Kaatriniley Varum Geetham" that was choreographed by Ramaiah Pillai.

Filming

Production began in 1944 at Newtone Studio in Madras, before moving to North India, particularly Rajasthan, for location shooting. Before the shoot began, Dungan and Banerji did many elaborate lighting tests on a specially created bust of Subbulakshmi. They shot the bust using different camera heights and angles with varied lighting schemes, then studied the developed rushes to decide what worked best for Subbulakshmi's face structure. According to Radha, crowds thronged the shoot wherever Subbulakshmi was present. Shooting locations included Rajasthan's capital Jaipur, in addition to Udaipur, Chittor and Dwarka.

At Udaipur, Sadasivam required some royal elephants and horses for the shooting schedule. After he made a request to the-then Maharana of Udaipur, the latter agreed to help the crew with whatever they needed beyond elephants and horses. Dungan recalled in his autobiography, "Due to the kindness and assistance of the Maharana's prime minister, we were given carte blanche to film practically anything and anywhere in and around the palaces and gardens [...] We were also granted the use of such facilities as the royal barge, elephants, a royal procession, the palace dancing girls, hundreds of film "extras" and all of the water fountains in and around the palaces. These were ready-made sets and would have cost us a fortune to reproduce in a studio setting, if they could be reproduced at all."

While filming at Dwarka, Dungan could not enter the Krishna temple as he was not a Hindu, so he disguised himself as a Kashmiri pundit and was let in. Another scene required Meera to cross the the Yamuna in a boat; the boat would capsize and she would be saved by Krishna who would appear in the guise of a boatman. While filming the scene, Subbulakshmi accidentally hurt her head and fell unconscious; the crew barely rescued her from drowning. The final length of the film was 10,990 feet (3,350 m).

Themes

Subbulakshmi's biographer Lakshmi Viswanathan noted many parallels between her and the film version of Meera, saying, "Meera was married at a tender age to a much older man, the Maharana. Her great obsession with Krishna led her to a spiritual path, away from the pomp of the royal palace and all that it stood for. She sang the most evocative bhajans on Krishna and wandered about like a minstrel followed by a host of devotees until she attained moksha – that magical moment when the enlightened soul unites with the eternal spirit."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman, and released under the HMV label. The song "Kaatrinile Varum Geetham", written by Krishnamurthy, is based on "Toot Gayi Man Bina", composed by Kamal Dasgupta and sung by Sheila Sarkar.

• "Gopalanae bala Gopalanae" – Radha Sadasivam and chorus
• "Shyamala Varnanae Mayavanae" – Radha Sadasivam
• "Nandha Balaa En Manalaa" – Radha Sadasivam
• "Murali Mohana" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Kaatrinilayae Varum Geetham" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Enadhu Ullamae" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Vinnum Mannum Alandha" – M.S.Subbulakshmi, Chittor V.Nagaiah
• "Giridhara Gopala" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Kannan Leelaigal Seivaanae" – M.S.Subbulakshmi and chorus
• "Yadhu nandhala Gopala" – M.S.Subbulakshmi and chorus
• "Hey Harey Dayala" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Maravaene Ennalilumae" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Saracharam unnai yaavum" – M.S.Subulakshmi
• "Unnaiyae Enadhuyir Thunai" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Aranga Un Mahimaiyai" – M.S.Subbulakshmi and chorus
• "Maraindha Koondil irundhu" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Udal Uruga Ullam Uruga" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Brindhavanathil Kannan Valarndha" – M.S.Subbulakshmi and chorus
• "Engum Niraindhaye" – M.S.Subbulakshmi
• "Ma Madurai Bala" – M.S.Subbulakshmi and chorus
• "Janaardhana Jaganaadha" – M.S.Subbulakshmi

Release and reception

Meera was released on 3 November 1945, Diwali day and was distributed by Narayanan & Company. The distributors put out front-page advertisements to announce "the musical movie of your dreams" and specifically to inform all fans that the "song hits" of the film were available on HMV records. The film received rave reviews; The Free Press Journal said, "Meera transports us into a different world of bhakti, piety and melody. It shatters the misguided belief that film music is inferior. Subbulakshmi follows no stereotyped techniques in acting. She is just Meera." Kay Yess Enn of The Indian Express wrote on 10 November, "[Subbulakshmi] reveals a flair for histrionic heights in some scenes but in general, though showing great improvement on her previous efforts, there is scope for better work in emotional scenes." The film was a major box office success, prompting Sadasivam to dub it in Hindi with some scenes reshot.

The Hindi-dubbed version was released on 21 November 1947, and achieved equal success, making Subbulakshmi a national celebrity. The film had an on-screen introduction by the politician and poet, Sarojini Naidu, who described MS as "The Nightingale of India". The film was seen by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Mountbattens and other leaders who became her ardent fans and friends. She went on to conquer new audiences around the world and became an international celebrity. Despite the success of Meera, it was Subbulakshmi's last film as an actress, after which she focused solely on her musical career. The film was screened at various film festivals such as Prague Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.

Legacy

The scene where young Meera transforms into her older self, and the transition is shown with the song, "Nandha Balaa En Manalaa..", became a milestone in Indian cinema for its filmmkaing technique. On the April 2013 centenary of Indian cinema, CNN-News18 (then known as CNN-IBN) included Meera in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.

Further reading

• Gangadhar, V. (2002). M.S. Subbulakshmi: The Voice Divine. Rupa Publications. OCLC 607561598. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• George, T. J. S. (2016). M.S. Subbulakshmi: The Definitive Biography. Aleph Book Company. ISBN 9789384067601. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Muthiah, S. (21 January 2002). "He made MS a film star". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014.
• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul, eds. (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (PDF). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Viswanathan, Lakshmi (2003). Kunjamma: Ode to a Nightingale. Roli Books. OCLC 55147492. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Meera (Tamil) at IMDb
• Meera (Hindi) at IMDb
• Uchicago.edu