''Ashok Kumar'' is a 1941 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

-language

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and s ...

film directed by Raja Chandrasekhar. Based on a legend involving the

Mauryan The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

emperor

Ashoka The Great Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

, his son Kunala and Ashoka's second wife Thishyarakshai, it stars

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...

, Chittoor V. Nagayya and P. Kannamba. The film was released on 17 September 1941.

Plot

The

emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

r's son Kunalan is courted by Ashokar's second wife Tishyarakshai. When he rejects her advances, he is falsely accused by the queen of trying to seduce her, and is thrown into prison and blinded. The story, however, comes to a happy end with his eyesight being restored by

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

and the king acquits him of all the charges.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Kunalan * Chittoor V. Nagayya as Samrat

r * Rangasami Iyengar as Radhaguptar * N. S. Krishnan as Doctor Theraiyan * K. Mahadeva Iyer as

Upagupta Upagupta (c. 3rd Century BC) was a Buddhist monk. According to some stories in the Sanskrit text Ashokavadana, he was the spiritual teacher of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. In the Sarvāstivādin tradition he is the fifth patriarch after Mahāka ...

r * M. G. Ramchandar as Mahendran * K. V. Venkatrama Iyer as Kanjuki * Murali as Kokkaiyan * R. Ranjan as

(uncredited) ;Female cast * P. Kannamba as Tishyarakshai * T. V. Kumudhini as Kanchanamala *

T. A. Mathuram T. A. Mathuram (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1974) was an Indian stage and film actress and singer. Biography and career Mathuram was born in Srirangam on 14 October 1918 in a family of artists. Her first Tamil film was Rathnaavali released in ...

as Pramila

Production

''Ashok Kumar'' is based on a legend involving the

emperor

, his son Kunalan and Ashoka's younger queen Thishyarakshai. It was the first Tamil film based on the legend, which was previously filmed in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

as ''Veer Kunal'' (1925). Telugu actress P. Kannamba played the role of Thishyarakshai. This was her second Tamil film and since she did not know the language, she was provided with a script in which Tamil words had been transliterated into Telugu. ''Ashok Kumar'' marked the debut of Ranjan (credited as R. Ramani), who portrayed

. The song and dance sequence, "Unnai Kandu Mayangaatha" was shot in a single night at Newtone Studio.

Soundtrack

The songs were composed by Alathur V. Subramanyam and the lyrics were written by

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema ...

. Playback singers are Rama Rao and Mani of the Renuka Orchestra.

Music Credits

;Sharma Brothers Orchestra * R. N. Thambi – Veena * V. Govindasami – Fiddle * N. L. Ramalingam – Harmonium * R. V. Parikshithu – Mridangam

Release and reception

''Ashok Kumar'' was released on 17 September 1941. Kay Yess Enn of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' praised the film for Kannamba's performance.

In other media

Portions of "Bhoomiyil Maanida" were used in "Theepidikka", a song in ''

Arinthum Ariyamalum ''Arinthum Ariyamalum'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan. It stars Navdeep, Prakash Raj, and newcomers Arya and Sameksha, while Adithya, Sangili Murugan, Krishna, and Yog Japee play ...

'' (2005).

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0157332 1940s Tamil-language films 1941 films Films set in ancient India Indian black-and-white films Indian historical drama films Memorials to Ashoka Works about the Maurya Empire Films scored by Alathur V. Subramanyam