''Ambikapathy'' (also spelled as ''Ambikapathi'') is a 1937 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 ...

musical period film directed by American film director Ellis R. Dungan. It starred M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, M. R. Santhanalakshmi,

Serugulathur Sama Swaminathan Vaidyanathan (26 June 1904—11 January 1963), known by his stage name Serukulathur Sama, was an Indian stage and film actor who was primarily known for playing the role of the Hindu god Krishna in Tamil language Hindu mythologica ...

, T. S. Balaiya, N. S. Krishnan,

T. A. Madhuram 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 i ...

and P. G. Venkatesan. ''Ambikapathy'' is regarded as one of the greatest hits of pre-independence Tamil cinema. ''Ambikapathy'', along with '' Chintamani'' were the greatest hits of 1937 and made critics regard him as the "first superstar of Tamil cinema". This was the first Tamil film to name a music director in its credits.

Production

The film highlighted the Romeo-Juliet type romance between Bhagavathar and Santhanalakshmi. Dungan who did not know Tamil, used

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

’s

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

as an inspiration and incorporated some of its scenes in the script. The writer for the film was the Tamil scholar Thanigachalam working under the pen name ''Elangovan''. He translated the scenes Dungan had marked out from Shakespeare into Tamil. One of them was the balcony scene. The lines describing Romeo taking leave of Juliet - "Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast", were translated by Elangovan as ''Thookkam Un Kangalai Thazhuvattum! Amaithi Un Nenjil Nilavattum''. Dungan also introduced some daring (for that time period) intimate scenes like Ambikapathi carrying Amaravathi to the bed and Ambikapathi winking at her. The poet Kambar was played by Serugalathur Sama whose appearance was based on that of

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

. T. S. Balaiya was cast as the villain Rudrasenan. The comic relief was provided by the husband and wife comedy team of N. S. Krishnan -

. The film was shot in East India Studio in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. Background score was composed by K. C. Dey, while

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 ...

composed music and wrote lyrics for the Songs. The completed film was 19,000 fet in length (runtime : 210 minutes). Initially, the producer M. S. Thottana Chettiar, wanted

Y. V. Rao Yaragudipati Varada Rao ( Telugu: యెర్రగుడిపాటి వరదరావు; 30 May 1903 – 13 February 1979) was an Indian director, producer, actor, screenwriter, and editor known for his works primarily in Telugu, Kannad ...

to direct the film, but buoyed by the success of''Chintamani'', Rao demanded a huge amount of money as payment which the producers could not afford. Instead they hired the up-and-coming American film director Eungan. Ellis R. Dungan, on hearing the story, immediately agreed to direct the film. A''

devadasi In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

'' had earlier been chosen to form the lead pair with M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the movie. But she refused when she discovered that M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar was not a Brahmin and she had to be teamed up with another Brahmin actor in a minor role. M. R. Santhanalakshmi, a popular stage actress was cast as Amaravathi.

Plot

The film is based on a story set in the

Chola Empire The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

in year 1083 AD. The titular character in the story is Ambikapathy (M K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar), the son of the Tamil poet Kambar (Serugulathur Sama) who is in love with the Chola princess and daughter of Kulothunga Chola, Amaravati (played by M. R. Santhanalakshmi). The king objects to their love and insists on testing Ambikapathy's literary mettle before judging his worth. The test given to Ambikapathi is that he should write and sing a hundred poems in the field of ''Puram'' (dealing with war and politics). The poems should not have any reference to the field of ''Agam'' (dealing of love and romance). Ambikapathi begins the test in the King's court with a ''Kadavul Vaazhthu'' (invocation to God). Amaravathi who is keeping the count, mistakes the invocation as a poem and counts it as poem number one. When he has sung only ninety nine ''Puram'' poems, she thinks he has completed the task and signals him that hundred poems have been sung. Declaring victory, Ambikapathy sings of his love for her and thus fails the test. He is executed by the king.

Cast

;Male cast * M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Ambikapathi * P. B. Ranagachari as Kulothunga Chozhan * Serukulathur Sama as Kambar *

T. S. Balaiah Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah (23 August 1914 – 22 July 1972) was an Indian actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films. Born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi, Balaiah was introduced to the cine fie ...

as Rudrasenan * S. S. Rajamani as Vanjikoti * N. S. Krishnan as Kannan * P. G. Venkatesan as Muniyan * T. P. S. Mani as Ottakoothar * Sundara Sastri as Pugazhedi *

Honnappa Bhagavathar Chowdasandra Honnappa Bhagavathar (14 January 1915 – 2 October 1992; kn, ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ ಭಾಗವತರು) was an Indian theatre and film actor, producer, musician and singer. He was best known as a singer and as one of the pio ...

as Dhontaman * N. P. Murugappa as Marthandan * T. V. Namasivayam as Boy ;Female cast * M. R. Santhanalakshmi as Amaravathi * P. R. Mangalam as Maruthayi *

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 Sundari * T. V. Subbuthayi as Madhurandaki * Meenalochani as Thyagavalli

Credit to Music Director

Film historian G. Dhananjayan says Ambikapathy is the first

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory o ...

film that named a music director in its credits. This film was also the first to give credibility and respect for dialogues.

Soundtrack

This is a partial Soundtrack list. You can expand it.

Reception

The film was released on 11 December 1937 and was a big box office success. It ran for 52 weeks. Dungan's love scenes, Bhagavathar's singing and Elangovan's dialogue made the film a talked after success. After ''Chintamani'', this was the second hit film for Bhagavathar in 1937 and made him the "first superstar of Tamil cinema".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambikapathy 1937 films Films set in the Chola Empire Films scored by Papanasam Sivan Indian romantic drama films Films directed by Ellis R. Dungan 1930s Tamil-language films Films based on Romeo and Juliet 1937 romantic drama films Indian black-and-white films