''Ananthasayanam'' (''Leaning posture with the head rested on one's hand'') is a 1942

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

film produced by and starring

Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam Krishnasamy Subramaniyam (20 April 1904 – 7 April 1971) was an Indian film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Dancer Padma Subrahmanyam is his daughter. Biography Subramanyam was involved in the establishment of the Tamil film industry. He ...

in the lead role. Subrahmanyam co-directed the film with C. S. V. Iyer. The film also featured S. D. Subbulakshmi and M. V. Rajamma as the female leads with G. Pattu Iyer and V. N. Janaki playing supporting roles.

Plot

Diwakarar (Subrahmanyam) is a devotee of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

in the form of Anantha Padmanabhaswamy. He is forced by to marry his niece Sarasa (Janaki). Diwakarar is not interested in the alliance and wishes to pursue his devotion to God by denouncing married life. He walks out of his wedding ceremony to the shock of all who are present there and goes in search of salvation and enlightenment.

Cast

Adapted from ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' and the film's song book ;Male Cast * K. Subramanyam as Diwakarar * G. Pattu Iyer as Sheriff * Vidwan Srinivasan as King * M. R. S. Mani as Swedha Chandran * P. R. Rajagopala Iyer as Kuravar * C. N. Sadasivaiah as Kuravar * Jolly Kittu Iyer a King's Priest * R. S. Ramaswami Iyengar as Maha Vishnu * S. Radhakrishnan as Chera Nation King ;Support Cast Clown Sambhu, Ramachandran, Kulathu Mani,
and Thanjavur Mani Iyer. ;Female Cast * S. D. Subbulakshmi as Mohini * M. V. Rajamma as Susheela * R. B. Lakshmi Devi as Mohini's mother * V. N. Janaki as Sarasa * K. Nagalakshmi as Diwakarar's mother * T. S. Rajammal as Manjula * Kumari Subbulakshmi as Young Krishnan

Production

''Ananthasayanam'' marked the acting debut of

, who also directed and produced the film under his own banner Madras United Artistes Corporation. The dialogues were written by both Subrahmanyam and S. A. Durai while Subrahmanyam himself handled the screenplay. The cinematography was done by

Kamal Ghosh Kamal Ghosh (1910–1983; often misspelled in film credits as Kamaal) was an Indian cinematographer and film director. Although a native of Kolkata, he was active primarily in Tamil and Telugu cinema. Early life Kamal Ghosh was the nephew of f ...

. Durai incorporated into the screenplay information and hymns on Anantha Padmanabhaswamy

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

leaf manuscripts that were preserved by the territory of

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

. C. V. Ramakrishnan worked as an assistant cinematographer to Ghosh. G. Pattu Iyer, while playing a supporting role in the film, was an assistant director to Subrahmanyam along with K. J. Mahadevan.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

for the film was done at

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Su ...

Soundtrack

V. S. Parthasarathy Iyengar composed the film's music and score 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 a ...

and Rajagopal Iyer wrote the lyrics for the songs. According to film critic and historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (; 8 November 1937 – 23 April 2023), better known by his pen name Randor Guy (), was an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He was also the of ...

, none of the songs became popular.

Reception

Guy noted that the film was remembered for the "surprising on-screen appearance of the Indian film pioneer K. Subramanyam." ''Ananthasayanam'' did not do well at the box office.

References

1942 films 1940s Tamil-language films 1940s Indian films Indian drama films Indian black-and-white films Hindu devotional films Films directed by K. Subramanyam 1942 drama films {{1940s-Tamil-film-stub