''Bilhanan'' is a 1948 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film directed by K. V. Srinivasan, written by A. S. A. Sami and produced by

T. K. Shanmugam Thiruvananthapuram Kannuswamy Shanmugam (1912–1973; also known as "Avvai" T. K. Shanmugam) was a Tamil theatre and film artist. He acquired the prefix "Avvai" after portraying saint-poet Avvaiyar (Sangam poet), Avvaiyar in a play. Early life T ...

of TKS Brothers. An adaptation of the play of the same name by Sami, itself based on the story of the Kashmiri poet

Bilhana Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century Kashmiri poet. He is known for his love poem, the '' Caurapañcāśikā''. According to legend, Bilhana fell in love with the daughter of King Madanabhirama, Princess Yaminipurnatilaka, and had a secretive lov ...

, Shanmugam also stars as the title character, along with T. K. Bhagavathi, M. S. Draupathi, T. K.Sivathanu and "Friend" Ramasami.

Plot

A king searches for a teacher to educate his daughter Yamini, eventually settling on the poet

. To prevent any romance from developing between the two, the king tells Yamini that Bilhana is blind, and Bilhana that Yamini is deformed. He hangs a curtain between the two to prevent them from seeing each other. One night, amused by the sight of the full moon, Bilhana sings a poem in praise. Yamini, wondering how a man can compose a poem about the moon when blind, pulls down the curtain and finds that Bilhana is attractive and youthful, and he finds the princess attractive in turn. The two fall in love and want to marry. The king opposes their wish and when Bilhana and Yamini do not listen to him, he sentences both of them to death. The king's friends and people protest and, understanding the power of true love, he forgives Bilhana and Yamini and lets them marry.

Production

A. S. A. Sami wrote and produced the Tamil play ''Bilhanan'', based on the life of the Kashmiri poet

, for his college's annual day celebrations. The play became a success, and soon he submitted it to the

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

station of

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, who broadcast it as a

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

, with M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar playing the title character. The radio drama was also a success, and

of TKS Brothers bought the rights to the play. He later adapted it into a film with the same name, and starred as the title character, with M.S. Draupathi playing princess Yamini and T. K. Bhagavathi playing her father, the king. Sami rewrote the script for the film adaptation, which K. V. Srinivasan directed. Shooting took place at Central Studios in

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by T. A. Kalyanam and the lyrics were penned by Baskaradas. One of the songs, "Thoondir Puzhuvinaipol" that was sung by the TKS brothers, used lyrics by the late Tamil poet

Subramania Bharati Subramania Bharati (Born Chinnaswami Subramaniyan; 11 December 1882 – 11 September 1921) was an Indian writer, poet, journalist, teacher, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. He was bestowed the title ''Bharati'' for hi ...

. Film producer A. V. Meiyappan, who held the copyright to all of Bharati's work, sued the TKS Brothers for copyright infringement.

Release and reception

''Bilhanan'' was released on 23 April 1948. According to film 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 ...

, the film was an average success because audiences "felt it was stagy in presentation".

References

{{reflist 1940s historical drama films 1940s Tamil-language films 1940s Indian films Indian black-and-white films Indian films based on plays Indian historical drama films 1948 drama films 1948 films Films directed by K. V. Srinivasan Films scored by T. A. Kalyanam