''Chintamani'' is a 1937 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Y. V. Rao starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar,

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 mythological f ...

and Aswathamma. It was the first Tamil film to run for a year in a single theatre.

Production

''Chintamani'' was a popular play which had been performed in many languages. First, a silent film was made based on the play, then talkies based on it were made in Bengali, Hindi and Telugu. In 1937, a Tamil version of the film was directed by film-maker Y. V. Rao under the banner of Rayal Talkies, owned by yarn merchants of

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

. Initially, the director Y. V. Rao, wanted to play Bilwamangal's role himself. However, he changed his mind and acted as Bilwamangal's companion Manoharan.

was another contender for the main role. But, Rao rejected him in favor of M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar who was signed to play the part. In the initial stages, more publicity was given to the Kannada actress Aswathamma who played Chintamani's role than M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. Her name was mentioned above that of Bhagavathar's in the credits.

Plot

''Chintamani'' was based on the legendary story of a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

poet and devotee of Lord Krishna named Bilwamangal (M. K. Thyragaraja Bhagavathar). Bilwamangal, a resident of

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, was a Sanskrit scholar, who gets infatuated towards a courtesan called Chintamani (Aswathamma), a woman of ill-fame. As a result, he deserts his wife. However, Chintamani is an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna (Serugalathur Sama) and spends most of her time singing '' bhajans'' in praise of Lord Krishna. His attraction towards Chintamani eventually draws Bilwamangal closer towards Lord Krishna and transforms his life forever. Bilwamangal, himself, becomes a devotee of Lord Krishna and pens a monumental Sanskrit work '' Sri Krishna Karnamritam''.

Cast

Cast according to the opening credits of the film and the song book ;Male cast * M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Bilwamangal * V. Manohar as Manoharan * Serukalathur Sama as Krishnan & Sadhu * L. Narayana Rao as Azhwar Chetty * S. Kalyanasundaram as Umapathi Sastri * E. Krishnamoorthi as Vaishnavan * M. R. Durairaj as Begger & Vasudevamoorthi * S. G. Rajam as Ragupathi * P. S. Krishnasami as Ramachandran ;Female cast * K. Aswathamma as Chintamani * K. Ranganayaki as Susheelai * S. P. Mathuram as Rukmani & Sadhuni * R. Komalam as Shrihari * S. S. Rajamani as Meenakshi

Release and reception

''Chintamani'' was released on 12 March 1937 and became one of the most acclaimed films of early Tamil cinema. Though Bhagavathar's first film '' Pavalakkodi'' had achieved some success, it was ''Chintamani'' that made Bhagavathar into a successful actor. It had an uninterrupted theatrical run of more than a year. It was one of the two films of Bhagavathar, released in 1937 (the other one was ''Ambikapathy'') which ran for more than a year. It also marked the debut in Tamil for Kannada actress Aswathamma who played the title role. Aswathamma acted in one more Tamil movie before her untimely death in 1939 due to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

. With the substantial profits obtained from the movie, the owners of Rayal Talkies constructed a theatre in

and named it ''Chintamani''. The Tamil writer

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exis ...

wrote that the film has so affected viewers that the housewife would sing the song ''Mayaprapanchattil'' from the movie while preparing coffee in the morning and her husband would sing ''Rathey unakku kobam'' in order to please his sweetheart. The gramophone discs of ''Chintamani'' were also popular though M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar did not sing the songs that were featured in them as he was not under contract with Saraswathi Stores which produced the records. Instead, the songs were sung by Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma. It continues to influence Sinhala film music to this day. Writing in ''Eelakesari'' magazine in April 1938, Pudumaipithan praised the film as follows:

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Papanasam Sivan. The song "Radhe Unakku" became famous and it is a cult song. A partial list of songs

Music Credits

;Orchestra * A. Narayan – Gottu * A. Venkateswaran –

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* M. R. Dorairaj –

Tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

* K. M. Rangachari – Organ

References

External links

* *

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chintamani (1937 Film) 1937 films Films scored by Papanasam Sivan Indian biographical films 1930s Tamil-language films 1930s biographical films Indian black-and-white films Films about courtesans in India Films directed by Y. V. Rao