''Chitor Rani Padmini'' () is a 1963 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, nati ...

-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 romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film written by

C. V. Sridhar Chitthamoor Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu Languages. Early life Sridhar hailed from Chitthamur, a villag ...

and Elangovan, and directed by Ch. Narayana Murthy. It is based on the legend of

Rani Padmini Padmini, also known as Padmavati, was a 13th–14th century Rani (queen) of the Mewar kingdom of present-day India. Several medieval texts mention her, although these versions are disparate and many modern historians question the extent of ove ...

. The film starred

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...

as Rana Ratan Singh and

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wi ...

as the title character. M. N. Nambiar, T. S. Balaiah,

Kaka Radhakrishnan T. V. Radhakrishnan, better known as Kaka Radhakrishnan ( – 14 June 2012) was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil language films from the year 1940. He is also notable for having introduced his childhood friend, Sivaji Ganesan, into films. Car ...

, and T. P. Muthulakshmi appear in supporting roles. It was released on 9 February 1963.

Plot

Cast

;Male cast *

as Rana Ratan Singh * T. S. Balaiah as

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative ...

* M. N. Nambiar as

Malik Kafur Malik Kafur (died 1316), also known as Taj al-Din Izz al-Dawla, was a prominent slave-general of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji. He was captured by Alauddin's general Nusrat Khan during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat, and rose to promi ...

* D. Balasubramaniam *

* T. K. Sampangi * Kannan * Kumar * Pulimmootai Ramasami ;Female cast *

Rushyendramani Rushyendramani (1 January 1917 – 17 August 2002) was an Indian actress, singer, dancer, and playback singer from South India. She had more than 150 movies to her credit and acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films from the 193 ...

* T. P. Muthulakshmi * Vijaya ;Dance * Ragini * Helen

Production

Production began in 1957–58, but progressed slowly for years due to financial troubles.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan while the lyrics were penned by

Udumalai Narayana Kavi [https://idhatri.com/udumalai-narayana-kavi/ Udumalai Narayana KavUdumalai Narayana Kavi Udumalai Narayana Kavi (25 September 1899 – 23 May 1981) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his work in Tamil films. Early life Udumalai Narayana w ...

, Surabhi, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam, Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass, Kannadasan and A. Maruthakasi.

Release and reception

''Chitor Rani Padmini'' was released on 9 February 1963, delayed from November 1961. The magazine ''

Kumudam ''Kumudam'' is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1948 by S.A.P. Annamalai, and his close friend and confidante P.V. Parthasarathy. Now the magazine is published under the Kumudam Group, which also publish ...

'' faulted it for "despicable distortion", while another magazine, ''

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 ...

'' lamented that Padmini, an icon of chastity, had been turned into a dancing queen. Viewers, however, praised Vyjayanthimala's dancing, despite the fact that the real Padmini was not known to be a dancer. The film was commercially unsuccessful.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0247244 1960s historical films 1960s Tamil-language films 1963 films Cultural depictions of Rani Padmini Films directed by Chitrapu Narayana Rao Films scored by G. Ramanathan Films set in ancient India Films set in Rajasthan Films set in the Rajput Empire Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar History of India on film Indian black-and-white films Indian historical films