''Mahamaya'' () is a 1944 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 T. R. Raghunath, starring

P. U. Chinnappa Pudukottai Ulaganathan Chinnaswamy Pillai (5 May 1916 – 23 September 1951), popularly known as P. U. Chinnappa, was an Indian actor and playback singer during the 30s era from Pudukottai, India. He is also credited as one of the first major ...

and P. Kannamba. It was released on 16 October 1944.

Plot

Mahamaya, the princess of the kingdom of Gandhara and Vikram, the prince of a neighbouring kingdom happen to be pupils of the same teacher (Guru). Mahamaya garlands the sword of Vikram without knowing its implication. When a woman garlands a man's sword, according to the custom prevailed in those times, it is considered that she has become the wife of the sword owner. Vikram knows about her action. After they leave the Ashram of the teacher each marry a different person. Later, Vikram happens to meet Mahamaya. Reminding her that she has chosen him as her husband, he claims that she belongs to him. However, Mahamaya rejects his claim. Vikram abducts Mahamaya but she manage to escape from him. When she goes home, her husband refuses to accept her. Abandoned, Mahamaya kills her child and commits suicide.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Vikramsimhan * N. S. Krishnan as Singan * R. Balasubramanyam as Amarasimman * D. Balasubramanyam as Nandagupthan * M. G. Chakrapani as Neelan * S. V. Sahasranamam as Jayapalan * T. R. B. Rao as Mahipalan ;Female cast * P. Kannamba as Mahamaya * T. A. Mathuram as Meera * M. S. Saroja as Chandralekha * M. K. Meenalochani as Manorama Devi * T. D. Kusalambal as Bala ;Female dancers * K. Varalakshmi, T. Rajbala, V. Rajeswari, K. Rajarajeswari, K. S. Sarojini, M. S. Santha, J. Kanni.

Production

The film was jointly produced by M. Somasundaram and S. K. Mohideen, and directed by T. R. Raghunath and Elangovan; the latter also wrote the screenplay. Cinematography was handled by

Marcus Bartley Marcus Bartley (22 April 1917 14 March 1993) was an Anglo-Indian cinematographer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil films. He was the cinematographer of all time classics like '' Shav ...

and the film's operative cameraman was Jiten Banerji. Editing was done by A. Kasilingam and audiography by Dinshaw K. Tehrani. Art was handled by F. Nagoor and choreography by M. Meenakshisundaram Pillai and Pandit Bholonath Sharma. Elangovan took almost a year to complete the screenplay. He was not sure how to end the story, so he wrote three endings and left the decision to the producers and the director; all three endings were filmed. The film was shot at Newton Studios.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by S. V. Venkatrama Iyer and K. S. Venkatarama Iyer while the lyrics were written by T. K. Sundara Vathiyar and

Kambadasan Kambadasan (1916–1973) was an Indian writer, poet and film lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil-language films. Early life Kambadasan was born as Appaavu a.k.a. Rajappa at Ulagapuram, a village near Tindivanam in the then South Arcot District ...

. Though there were 10 songs in the film only one ‘Silaye nee ennidam sung by

was a hit.

Release and reception

''Mahamaya'' was released on 16 October 1944, and distributed by South India Pictures. Although the film was acclaimed by critics for the acting by Kannamba and Chinnappa, audiences at that time did not accept the story because it shows a king going after another person's wife. Therefore, the film did not do well at the box office.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0258778 1940s Tamil-language films 1940s Indian films 1944 films Films directed by T. R. Raghunath Indian black-and-white films Indian historical drama films Jupiter Pictures films Films scored by Kunnakudi Venkatarama Iyer Films scored by S. V. Venkatraman