''Marmayogi'' () is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language

swashbuckler film A swashbuckler film is characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. While morality is typically clear-cut, heroes and villains alike often, but not always, follow a code of honor. Some swashbuckle ...

directed by K. Ramnoth and produced by M. Somasundaram. An adaptation of the novel ''Vengeance'' by

Marie Corelli Mary Mackay (1 May 185521 April 1924), also called Minnie Mackey and known by her pseudonym Marie Corelli (, also , ), was an English novelist. From the appearance of her first novel '' A Romance of Two Worlds'' in 1886, she became a bestselli ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', the film was shot simultaneously in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as ''Ek Tha Raja'' (). It stars M. G. Ramachandar, Anjali Devi and

Madhuri Devi Madhuri Devi (19 September 1927 – June 1990) was a lead actress in Tamil films from the late 1940s until the 1950s. She has paired opposite leading heroes like M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. G. R and known for acting in the films ''Man ...

, with S. V. Sahasranamam, Serukalathur Sama (playing the title role), N. Seetharaman, S. A. Natarajan, M. N. Nambiar and M. Pandari Bai in supporting roles. Development of the film began after the success of '' Rajakumari'' (1947), when Ramachandran approached writer A. S. A. Sami to write a script which revolves around him. Sami wrote a script inspired by ''Vengeance'', ''Macbeth'', and

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

. S. M. Subbaiah Naidu and C. R. Subbaraman composed all the songs in the soundtrack album. M. Masthan and W. R. Subbarao handled the film's cinematography. The film was edited by M. A. Thirumugam. ''Marmayogi'' was released on 2 February 1951. It became a commercial success and established Ramachandran's image as a star. It was the first Tamil film to receive an A certificate (adults only) from the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...

Plot

Urvasi, is the young mistress of a king. With the help of her own lover, she pushes the king off a boat and usurps his powers. Urvasi appoints herself as the new

queen regnant A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning ...

, and the kingdom experiences a reign of terror. The palace where the two princes of the kingdom live is burnt. The queen assumes all powers and kills all potential opponents, including her lover. A sage comes to the kingdom with his son and a girl, and joins the queen as her adviser. Years roll by. The sage's son Veerangan is appointed Army Commander. At the same time, in the countryside, Karikalan functions as de facto leader of the people, helps them in various ways and fights the queen's misrule. When he becomes a big threat to the queen, she orders his capture. Veerangan sends Kala, the girl raised by the sage as a spy, to Karikalan, but she falls in love with him. Karikalan gets periodic instructions from the Goddess on what needs to be done and he follows the same. The queen gets scared by a ghost which appears regularly and warns her of the impending punishment she deserves for her misdeeds. Kala and Karikalan's followers are captured by the army. Karikalan personally leads their rescue mission. In prison, he gets instructions from the goddess to capture the queen also. He rescues his people, captures the queen and brings her to his hideout. When the ghost appears there, she confesses her crime of killing the king. When she is about to be executed, Veerangan's army enters and captures everyone. Veerangan also finds out that the sage (also called Marmayogi) is his father, and he has been giving information to Karikalan secretly. Hence he also gets arrested for being a traitor. The queen returns to her throne and orders the execution of the sage, Karikalan and others. When Karikalan is about to be killed, the sage reveals the truth about the king and informs Veerangan that Karikalan is his elder brother. When Veerangan demands to know where the king is, the sage removes his disguise. To the surprise of everyone, he reveals that he is the deposed king and narrates what happened. Though the queen and her lover attempted to kill him, he escaped under the water using his yogic skills, taking his sons and the army commander's daughter Kala with him. He returned to his kingdom in the disguise of a sage with his younger son Veeranganan and Kala and left Karikalan in the forest. Shocked to see the dead king return, the queen dies. The king announce that his children Karikalan and Veerangan are now the rulers.

Cast

;Male * M. G. Ramachandar as Karikalan * S. V. Sahasranamam as Veerangan * Serukalathur Sama as King, Marmayogi * N. Seetharaman as Purushothaman * S. A. Natarajan as Paisachi * M. N. Nambiar as Nallathambi * L. R. Mudaliar as Bhagavathi ;Female * Anjali Devi as Urvasi *

as Kalavathi * M. Pandari Bai as Vasantha * M. S. S. Bhagyam as Nallamma

Production

After the success of ''Rajakumari'' (1947), M. G. Ramachandran approached writer A. S. A. Sami to write a script which would revolve around him. Samy wrote a script inspired by ''Vengeance'' by Marie Corelli, Shakespeare's theatrical play ''Macbeth'' and

. Makers initially considered naming the film ''Karikalan'' but later changed it to ''Marmayogi'' to avoid it being confused with a historical film. Ramachandran's last name was credited as "Ramachandar". P. Bhanumathi was originally signed for the role of villainous Urvasi, but later she was replaced by Anjali Devi. Serukulathur Sama, Sahasranamam and S. A. Natarajan were selected to portray supporting roles. M. N. Nambiar portrayed a positive character of Ramachandran's assistant. M. Masthan and W. R. Subbarao handled the film's cinematography. The film was edited by M. A. Thirumugam. Ramachandran's sword fight sequence with Sahasranamam was shot outdoors with Ramachandran practising for the scene for three to four days and refused to use a body double. Director Ramnath changed the climax from the original screenplay. After the film was completed, many felt that ending was not convincing and Ramnath reshot the climax which was accepted by audience.

Themes and influences

The film's plot was inspired by ''Vengeance'' by Marie Corelli and Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth''. The film drew inspiration from the Russian film ''

Ivan The Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

'' (1945) and the scene where Karikalan enters the courtroom was inspired by the film '' Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). The scene where Ramachandran fights with a sword with Sahasranamam by riding a horse is inspired from '' The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses''.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu and C. R. Subburaman.

Release

''Marmayogi'' was released on 2 February 1951, delayed from 14 January. The film was given an A certificate (adults only) by the censor board because it featured a ghost (King's character posing as one), making it the first Tamil film to receive this rating.

Other versions

''Marmayogi'' was simultaneously made in

as ''Ek Tha Raja'' in 1951 with the same cast. Jupiter Pictures remade the film in Telugu with the same name in 1964.

Legacy

The film's commercial success established Ramachandran's image as a star. His dialogue "Naan kuri vaithaal thavara maatten! Thavarumey aanaal kuri vaikka maatten" (I will not miss if I aim! I will not aim if I were to miss) became popular.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Macbeth 1950s fantasy drama films 1950s Hindi-language films 1950s historical drama films 1950s Indian films 1950s multilingual films 1950s Tamil-language films 1951 films Films about adultery Films about siblings Films based on British novels Films based on Macbeth Films based on multiple works Films based on works by Marie Corelli Films directed by K. Ramnoth Films scored by C. R. Subbaraman Films scored by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Hindi films remade in other languages Indian black-and-white films Indian historical drama films Indian multilingual films Indian swashbuckler films Jupiter Pictures films Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films