''Sakuntalai'' is a 1940 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 film directed by

Ellis R. Dungan Ellis Roderick Dungan (May 11, 1909 – December 1, 2001) was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950. He was an alumnus of the University of Southern Californi ...

and starring

M. S. Subbulakshmi Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) was an Indian Carnatic singer. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour and also the first Indian musici ...

and

G. N. Balasubramaniam Gudalur Narayanaswamy Balasubramaniam (6 January 1910 – 1 May 1965), popularly known as GNB, was an Indian Carnatic music, Carnatic singer. He innovated the art through emphasis on ''laya ''control and reducing the ''gamakas'' which eventuall ...

.Reminiscences on Directing M.S., the Musician-Movie Star by Ellis R. Dungan
/ref>

Plot

''Sakuntalai'' is the story of the mythological queen

Shakuntala Shakuntala () is a heroine in ancient Indian literature, best known for her portrayal in the ancient Sanskrit play '' Abhijnanashakuntalam'' (The Recognition of Shakuntala), written by the classical poet Kalidasa in the 4th or 5th century AD ...

, whose tale is told in the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' and dramatised by ''

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviv ...

'' in the play ''

Abhijñānaśākuntalam ''Abhijnanashakuntalam'' (Devanagari: अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तलम्, IAST: ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam''), also known as ''Shakuntala'', ''The Recognition of Shakuntala'', ''The Sign of Shakuntala'', and many other variant ...

''.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Dushyanta *

Serukalathur 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 ...

as Kanwa *S. R. Kalyanasundaram as Saradwata *T. P. S. Mani as Durvasa * K. Sarangapani as Madhavya * N. S. Krishnan and T,S.Durairaj as Fishermen *P. G. Venkatesan as Cartman ;Female cast *

as Sakuntalai *

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

as Bharata * T. A. Mathuram as Priyamvada *Sakuntala Bai as Anasuya *Golden Saradambal as Gouthami *M. S. Ramani as Sarangrava * K. Thavamani Devi as Menaka

Production

Subbulakshmi and her husband

T. Sadasivam Thiagaraja Sadasivam (4 September 1902 – 21 November 1997), better known as Kalki Sadasivam, was an Indian freedom fighter, singer, journalist and film producer who was one of the founders, along with Kalki Krishnamurthy of the Tamil magazi ...

formed Royal Talkies to produce their own films. They decided to make a movie based

's life and asked director K. Subramanyam, to direct the film. Subramaniam was not able to do so because of prior commitments and recommended Ellis Dungan to be hired instead. Sadasivam wrote the screenplay and

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema a ...

was hired to write the lyrics. Carnatic singer

was cast as King Dushyanta. The comedic duo of N. S. Krishnan – T. A. Mathuram were also among the cast. Dungan introduced several new techniques to Tamil cinema in this film. The scene where ''Shakuntala'' loses her ring was shot in slow motion through a glass tank filled with water. In his autobiography (''A Guide to Adventure: An Autobiography'', Dorrance Publishing Company (2002)), Dungan wrote the following about his use of a European dancer for adding glamour to the film : The completed film was 17,400 Feet in length (around 3 hours run time). The film advanced the popularity of singing lead actress

.Students' Britannica India – Volumes 1 – 5 -2000 Page 67 "In 1938 she made her film debut with Sevasadanam which was based on the theme of women's liberation. ... Subbulakshmi achieved immense popularity with her appearances as a singing star in films such as Sakuntalai (1940), Saitri ( 1941) ..."

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma while the lyrics were penned by

. There were a total of 24 songs in ''Sakuntalai''. A couple of songs were longer than usual and the gramophone company had to issue special large sized records for them. A partial list of songs in the film: #"Endhan Idadhu Tholum Kannum" – M. S. Subbulakshmi (Karaharapriya) #"Manamogananga Anangae" – M. S. Subbulakshmi, G. N. Balasubramaniam #"Premayil Yavum Marandenae" – M. S. Subbulakshmi, G. N. Balasubramaniam #"Engum Nirai Nadha Bramammae" – M. S. Subbulakshmi #"Vegudooram Kadal Thandi Povomae" – N. S. Krishnan, T. S. Durairaj #"Innaikku Kalaila Elundiruchu" – N. S. Krishnan, T. S. Durairaj #"Anandam En Solvaenae" – M. S. Subbulakshmi (Sindhu Bhairavi) #"Sugumara En Thabam" – M. S. Subbulakshmi (Behag) #"Pannedum Naalaai" – M. S. Subbulakshmi (NadhaNaamakriya) #"Manam Kulira, Ullam Kulira" – M. S. Subbulakshmi

Reception

The film was released on 12 December 1940 and was a box office success.

References

External links

*
Photograph of Sadasivam, M. S. Subbulakshmi, Ellis R. Dungan during the shoot of Meera (1945)
{{Shakuntala 1940 drama films 1940 films 1940s Tamil-language films 1940s Indian films Films based on works by Kalidasa Films directed by Ellis R. Dungan Films scored by S. V. Venkatraman Films set in ancient India Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films Indian films based on plays Works based on Shakuntala (play)