''Sirikkadhey'' ( ) is a 1939 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

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

produced by

S. S. Vasan Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language maga ...

under Sri Ranjani Pictures. It consists of five short

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

s: ''Adangapidari'' (), ''Malai Kannan'', ''Yama Vadhanai'', ''Poli Samiyar'' () and ''Puli Vettai'' (). Widely recognised as the first anthology film in India, ''Sirikkadhey'' was released on 23 December 1939 and became a major commercial success.

Plot

''Malai Kannan''

A man suffering from

nyctalopia Nyctalopia (; ), also called night blindness, is a condition making it difficult or impossible to see in relatively low light. It is a symptom of several eye diseases. Night blindness may exist from birth, or be caused by injury or malnutrition ( ...

goes through many misadventures while on the way to the house of his in-laws.

''Poli Samiyar''

A carpenter lives with his wife. A bearded

swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

, seemingly holy and spiritual but actually a

wolf in sheep's clothing A wolf in sheep's clothing is an idiom from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount as narrated in the Gospel of Matthew. It warns against individuals who play a duplicitous role. The gospel regards such individuals (particularly false teachers) as dangerous ...

, lusts for the carpenter's wife. She tells her husband about the swami's strictly dishonorable intentions and the clever carpenter plans to expose the

pious fraud Pious fraud (Latin: ''pia fraus'') is used to describe fraud in religion or medicine. A pious fraud can be counterfeiting a miracle or falsely attributing a sacred text to a biblical figure due to the belief that the " end justifies the means", i ...

. The wife pretends to lead the swami on with sly glances and seductive smiles. The swami is delighted and accepts the woman's invitation to visit her house for climactic consummation. The carpenter hides and the swami arrives. To make him more presentable, the woman offers him a popular soap. The "soap" inside the wrapper is actually a cheap cake with depilatory properties. The swami is shocked to find after the wash, his fake beard and all coming off. Now the carpenter arrives with some other people in tow, and the fraudulent swami is attacked with slaps, kicks and jabs, much to the delight of the carpenter and his wife.

Production

''Sirikkadhey'' was produced by

under Sri Ranjani Pictures. It is an

consisting of five short comedy films: ''Adangapidari'', ''Malai Kannan'', ''Yama Vadhanai'', ''Poli Samiyar'' and ''Puli Vettai''. ''Adangapidari'' was directed by R. Prakash and featured

Kothamangalam Subbu Kothamangalam Subbu (born S. M. Subramanian, 10 November 1910 – 15 February 1974) was an Indian poet, lyricist, author, actor and film director based in Tamil Nadu. He wrote the cult classic Tamil novel ''Thillana Mohanambal'' and was awarded ...

alongside T. Mani Iyer, T. Krishnaveni, K. N. Rajam and K. N. Kamalam. ''Malai Kannan'' was directed and photographed by Jiten Banerjee, and featured M. S. Murugesan, E. Krishnamoorthi, P. Sama, P. S. Gnanam, Nagalakshmi, Radha Bai and Meenakshi. Banerjee also directed ''Yama Vadhanai''. ''Poli Samiyar'' starred N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Mathuram,

T. S. Durairaj T. S. Durairaj (31 December 1910 – 2 June 1986) was a Tamil language, Tamil film comedian, drama artist, producer and director in the early stages of the Tamil film industry (Kollywood). He received a Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu ...

and M. R. Swaminathan. In the books ''Memories of Madras'' by

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (; 8 November 1937 – 23 April 2023), better known by his pen name Randor Guy (), was an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper ''The Hindu''. He was also the of ...

and ''Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru'' by

Film News Anandan Film News Anandan (born Mani) was an Indian film historian and photographer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was popularly known as the "walking encyclopedia" of Tamil cinema. Early life Anandan was born as Mani. His father P. K. Gnanasagara ...

, it is not mentioned who directed ''Poli Samiyar'' and ''Puli Vettai''. The whole film was shot at Newton Studios in Madras (now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

). Many sources such as B. Vijaykumar of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'', Rahul R. of ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

'', and Deepa Venkatraman of ''Open'' consider ''Sirikkadhey'' to be the first Indian anthology film.

Release and reception

''Sirikkadhey'' was released on 23 December 1939, and was distributed by Vasan through Gemini Pictures Circuit. Vasan promoted the film through cartoon-based advertisements drawn by

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, a cartoonist. It became a major commercial success, with ''Poli Samiyar'' being the most popular of the five segments. Guy considered the novelty of the cartoon advertisement campaign to be instrumental in the film's success. The success of ''Sirikkadhey'' led to more anthology films being made in Tamil cinema until the mid-1940s, when it went out of fashion.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0254774 1930s Tamil-language films 1930s Indian films 1939 comedy films 1939 films Indian anthology films Indian black-and-white films Indian comedy films Tamil-language Indian films