''Sorgavasal'' () is a 1954 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 A. Kasilingam and written by C. N. Annadurai, credited as Arignar Anna. It is based on his play of the same name. The film stars K. R. Ramasamy, Padmini, S. S. Rajendran and

Anjali Devi Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer in Telugu and Tamil films. She was well known for her role as the Devi Sita in '' Lava Kusa'' as well as for the title roles in movies like Chenchu ...

. It was released on 28 May 1954. The film was subject to political controversies and faced trouble with the censor board, resulting in many scenes being cut.

Cast

* K. R. Ramasamy as Madivannan * Padmini as Queen Kumara Devi * S. S. Rajendran as Muthu Manikam *

as Thilagavathy * R. Balasubramaniam as Court Priest * P. S. Veerappa as King Vetrivelan

Production

The film is based on the play of the same name by C. N. Annadurai. He had written screenplay and dialogues for films earlier and was credited as Annadurai. But, for the first time, in this film he was credited as ''Arignar Anna''. The song ''Aagum Neriyedhu'' was originally written as ''Asthigam Edhu, Naasthigam Edhu''. The song was so recorded and released in records. When the film went to the censor board, they objected to these lines. So the lyricist

Udumalai 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 was born on 25 September 1899 in Poolavadi, a small village in Udumalaipettai taluk, T ...

altered it as ''Aagum Neri Edhu, Aagaa Neri Edhu''.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. Lyrics were by

Reception

According to historian

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 ...

, the film underperformed at the box office because of its controversies and "mauling" by the censor board, yet attained cult status due to its controversial content.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title 1950s historical drama films 1950s Indian films 1950s Tamil-language films 1954 controversies 1954 films Censored films Film censorship in India Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Films with screenplays by C. N. Annadurai Indian films based on plays Indian historical drama films Jupiter Pictures films Political controversies in film Political controversies in India Tamil-language Indian films Works subject to expurgation