() is a 1941 Indian

Hindu mythological film This is a list of genres of literature and entertainment (film, television, music, and video games), excluding genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of art ...

, directed by Ellis R. Dungan and associate J. Moylan. The film stars

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 ...

, Kothamangalam Seenu and K. R. Chellam. Co-starring were T. R. Rajakumari,

M. S. Sundari Bai Madurai Saurashtra Sundari Bai (2 March 1923 – 12 March 2006) was an Indian actress, singer and dancer who worked mainly in Tamil cinema from the 1940s to the 1970s. Sundari Bai was the wife of writer and director Kothamangalam Subbu. Her most ...

and S. R. Janaki.

Plot

On a festival day, Sage

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

(Master Rajagopal) meets the Sun God, also known as

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

, (Kothamangalam Subbu) and sings praises of him. He is accosted by Thailakethu, The king of Yakshas (K. S. Gopalakrishnan), who does not like Narada praising the Sun God. He is upset and decides to teach Narada a lesson. Thapathi ( K. R. Chellam) is the daughter of the Sun God, and she falls in love with King Samvaran (Kothamangalam Seenu), even without meeting him. The Yakshas King is in love with her. So, he tries to blackmail her into giving up the king. The King's first wife Sulochanan (T. R. Rajakumari) undertakes several sacrifices to save her husband. She also prays to the Sun God, and after being helped by Narada, the evil designs of the Yakshas King are destroyed. The King marries Thapathi and they all live happily thereafter.

Cast

The list is adapted from the film's review article in

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 ...

. ;Male cast *

as Sun God * ''Master'' Rajagopal as Sage

* K. S. Gopalakrishnan as Thailakethu King of

Yakshas The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Budd ...

* Kothamangalam Seenu as King Samvaran * Papanasam Rajagopala Iyer ;Female cast * K. R. Chellam as River Thapathi * T. R. Rajakumari as Queen Sulochana * S. R. Janaki *

* V. Subbulakshmi

Production

The script was written by K. S. Gopalakrishnan and the dialogues were penned by

. Sailen Bose and Kamal Ghose handled the Camera. The film was made at MPPC Studios that was owned by K. Subramanyam. (Later,

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 ...

bought this studio and renamed it as

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Su ...

Soundtrack

Music was composed by V. S. Parthasarathi Ayyangar while the lyrics were written by the Papanasam brothers –

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 ...

and Papanasam Rajagopala Iyer.

Reception

Despite director Ellis R. Dungan's impressive camera work, the film did not do well at the box office. Film 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 ...

, writing in 2013, said the film is "Remembered for the deft direction of Dungan, and the impressive lens work of Sailen Bose and Kamal Ghosh...

Notes

References

{{Ellis R. Dungan 1941 films 1940s Tamil-language films 1940s Indian films Indian black-and-white films Hindu mythological films Hindu devotional films Films about Hinduism Indian films based on actual events Epic films based on actual events Indian religious epic films Indian biographical films Indian musical films Films directed by Ellis R. Dungan 1941 musical films 1940s biographical films