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
adventure film
The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
as '' Rathnagiri Rahasya''. The film was released on 29 June 1957 and emerged a success.
Plot
Gajendran, a prince, is separated from his parents by his father's foe at a very young age. He grew up as a ferocious and vicious caveman. He meets Amutha, who by her word of love and affection turns Gajendran for good. Both set out to find the secret of Thangamalai to find and save Gajendran's parents.
Cast
Cast according to the
song book
A song book is a book containing lyrics for songs. Song books may be simple composition books or spiral-bound notebooks. Music publishers also produced printed editions for group singing. Such volumes were used in the United States by piano man ...
and the opening credits of the film:
;Male cast
*
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...
as Gajendran
* M. N. Nambiar as Adithan
* P. S. Veerappa as Mahendran
* T. R. Ramachandran as Azhagesan
* K. Sarangapani as Sarangan
* C. V. V. Panthulu as Nandini's Father
* ''Kottapuli'' Jayaraman as Sundaran
* Ganapathi Bhat as Andaran
* M. S. Karuppaiah as Barber
* (Late) V. P. Balaram as Coach
* Velappa as Minister
* Kannan.S.A as Saint
* Thiruvenkatam as Commander
* Mani Bhagavathar Iyer as
Mridanga
The ''khol'' is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music ('' bhakti''). It is also known as a ''mridanga'' (<
T. R. Rajakumari as Nandini
* Jamuna as Amutha
* M. V. Rajamma as Kumutha
* P. Dhanam as Sundari
* P. Susheela as Beautiful Mohini
* B. Saroja Devi as Young Mohini
* Angamuthu as Barber's Wife
* Shanthi as Friend
* (Baby) Seetha as Young Vikraman
* Indira Acharya as Kurathi
;Supporting cast
* Chowdry, Maheswara Iyer, Ramasami Iyer, Saroja, Kamala.
;Uncredited role
* C. L. Anandan as a dancer in the song ''"Veeradhi Veeran Sooraadhi Sooran"''
Production
''Thangamalai Ragasiyam'' was produced by B. R. Panthulu under Padmini Pictures. The original director was P. Neelakantan who left after directing a large portion of the film, resulting in Panthulu taking over direction. It was simultaneously made in
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
as '' Rathnagiri Rahasya''. The film was primarily shot in black-and-white, except for some sequences in Gevacolor. G. K. Ramu shot in black-and-white, and W. R. Subba Rao shot the colour sequences.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by T. G. Lingappa. The song "Amudhai Pozhiyum Nilave", set in Pahadi, took at least 20 takes to perfect. It was later used in the
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
film '' Mariakutty'' (1958) as "Karalil Kaniyum Rasamey".
Release and reception
''Thangamalai Ragasiyam'' was released on 29 June 1957, and distributed by Meena Movies in Madras. The film was a commercial success.