''Udayanan Vasavadatta'' is a

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pud ...

film directed and produced by T. R. Raghunath. The film features

Vasundhara Devi Vasundhara Devi (1917-1988) was an Indian actress, trained Bharathanatyam dancer and carnatic singer. The Indian actress Vyjayanthimala is her daughter. Filmography *(1941) '' Rishyasringar'' *(1943) '' Mangamma Sapatham'' *(1947) '' Udayanan ...

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

and M. S. Saroja in the lead roles with D. Balasubramaniam,

K. Sarangapani Kumbakonam Sarangapani (1904-1984) was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. Though primarily a comedian, he occasionally played roles of hero and villain. Family Sarangapani was born in 1904 in Kumbakonam, Tanjore district. His ...

and Kali N. Rathnam playing supporting roles.

Plot

Udayanan (Balasubramaniam), the king of

Vatsa Vatsa or Vamsa (Pali and Ardhamagadhi: , literally "calf") was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Location The territory of Vatsa was located to the south of ...

, meets Vasavadatta (Vasundhara Devi) and the two fall in love. Udayanan is presented a divine Elephant by Indra, which leaves him due to a sin he commits. He goes on a quest in search of it, leaving behind Vasavadatta in another kingdom where she teaches music and dance. During his search, a rival king imprisons him by luring him into his kingdom with an Elephant made of precious stones. While Udayanan is imprisoned, another rival king attacks his kingdom. Udayanan, after facing many hurdles and crises, succeeds in defeating both his rivals and happily reunites with Vasavadatta.

Cast

Adapted from

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. Gnanasagaram ...

and '' The Hindu'' *

as Vasavadatta *

as Udayanan *M. S. Saroja * D. Balasubramaniam *

* Kali N. Rathnam *C. T. Rajakantham *N. Krishnamurthy * P. S. Veerappa *T. K. Sampangi *

M. V. Mani Mantri Vancheeswaran Mani (1904-1952) was an Indian freedom fighter and Conservationist. In 1938, he created the South Indian Film Artistes Association and served as Secretary under P.N. Velu Nair, the Association's President. Mani's contr ...

*Kolathu Mani *T. T. Arasu *V. Nataraja Iyer *K. N. Kamalam *K. N. Rajam *N. Nagasubramaniam

Production

R. M. Ramanathan produced ''Udayanan Vasavadatta'' under his own banner, Uma Pictures. Initially, M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar was to do the role of Udayanan. Bhagavathar even had sung some songs and some scenes were shot for the film featuring him, but due to his conviction in the

Lakshmikanthan murder case The Lakshmikanthan murder case was a high-profile criminal trial that was conducted in the then Madras Presidency between November 1944 and April 1947. The cause of the trial was the murder of C. N. Lakshmikanthan, a Tamil film journalist. Laksh ...

, all of the scenes he had shot and the songs he had recorded were abandoned. Bhagavathar was subsequently replaced with

. The film's cinematography was by

Marcus Bartley Marcus Bartley (22 April 1917 14 March 1993) was an Anglo-Indian cinematographer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil films. He was the cinematographer of all time classics like ''Shavu ...

while F. Nagoor and M. Natesan, who later became a producer himself, were in charge of the set and costume designing respectively. The songs were co-choreographed by V. B. Ramaiah Pillai and Kamini Kumar Sinha.

Soundtrack

The film's music and score composed by C. R. Subburaman while

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 cine ...

and

Kambadasan Kambadasan (1916–1973) was an Indian writer, poet and film lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil-language films. Early life Kambadasan was born as Appaavu a.k.a. Rajappa at Ulagapuram, a village near Tindivanam in the then South Arcot District ...

wrote the lyrics for the songs. Both Balasubramaniam and Vasundhara Devi sang a few songs for the film.

Reception

Wiring for '' The Hindu'', film critic and historian

Randor Guy Madabhushi Rangadorai (born 8 November 1937), better known by his pen name Randor Guy, is an Indian lawyer, columnist and film and legal historian associated with the English language newspaper '' The Hindu''. He is also the official editor of ...

noted that the film was remembered for "GNB's captivating songs, Vasundhara's dances and excellent cinematography." ''Udayanan Vasavadatta'' did not perform well at the box office.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0259068, Udayanan Vasavadattha 1947 films 1940s Tamil-language films Indian black-and-white films Indian epic films Indian historical drama films 1940s historical drama films 1947 drama films Films directed by T. R. Raghunath Films scored by C. R. Subbaraman