Bhadrakali (film)

Bhadrakali (transl. Kali in Fury) is a 1976 Tamil film starring Sivakumar, Rani Chandra and Bhavani in the lead roles. Produced and directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar, it is an adaptation of a Tamil novel written by Maharishi. The soundtrack and film score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film was remade in Telugu with the same name with Jayaprada released on Sep 16, 1977 and in Hindi as Baawri, by the same director.[1]

Bhadrakali
Directed byA. C. Tirulokchandar
Produced byCine Bharath
Written byAaroor Dass (dialogues)
Story byMaharishi
Starring
Music byIlaiyaraaja
CinematographyViswanath Rai
Release date
  • 10 December 1976 (1976-12-10)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[3]

No.SongSingersLyricsLength
1"Anandha Bhairavi"ChorusVaali03:50
2"Kannan Oru"K. J. Yesudas, P. Susheela04:40
3"Kettele"P. Susheela04:40
4"Odugindral"Sirkazhi Govindarajan03:21
5"Oththa Rooba"Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki03:12

Production

Tirulokchandar decided to produce and direct a film based on a novel by Maharishi.[4] The story is set in a Brahmin household. Tirulokchandar produced the film under his home production "Cine Bharath", and Harur Dass was recruited as the dialog writer.[4] The director chose Sivakumar as the male lead and while looking for a "new face" to cast as the female lead, they chose Rani Chandra, a Malayali actress, and planned to introduce her to the Tamil audience under the name "Gayathri".[4] Prior to acting in this film, Rani Chandra had acted in about 60 films in Malayalam apart from Porchilai (1969) and Then Sindhudhe Vaanam (1975) in Tamil. Bhadrakali was considered her first major role in Tamil as she played minor roles in her earlier films in the language.[4]

During the final stages of filming, Rani Chandra along with her mother and sisters went to Dubai to take part in a cultural programme.[5] When they were on a return from Bombay to Madras on 11 October 1976, their plane caught fire and crashed near the airport, killing all the passengers. As a result of her death, a few unfinished portions of her were shot using a look-alike,[6] named Pushpa, a group dancer. Apart from a few scenes involving the female lead, the climax portions were fully shot using Pushpa.[6][7] Though Tirulokchandar was not fully convinced with the idea to shoot with a look-alike as Pushpa slightly resembled Rani. However, Viswanath Rai, the cinematographer encouraged him to go with the idea of look-alike and used different camera angles and used long shots for scenes involving Pushpa, Rani's duplicate.[8]

Release

The film released on 10 December 1976 receiving unanimous acclaim and turned out to be a box office success.[8] Rani Chandra's portrayal as a Brahmin housewife was well received.[4] Ananda Vikatan said, "It is a daring effort to bring out the script of a Tamil writer in a high quality film format. Dialogues by Aroor Das have depth and the film deserves our appreciation!"[9]

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References

Footnotes
  1. Piousji (June 1982). "Khaas Baat". Sunday. Vol. 9. p. 57.
  2. Rangarajan, Malathi (12 November 2010). "Emotional recall". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  3. "Bhadrakali Songs". raaga. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  4. "'பத்ரகாளி' படத்தின் கதாநாயகி நடிகை ராணி சந்திரா விமான விபத்தில் மரணம்" [Badrakali fame Rani Chandra passed away in plane crash]. Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 17 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  5. "எம்.ஜி.ஆர் பார்முலா இல்லாத எம்.ஜி.ஆர் படம் எடுத்தேன்! - இயக்குநர் ஏ.சி. திருலோகசந்தர்" [I made a MGR film without his usual formula - Director A. C. Tirulokachander] (in Tamil). Cinema Express (Express Publications). Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. Nair, Sashi (9 September 2003). "Their SHOT at fame". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  7. "ராணி சந்திரா இறந்ததால் 'பத்ரகாளி' படத்தை முடிப்பதில் ஏற்பட்ட நெருக்கடி: இறுதிக் காட்சியை திறமையாக படமாக்கினார், திருலோகசந்தர்" [Rani Chandra's demise created problems in completing the film Bhadrakali: Tirulokachander brilliantly captured the climax]. Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 30 April 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  8. Rangarajan, Malathi (25 March 2011). "Moorings and musings". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  9. Dhananjayan 2011, p. 273.

Bibliography
  • Dhananjayan, G. (2011). "Bhadrakali - Goddess Kali in Fury". The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1931–1976. Galatta Media.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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