Haridas (1944 film)

Haridas is a 1944 Tamil language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni and starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, T. R. Rajakumari and N. C. Vasanthakokilam. It holds the record of being the first film to run continuously for 110 weeks at a single theatre.[1][2][3][4][5][6] IBN Live included Haridas in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.[7] This film had a colour sequence which was manually colored by studio technicians. The film was entirely recoloured and released in year 1946.[8] The poster in this page mentions that in has released with a full colour copy (below the title). The movie was produced by Madurai Royal Talkies and Central Studios in Coimbatore.

Haridas
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sundar Rao Nadkarni
Produced by	Royal Talkies
Written by	Ilangovan
Starring	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar T. R. Rajakumari N. C. Vasanthakokilam N. S. Krishnan T. A. Madhuram Pandari Bai S. R. Krishna Iyengar
Music by	Papanasam Sivan G. Ramanathan
Cinematography	Adi Irani T. Muthuswamy
Edited by	Sundar Rao Nadkarni
Release date	16 October 1944
Running time	117 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Box office	₹40 lakh (US$56,000)

Plot

Haridas (Thyagaraja Bhagavathar) is a vain individual who spends his life in luxury and lust, ignored his parents for wife (Vasanthakokilam), ignoring his wife for a courtesan (T. R. Rajakumari). But when his wealth is appropriated by the courtesan, he realizes life's realities, reforms and spends the rest of his days serving his parents and God.

Cast

Cast according to the song book:

Male M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Haridas P. B. Rangachari as Mahamunivar T. E. K. Achariar as Haridas's Father Annaji Rao as Lakshmi's Father S. R. Krishna Iyengar as Kannan N. S. Krishnan as Zamindar P. R. Rajagopala Iyer as Head Villager P. Ramaiah Sastri as Chettiar T. R. Ramasamy as Madhavi Das

Female N. C. Vasanthakokilam as Lakshmi, Haridas's Wife T. R. Rajakumari as Ramba (Dasi) M. A. Radha Bai as Harida's Mother T. A. Mathuram as Sarada, Ramba's Cook Baby Harini as Krishnan Pandari Bai

Production

Haridas was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni, a Marathi film director, and produced by Royal Talkies. The film was adapted from the book Sri Krishna Vijayam by Elangovan.[1] It was based on the story of the life of a poet-saint called Haridas.[1][6] The role of Haridas was played by M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, who was the highest-paid actor in the Tamil film industry at the time.[9] It was very short (10,994 Feet[10]) compared to other films from the same period.[11] Featuring a number of melodious songs sung by Bhagavathar, the film was released on Diwali (16 October) 1944.[12] Classical musician N. C. Vasanthakokilam, who was often compared to M. S. Subbulakshmi as a singer, played the role of Haridas' wife.[12][11] The film also marked the debut of renowned Tamil actress Pandari Bai.[11][13] The comedic duo of N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Mathuram were cast in this film.[2] Th film was shot at Central Studios, Coimbatore.[14][15]

Upper: T. R. Rajakumari and M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar
Lower: N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Mathuram

Soundtrack

All songs in this film became hits. The song "Manmadha Leelayai Vendrar Undo" celebrating erotic love has become an enduring hit and the phrase has entered every day Tamil usage. Papanasam Sivan was the composer and G. Ramanathan was in charge of the orchestration. A partial list of songs from Haridas:

Two songs, sung by N. C. Vasanthakokilam ('Enadhu Manam Thulli Vilaiyaaduthe' and 'Kannaa Vaa') were recorded by HMV distinct from the film version of these songs and were released with black label. (See External links for link)

All lyrics are written by Papanasam Sivan.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Manmadha Leelayai Vendrar Undo"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	4:37
2.	"Vaazhvil Oru Thirunaal"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	2:46
3.	"Krishnaa Mukunda Muraree"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	3:21
4.	"Annaiyum Thanthaiyum"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	3:17
5.	"Nijamma Idhu Nijamma"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	2:15
6.	"Kadhiravan Udhayam"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	2:45
7.	"Ullam Kavarum En Paavai"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	2:30
8.	"Natanam Innum Aadanam"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	--
9.	"Ennalum Indha"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	--
10.	"Thottadharkellam"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	--
11.	"Enadhuyir Nadhar"	Papanasam Sivan	Unknown	3:20
12.	"Ennudal Thanil"	Papanasam Sivan	M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar	2:43
13.	"Kanna Vaa Manivanna Vaa"	Papanasam Sivan	N. C. Vasanthakokilam	2:59
14.	"Enathu Manam Thulli"	Papanasam Sivan	N. C. Vasanthakokilam	2:40
15.	"Kaavalai Tharum"	Papanasam Sivan	N. S. Krishnan. T. A. Mathuram	2:55
16.	"Kathathaikku"	Papanasam Sivan	Unknown	1:50

Reception

Haridas hit the theatres on Deepavali (16 October) 1944. It was a huge success and ran for 110 consecutive weeks till Deepavali (22 November) 1946 at the Sun Theatres in Broadway, Madras.[11][6] Across theatres it had an uninterrupted theatrical run of 133 weeks.[3] With the profits earned from the film, the producers established a knitting company in Madurai.[6] Bhagavathar became the Tamil cinema industry's highest paid star and was offered a salary of ₹1 lakh per film.[11][6] Following the success of Haridas, Bhagavathar was immediately booked for as many as twelve films.[6] However, he was not able to enjoy his success as he was arrested in November 1944 as a suspect in the Lakshmikanthan Murder Case.[11][2] IBN Live included the film in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.[7]

See also

Lakshmikanthan Murder Case

References

1. Dhananjayan 2014, p. 56.
2. Blast From the Past – Haridas 1944, The Hindu 11 July 2008
3. Thoraval 2011, p. 38. sfn error: no target: CITEREFThoraval2011 (help)
4. Baskaran 1996, p. 46.
5. Anandan 2004, p. 33.2.
6. "Filmography of M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Page 1". Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
7. "100 Years of Indian Cinema: The 100 greatest Indian films of all time". IBN Live. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
8. http://indpaedia.com/ind/index.php/Colour_films_in_Tamil#The_1940s:_Hand-tinted_films
9. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema. British Film Institute. p. 57. ISBN 0-85170-455-7. ISBN 978-0-85170-455-5.
10. Anandan 2004, p. 28.35.
11. Dhananjayan 2014, p. 57.
12. Randor Guy. "From Silents to Sivaji Ganesan – A Lookback". Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
13. Guy, Randor (14 February 2003). "Actress who glowed with inner beauty". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
14. https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/coimbatores-celluloid-connection/article6044541.ece
15. https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/celluloid-stories/article5810184.ece

External links

• Haridas on IMDb
• "Video of the 'Manmathan Leelayil Vendrar Undo' song from Haridas". (In public domain in India)
• "Video of 'Krishna Mukunda Murare' song from Haridas". (In public domain in India)
• "Video of 'Annaiyum Thanthaiyum Thaane' song from Haridas". (In public domain in India)
• "Video of 'Ennudal Thanil' song from Haridas". (In public domain in India)
• Kannaa Vaa on YouTube - Sung by N. C. Vasanthakokilam
• Enadhu Manam Thulli Vilaiyaduthe on YouTube - Sung by N. C. Vasanthakokilum

Bibliography

• Thoraval, Yves (2000). The cinemas of India. India: Macmillan. p. 38. ISBN 0-333-93410-5. ISBN 978-0-333-93410-4.
• Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The eye of the serpent: an introduction to Tamil cinema. Chennai: East West Books. p. 46.
• Limca book of records. Bisleri Beverages Ltd. 1996.
• Anandan, Film News (2004). Sadhanaigal padaitha Tamil Thiraipada Varalaaru (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publications. pp. 28.35, 33:2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2013. Blue Ocean Publishers.
• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema. British Film Institute. p. 57. ISBN 0-85170-455-7. ISBN 978-0-85170-455-5.