Menaka (1935 film)

Menaka is a 1935 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by P. K. Rajasandow and produced by Sri Shanmuganandha Talkie Company. The film stars T. K. Shanmugam and T. K. Bhagavathi with N. S. Krishnan (in his cinematic debut), S. V. Sahasranamam, K. R. Ramasamy and T. K. Muthusamy in supporting roles. The film is about two lovers who get separated because of the designs of some envious persons and their reunion after much anguish and anxiety.

For 1955 tamil film, see Menaka (1955 film).
Menaka
Directed byP. K. Rajasandow
Screenplay byKandhasamy Mudaliar
Story byVaduvoor K. Duraiswamy Iyengar
StarringT. K. Shanmugam
T. K. Bhagavathi
N. S. Krishnan
Music byT. K. Muthusamy
CinematographyNemai Ghosh
Production
company
Sri Shanmuganandha Talkie Company
Release date
  • 6 April 1935 (1935-04-06)
[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

The film was the adaptation of a stage play which itself was adapted from novel written by Vaduvoor K. Duraiswamy Iyengar. The film's screenplay was written by Kandhasamy Mudaliar. The film was released on 6 April 1935 became successful at the box-office and created a trendsetter for social themed films in Tamil.

Cast

The list was adapted from the database of Film News Anandan[1]

Production

M. Somasundaram who earlier worked as entrepreneur in Coimbatore decided to venture into film production along with partner S. K. Mohideen.[2] For their debut film, they decided to produce a film adaptation of stage play Menaka which was staged by TKS Brothers for which Somasundaram bought the story rights for 16000.[3] Male actor T. K. Muthusamy portrayed Perundhevi, a widow since no female was willing to her their head for the role.[4]

N. S. Krishnan who portrayed a comic negative role in the play reprised the role in the film which also marked his acting debut.[2] During the shoot, he was initially reluctant to be a part of a scene where he was supposed to be tied together with an actress. Krishnan jokingly remarked that "being a chaste man, only his wife should touch him".[3] Rajasandow who understood the humour became friends with Krishnan. The film was entirely shot at Ranjith Studios, Bombay and was completed within 3 months with the cost of 80000.[2]

Award

The film won an award from the Government of the Madras Presidency.[2]

Remake

The film was remade in 1955 with the same title by V. C. Subbaraman. K. R. Ramaswamy, who portrayed a comic role in the 1935 version played a leading role in this version. However this version failed to replicate the success of the 1935 version.[5]

Legacy

Menaka was the first Tamil film where a novel was adapted into a feature film and the success of the film also triggered a series of social themed films in Tamil cinema. The film made N. S. Krishnan popular and he went on to become a famous comedian in Tamil.[6]

gollark: But right now, at least, it isn't very capable of generally intelligent stuff, which is probably for the best.
gollark: I'm not sure I'd call that general intelligence.
gollark: AI can't really match humans at general intelligence tasks which we have to think hard about. It absolutely can do much of what we *intuitively* do - categorising cats and dogs, basic language processing, whatever - and nobody is flying planes by manually reasoning through the physics of their actions.
gollark: If they're inferring that from observations of some form, so can a computer system.
gollark: How is a human sensing that exactly?

References
  1. Film News Anandan (2004). Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru [Tamil film history and its achievements] (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publishers. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017.
  2. Guy, Randor (27 August 2010). "The making of 'Menaka'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. Guy, Randor (4 January 2008). "Menaka 1935". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  4. Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The eye of the serpent: an introduction to Tamil cinema. East West Books. p. 8.
  5. Guy, Randor (4 September 2011). "Menaka 1955". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  6. Guy, Randor (20 November 2014). "Comedian by destiny". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
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