Veera Abhimanyu

Veera Abhimanyu is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film directed by V. Madhusudhan Rao and produced by Sunderlal Nahta and Doondi. Based on Abhimanyu, a character from the Indian epic Mahabharata, the film stars Gemini Ganesan leading an ensemble cast, including A. V. M. Rajan portraying the title character. It was simultaneously filmed in Telugu as Veerabhimanyu, with a largely different cast. The film was released on 20 August 1965, and failed commercially.

Not to be confused with Veerabhimanyu.
Veera Abhimanyu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byV. Madhusudhan Rao
Produced bySundarlal Nahta
Doondi
Screenplay byS. I. Peruman
StarringGemini Ganesan
Balaji
A. V. M. Rajan
Kanchana
Music byK. V. Mahadevan
CinematographyRavi
Edited byN. S. Prakasam
Production
company
Rajalakshmi Productions
Release date
  • 20 August 1965 (1965-08-20)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

The Pandava prince Arjuna explains to his pregnant wife Subhadra the nuances of entering the Padmavyuha, a deadly war-plan created by Drona. Abhimanyu, the child in Subhadra's womb, listens to it. When Arjuna is about to explain how to come out of it, Krishna shows up and diverts the topic. While the Pandavas are in the Virata Kingdom during the agnaatvaas, Abhimanyu grows up at Dwaraka as a valiant warrior. While chasing Uttarakumara, Abhimanyu enters King Virata's garden and meets Uttara, and they both fall in love. Abhimanyu seeks Ghatothkacha's support to marry Uttara.

When the Pandavas' agnaatvaas ends, the marriage of Abhimanyu and Uttara is conducted. Upon returning, the Pandavas seek their share of the kingdom, but the Kaurava prince Duryodhana refuses to part with even five villages, leading to the Kurukshetra War. Drona creates the Padmavyuha to stop Abhimanyu, who is slayed by the Kauravas through deceit. To a devastated Arjuna, Krishna conveys, through his Vishvarupa, the truth about the circle of life.

Cast

Production

Veera Abhimanyu revolves around Abhimanyu, a character in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Directed by V. Madhusudhan Rao and produced by Sunderlal Nahta and Doondi under the banner Rajalakshmi Productions, it was simultaneously produced in Tamil and Telugu languages, the latter as Veerabhimanyu which featured a largely different cast.[2] In Tamil, A. V. M. Rajan played the title role of Abhimanyu,[1] and Gemini Ganesan played Krishna.[3] Rajan and Ganesan were replaced in Telugu by Sobhan Babu and N. T. Rama Rao, respectively.[2] Kanchana played Uttara in both versions.[4][2] Since Kanchana was familiar with the story and already knew what Uttara would go through, she was comfortable when facing the camera.[5] The screenplay was written by S. I. Peruman, cinematography was handled by Ravi, the editing by N. S. Prakasam, and the art direction by S. Krishna Rao.[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan, and the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.[6] The song "Paarthen, Sirithen" is set in the carnatic raga known as Sahana.[7][8] While in Tiruppur, Kannadasan was relaxing after a meal. His assistant requested him to write a "sweet song"; immediately, Kannadasan broke into the verse "Paarthen sirithen pakkathil azhaithen, anru unaithen ena naan ninaithen, andha malaithen idhuvena malaithen"; each word ended with "then", meaning honey.[9] The word appears 65 times in the song.[10] Kannadasan took inspiration from a poem by Kambar, which used the same word five times.[11] Writing for The Hindu, Sudha Balachandran praised the song's setting in the Sahana raga, and wrote that Kannadasan "penned lines with unique word-play, amazing puns and punctuated the verses with beautiful rhyming."[12] Film critic Baradwaj Rangan, who defines a "list song" as one where the "structure is that of a list, a catalogue of similar-sounding (or similar-meaning) things", called it a list of "dazzling rhymes".[13]

Tracklist[1]
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Yugam Thorum Naan"Sirkazhi Govindarajan 
2."Velum Vizhiyum"P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela 
3."Thotta Idam"P. Susheela 
4."Povom Pudhu Ulagam"P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela 
5."Paarthen, Sirithen"P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela 
6."Kallathaname Uruvai Vantha"S. Janaki 
7."Koorayil Neruppinai"Sirkazhi Govindarajan 
8."Neeyum Oru Pennanal"P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela 
9."Thuvakathil"Sirkazhi Govindarajan 

Release and reception

Veera Abhimanyu was released on 20 August 1965,[6] eight days after Veerabhimanyu (12 August).[2] The Indian Express lauded the film, particularly the performances of Ganesan Rajan, Balaji Thevar, Nagesh and Varalakshmi, in addition to the battle sequences.[4] Writing in Sport and Pastime, T. M. Ramachandran too praised the film, primarily for the cast performances, the storytelling, the sets and the trick photography.[14] Despite this, the film did not succeed commercially, and distributors blamed the producers for casting Ganesan (instead of Rama Rao) as Krishna.[2]

gollark: People do not actually act rationally.
gollark: What, you mean in real life?
gollark: Factories are a tool of the oppressor! Anarchoprimitivism forever!
gollark: Bomb the wealthy! Consume the factories!
gollark: Specifically, in ones where you believe in "property rights" and "actually being compensated for doing things".

References
  1. வீர அபிமன்யு (songbook) (in Tamil). Rajalakshmi Productions. 1965.
  2. Narasimham, M. L. (10 November 2017). "Veerabhimanyu (1965)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  3. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (11 July 2015). ""Kaadhal Mannan" Gemini Ganesan, romantic actor king of Tamil cinema". Daily FT. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  4. "Gemini Ganesh excels in Veera Abhimanyu". The Indian Express. 21 August 1965. p. 3.
  5. Vandhana (17 January 2019). "'I May Not Agree With The Films We Make, But We Have To Soldier On': An Interview With Actress Kanchana". Silverscreen.in. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  6. "Veera Abhimanyu". The Indian Express. 20 August 1965. p. 12.
  7. Sundararaman 2007, p. 152.
  8. Mani, Charulatha (27 April 2012). "A Raga's Journey — Soothing Sahana". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  9. Govindarajulu, Rajesh (1 October 2014). "Those were the leaders". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. மதிராஜ், ஆர்.சி. (22 June 2018). "காலமெல்லாம் கண்ணதாசன் – 17 பார்த்தேன் சிரித்தேன்..." [Kannadasan forever – 17 I Saw and smiled...]. Kamadenu (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  11. "" 'My Lord' more classical than colonial"". The Hindu. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  12. Balachandran, Sudha (25 May 2017). "Where does beauty lie?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  13. Rangan, Baradwaj (12 March 2016). "Lyrics from a laundry list". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  14. Ramachandran, T. M. (18 September 1965). "A Glorious Page from Our Epics". Sport and Pastime. Vol. 19. p. 51.

Further reading
  • Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Chennai: Pichhamal Chintamani. OCLC 295034757.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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