Vanangaamudi

Name: Vanangaamudi
Director: P. Pullaiah
Genre: Drama
Released: 1957
Duration: 2 h 50 min
Cast: Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri, M. N. Nambiar, M. K. Radha, K. A. Thangavelu

1957 Drama 170 minutes Directed by P. Pullaiah

About Vanangaamudi

Sculptor Chitrasenan, son of the king's bodyguard, meets Princess Devasundari in a forest. Neither knows who the other is. Narendran wants both the throne and the princess. He has a mistress, the court dancer Ambika. He jails the sculptor, produces a tribal girl who looks exactly like the princess — Savitri plays both — and marries the double off to the king. Chitrasenan later exposes the switch and the plot against the throne.

Cast & crew

More about Vanangaamudi

P. Pullayya directed and wrote the screenplay from a story by A. K. Velan. M. Somasundaram produced. The English Wikipedia title is Vanangamudi, translated "The Independent." Released 12 April 1957 at 170 minutes. K. Govindasamy edited.

Themes

a sculptor and a princess who do not know each other
a double of the bride
a courtier after the throne
a jail term that does not finish the hero
sculptor
princess
look-alike
palace
double role
Tamil

Making

Velan, a Tamil scholar who had moved into writing and producing, supplied the story. Pullayya, already a director in several languages, staged it as a palace intrigue with a double role for Savitri.

Reviews

The Indian Express on 19 April 1957 wrote favorably, singling out Sivaji Ganesan. Kanthan, in Kalki on 28 April, liked A. K. Velan's story and dialogue.

Audiences

The film was a box-office hit.

Look

P. Ramasamy photographed it.

Music

G. Ramanathan composed the songs to lyrics by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass.

Preservation

A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

Sivaji Ganesan plays Chitrasenan. Savitri plays Devasundari and the look-alike. M. K. Radha is the king. Chittoor V. Nagaiah is the bodyguard Sevappan. Pasupuleti Kannamba is his wife Mangalam.
M. N. Nambiar plays Narendran. Rajasulochana plays Ambika. K. A. Thangavelu plays Paranjothi. Helen has a dance number.
Mohan Arts built an 80-foot (24 m) cutout for the Chitra theatre in Chennai. K. Mohan's son Harinath called it the tallest standee then made in Asia.
The Indian Express of 19 April 1957 praised Ganesan's performance. On 28 April, Kanthan in Kalki praised Velan's story and dialogue.
G. Ramanathan wrote the music. Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass wrote the lyrics.

Scenes

Chitrasenan and Devasundari meet in the forest without learning each other's names.
Narendran puts a tribal double in the princess's place and marries her to the king.
An 80-foot cutout of the film stood at Chitra theatre in Chennai.

Also available

Wikimedia Commons (Vanangamudi.webm)