Friday, Aug 08, 2008
Cinema Plus
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Kaithi 1951
S. Balachandar, S. A. Natarajan, Revathi, Meenakshi, M. K. Mustafa, G. M. Basheer and R. Malathi
Hollywood superstar and cult figure Humphrey Bogart’s Dark Passage (1947) was an unusual movie in which Bogart, a convicted murderer, escapes from prison and works hard to prove his innocence. To avoid being caught, he undergoes plastic surgery, and until it is completed one hears only Bogart’s famous voice and his face is shown for the first time after the surgery!
The storyline of a convict escaping to prove his innocence was adapted by the sadly underrated genius of the South Indian fine arts world, S. Balachandar. He wrote, directed and acted in the lead role as “Kaidhi” for Jupiter Pictures. He also composed the music. In this story, a Good Samaritan offers to help the hero — an unemployed graduate — whom he meets at a race course. Betting on a tip-off given by him, the hero makes a lot of money and when he goes to give it back to the kind man, the latter is found murdered in his car. The hero is accused of the crime and sent to prison. How he escapes and successfully seeks the killer (S. A. Natarajan), whose daughter falls in love with the hero, forms the rest of the plot. There were two girls, Revathi and Meenakshi, falling for the same man.
In an interesting twist to the story, his girlfriend offers the hero a hideout in her family garage, taking him food and such regularly though both are unaware that the killer is the girl’s father.
S. A. Natarajan, an import from Tamil theatre, was introduced to films by Jupiter Pictures in a supporting role as a Prosecutor in A. S. A. Sami-Annadurai’s cult film Velaikari. With his distinctive voice and style of dialogue delivery, he created an impact soon. He was the scene stealer in Manthirikumari (1950) which featured well-known stars such as M. N. Nambiar and M. G. Ramachandran. Sadly, his film career did not last long because of his ill-advised, disappointing ventures in production.
Revathi (original name-Samanthakamani) had a fairly successful career on Kannada stage and screen and soon married multilingual star Kalyankumar. Meenakshi, however, retired from films soon after, settling down to a happy, domestic life. Excellently narrated on screen, this film was a success when crime thrillers were not many in Tamil cinema. Balachandar’s music also contributed to the movie. The prisoners sing in chorus ‘aiyya horee Raam’ adapted from the celebrated Canoe Song rendered by the iconic figure of his day, Paul Robeson, in Sanders of the River (1935). Another song which had for the opening English lines ‘Be happy… Be jolly… Be cheerful…’ (voice Radha-Jayalakshmi) proved popular. The lyrics were by K. D. Santhanam.
At first, the movie was titled “Rattham” (Blood), and after it was completed the Tamil publicity layout had the caption “Jupiterin Ratham Veli Varugirathu!” (Jupiter’s Blood coming out!). The shocked producer Jupiter Somu understandably changed the title suggested by Balachandar.
The film was edited by the Jupiter staff editor who later scaled great heights as a filmmaker directing many hits of MGR. His name was M. A. Thirumugam. Regrettably no print of this rare film is believed to have survived.
Remembered for: Its taut onscreen narration filled with suspense and also for its melodious music with some of the songs becoming popular during those days.
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