Dhaasippen

Dhaasippen
தாசிப்பெண்
Film Poster
Directed by Ellis R. Dungan
Written by Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar
Starring T. R. Mahalingam
M. G. Ramachandran
N. S. Krishnan
T. A. Madhuram
Music by Lalitha Venkatraman
S. Rajeswara Rao
Edited by R. S. Mani
Production
company
Minerva movietone
Newtone Studios
Bhuvaneswari Pictures
Distributed by Devi Films
Release date
 3 March 1943
Running time
 150 min. (13,623 Feet)
Country India
Language Tamil

Dhaasippen, also spelled as Dhaasippenn (Tamil: தாசிப்பெண் English: Dancing Girl), is a 1954 Tamil film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and produced by Bhuvaneswai Pictures. The lead actors are T. R. Mahalingam and M. G. Ramachandran. The film's musical score is by Lalitha Venkatraman and S. Rajeswara Rao. The film has had three other titles: Jyothi Malar, Dasi Penn and Thumbai Mahatmyam, and Jothi Malar (Tamil: ஜோதி மலர்).[1][2][3] The film is based on a folk tale about a Devadasi dedicating her life to worshipping Lord Shiva and refusing to follow the traditional path of marrying a man. DasiPenn performed fairly well and became a box-office hit.[4]

Plot

M. G. Ramachandran as Shiva, with Balasaraswathi as Devadasi, much to her delight it was one of MGR early movies, he played the divine role in some and looked impressive. The melodious songs and dances of Balasaraswathi and MGR provide a visual delight on the screen.2nd, silver medalist(s)

Randor Guy[4]

A young Devadasi (R. Balasaraswathi) is forced by her family to yield to lustful Zamindar (V. K. Dass). The Devadasi refuses to do this because she is devoted to Lord Shiva (M. G. Ramachandran) and she wishes to marry her lover (T. R. Mahalingam). She encounters many hurdles on her journey. The Zamindar attempts to kidnap her to make her his mistress. However, his attempts fail thanks to the intervention of Shiva and his Consort, Parvathi (M. R. Santhanalakshmi). There is a parallel story in the film about her married sister (T. A. Madhuram) who carries on an affair with a traveling sari salesman (N. S. Krishnan). Their illicit romance is always thwarted by the appearance of a fierce-looking giant (Pulimooti Ramasamy). Eventually the Devadasi grows tired of her life. Answering her prayers, Shiva transformed her into Thumbhai Plant. Even today, the flowers of Thumbhai plant are offered to Lord Shiva during worship. Hence the film also had the title Thumbhai Mahatmayam.[4]

Production

Dhaasippen (lit. Dancing Girl or Prostitute) was based on a play of the same name written by Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar.[5] It was produced by Buvaneshwari Pictures and directed by Ellis Dungan. T. R. Mahalingam played the lead role and M. G. Ramachandran (later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) was cast in a supporting role. Comic relief was provided by the husband and wife comedy duo of N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Madhuram. This film was short (13,623 feet) when compared to the Tamil films of the 1930s, due to the shortage of film negatives during World War II. It was released on March 3rd, 1943 in tandem with another film – Kizhattu Mappilai (Tamil: கிழட்டு மாப்பிள்ளை).[2]

Dhaasippen was shot at Minerva Movietone in Bombay and Newtone Studios in Madras (now Chennai) and edited by R. S. Mani. Mani began his career as an editor and worked with Dungan on Kalamegam. He became a successful filmmaker with hits such as Kannagi, Kubera Kuchela and Krishna Bakthi, and the production of popular film Maaman Magal. Later, he became religious and left the filmmaking industry.[4] Dugan made several cultural films based mostly on mythology folk tales without knowing Tamil. Dugan has also created other classic films such as Sathi Leelavathi, Sakuntalai, Meera, Kalamegam and Manthiri Kumari (in which he shared credit with its producer T. R. Sundaram).[4]

Cast

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Lalitha Venkatraman and S. Rajeswara Rao. There were nearly 30 songs including duets. Lalitha Venkatraman, a noted singer of the day, also played Veena in the movie. She later relocated to Bombay after marriage and made history by being the first female in Tamil Cinema to sing off-screen in the AVM film Nandakumar (1938).[4]

References

  1. ↑ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema. British Film Institute. p. 147. ISBN 0-85170-455-7, ISBN 978-0-85170-455-5.
  2. 1 2 Film News Anandan (2004). Sadhanaigal padaitha Tamil Thiraipada Varalaaru (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publications. pp. 28:33.
  3. ↑ Saraswathi, S. (1996). Government, politics, and people: linkage politics of Tamil Nadu. Manak Publications. p. 230. ISBN 8185445761, ISBN 978-81-85445-76-2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Guy, Randor (2011-02-20). "dasi penn jyothimalar 1943". "The Hindu". Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  5. ↑ He drew inspiration from Shakespeare, The Hindu 18 April 2008
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