Kappalottiya Thamizhan

V. O. Chidambaram Pillai has devoted himself to the cause of India's freedom from the British Raj. Chidambaram, appearing for the peasant Madasami, wins a case filed by an agent of a British proprietor. Chidambaram's father, who appeared for the agent, sends his son to Thoothukudi lest the British proprietor should give him any trouble. Madasami who accompanies Chidambaram, looks after the latter's salt-pan. At Thoothukudi, Chidambaram meets Subramaniya Siva, a freedom fighter and works for the Swadeshi movement. Chidambaram receives a complaint from some of the local merchants that the British Shipping Company had refused to load their goods. Against great odds, Chidambaram starts the National Shipping Company with Indian Capital to free Indian trade from dependence on foreign liners. The company prospers despite attempts by the British Company to sabotage the ship of the Indian firm. Chidambaram incurs the displeasure of the Government by organising a strike for getting the grievances of the local coral mill workers redressed and by organising public celebrations to mark the release of Bipin Chandra Pal in contravention of a prohibitory order.

Chidambaram, along with Subramaniya Sivam, is invited to Tirunelveli by the District Collector, Winch. The collector directs them not to engage in political activity and also orders them out of the District. They defy the orders and are arrested. In the trial which ensues, Chidambaram is sentenced to 20 years life imprisonment and Sivam to 10 years. Chidambaram's sentence is reduced to six years on appeal. The imprisonment of these two leaders sparks off mass unrest which is put down ruthlessly. Some time later, the new District Collector Ashe is shot dead by a patriotic Vanchinathan, who commits suicide before the police can reach him.

The news of the unrelenting struggle outside gives much consolation to Chidambaram and Sivam who are treated barbarously in the prison. Chidambaram emerges from the prison a broken man only to witness a series of disappointments – Chidambaram's brother has become insane, Sivam is a victim of leprosy contracted during his term in prison, people have forgotten him and his role in the Indian independence movement, the National Shipping Company is bought by its British rival and leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Subramania Bharati die one after another. Chidambaram devotes the last years of his life to the study of literature and dies still dreaming of the day when India would be free.

Cast according to the opening credits and the song book[4]

Support cast

• Karikol Raju, Thangaraju, M. S. Karuppaiah, Mani Iyer, Vijayakumar, Kuppusami, V. P. S. Mani, Somanathan, S. A. G. Sami, Harihara Iyer, T. P. Harisingh, Gopraj,
  V. Mahalingam, Balakrishnan, Natarajan, Raja, Subbaiah, Ramkumar, Ibrahim, Thoothukudi Arunachalam Kuzhavinar, Master Krishna, Seetharaman and Baby Pappi.

Kappalottiya Thamizhan is based on the life of freedom fighter V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, who founded the Swadeshi Stream Navigation Company to break the monopoly of the British over maritime trade out of India.[2] During a time when the DMK was gaining political ground in Tamil Nadu, a time when there was competition between parties, and films were pitched against each other, the opposition unleashed a malicious propaganda that since Chidambaram belonged to the Indian National Congress, Kappalottiya Thamizhan was a film for the Congress. The film was not targeted for the masses, who at that time did not want to be "stirred" by the Nationalist Spirit.[3]

Sivaji Ganesan was hesitant to do the role of Chidambaram as he doubted whether he could perform the role flawlessly, but later accepted the role and studied various material to understand Chidambaram.[5] Gemini Ganesan was cast in the role of Madasamy,[6] and S. V. Subbaiah as the poet Subramania Bharati.[7] While S. A. Ashokan made his debut in this film as Collector Ashe, K. Balaji played Vanchinathan.[2] V. Nagaiah who was then in "dire straits", was signed up for a significant role, that of Chidambaram Pillai's father in law, as director B. R. Panthulu wanted to give him a "break in films".[8][2]

According to film historian S. Theodore Baskaran, there is no evidence of any research undertaken for making the film. He stated that the film had no props, apart from the character's costumes and the female character's ear-lobes, which were done to create a "period effect". The scenes which involved the burning of non-Indian textiles were described by him as "flat" and "unconvincing".[6] The film was partly coloured using Gevacolor, and the colour sequences were processed at the Film Centre, Mumbai.

The soundtrack of the film was composed by G. Ramanathan. All the songs are based on poems, written by Subramania Bharati.[2][9] Writing for The Hindu, C. V. Vasudevan wrote that the film "explored the powerful lyrics of Mahakavi Bharathi being matched perfectly by G. Ramanathan['s] musical score."[10]

• Kappalottiya Thamizhan on IMDb

• Ganesan, Sivaji (2007) [2002]. Autobiography of an Actor. Chennai: Sivaji Prabhu Charities Trust.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Baskaran, S. Theodore (1996). The Eye of the Serpent: An Introduction to Tamil Cinema. Chennai: East West Books.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2013. Blue Ocean Publishers.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)