Kannagi is a Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 epic film

Epic film

An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...

 directed by R.S Mani based on the Greatest Tamil epic

Epic (genre)

An epic is traditionally a genre of poetry, known as epic poetry. However in modern terms, epic is often extended to other art forms, such as novels, plays, films, and video games where the story is centered on heroic characters, and the action takes place on a grand scale, just as in epic poetry...

 Silapadhigaaram released in the year 1942. This is the first Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 flim based on the epic Silapadhigaaram. A second movie named Poompuhar released later in the year 1964.

Plot

R.S. Mani directs this mythological fantasy based on the first century A.D. Tamil Jain saga Silapadhigaaram. The film centers on Kovalan

Kovalan

Kovalan is a central character in the ancient Tamil epic Cilappatikaram.-Plot:Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in Kaveripattinam, married Kannagi, the lovely daughter of another merchant. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and...

 (P.U. Chinnappa), who is married to the faithful Kannagi

Kannagi

Kannagi or , a legendary Tamil woman, is the central character of the South Indian epic Silapathikaram. Legend states that Kannagi took revenge on the King of Madurai, for a mistaken death penalty imposed on her husband Kovalan, by cursing the city with disaster.-The story:Kovalan, the son of a...

 (P. Kannamba). Later, Kovalan falls for the beautiful, dissolute dancer Madhavi

Madhavi

Madhavi may refer to:* Madhavi , a character in the ancient Tamil epic Cilapathikaram* Madhavi , a South Indian film actress* Madhavi , 1982 play by Bhisham Sahni...

 (N.S. Saroja), who leads him to ruin. Kannagi

Kannagi

Kannagi or , a legendary Tamil woman, is the central character of the South Indian epic Silapathikaram. Legend states that Kannagi took revenge on the King of Madurai, for a mistaken death penalty imposed on her husband Kovalan, by cursing the city with disaster.-The story:Kovalan, the son of a...

 comes in at the last moment and saves him from almost certain debauchery. She also offers to sell her golden anklet

Anklet

An anklet, also called ankle chain or ankle bracelet, is an ornament worn around the ankle. Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for centuries by girls and women in India. In the United States both casual and more formal anklets became fashionable in the late twentieth century...

 to restore the household's depleted funds. Unfortunately, the artistry and value of the object leads the king of a neighboring land to accuse Kovalan

Kovalan

Kovalan is a central character in the ancient Tamil epic Cilappatikaram.-Plot:Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in Kaveripattinam, married Kannagi, the lovely daughter of another merchant. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and...

 of theft and sentence him to the chopping block. Once again, Kannagi comes in at the last moment and proves to the king and the queen that they are innocent, causing them both to die instantly. After razing Madhavi's native village to the ground, Kannagi

Kannagi

Kannagi or , a legendary Tamil woman, is the central character of the South Indian epic Silapathikaram. Legend states that Kannagi took revenge on the King of Madurai, for a mistaken death penalty imposed on her husband Kovalan, by cursing the city with disaster.-The story:Kovalan, the son of a...

 ascends to heaven.

Cast

P. U. Chinnappa

P. U. Chinnappa

Pudukkottai Ulaganathan Pillai Chinnappa , also popularly known as P.U.Chinnappa, was a popular singer and Tamil movie actor during 1930's and 1940s from Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, India. He is also credited to be one of the first major influential actors of South Cinema...

 as Kovalan

Kovalan

Kovalan is a central character in the ancient Tamil epic Cilappatikaram.-Plot:Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in Kaveripattinam, married Kannagi, the lovely daughter of another merchant. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and...

P. Kannamba

P. Kannamba

Pasupuleti Kannamba was a versatile actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu cinema, Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produced about 25 films in Telugu and Tamil languages during 1930s to 1960s.-Career:Kannamba was born in Eluru. She started acting in dramas...

 as Kannagi

Kannagi

Kannagi or , a legendary Tamil woman, is the central character of the South Indian epic Silapathikaram. Legend states that Kannagi took revenge on the King of Madurai, for a mistaken death penalty imposed on her husband Kovalan, by cursing the city with disaster.-The story:Kovalan, the son of a...

N.S. Saroja as Madhavi (Silappatikaram)

Madhavi (Silappatikaram)

Madhavi is an important character in the Silappatikaram, one of the epics in Tamil literature. Silapathikaram is the first kappiyam among the five in Tamil literature. It belongs to the sangam period. She was a dancer and on those days these kind of people are made in the society to recreate the...

SoundTrack