Vedala Ulagam
Encyclopedia
Vedala Ulagam is a 1948 India
n film.
One of the two founding fathers of the Renaissance of Tamil Theatre, Pammal Sambandam Mudaliar, a lawyer and later a Small Cause Court Judge, experimented with varied genres in writing plays, many of which became hits. Some of his plays were made into films in the early decades of Tamil cinema by the fast progressing movie mogul AV. Meiyyappan. Mudaliar’s successful plays included ‘Ratnavali’… ‘Manohara’ (the most famous of them all), ‘Sabhapathi’, ‘Sathi Sulochana’ and ‘Vedhala Ulagam’ (a play of the fantasy genre).
This play was adapted for the screen by Pa. Neelakantan who was then associated with the house of AVM as writer and director. Vedhala Ulagam was shot at the AVM Studio in Karaikudi situated on the outskirts of Devakottai. Not many are aware that some parts of the film were shot earlier with T. A. Jayalakshmi (heroine of the AVM hit, Naam Iruvar) but for many reasons she was replaced by Mangalam who along with her sister Yogam were well known dancers.
Vedhala Ulagam, as the title indicates, is a world of demons where mortals are imprisoned by the demon king (R. Balasubramaniam). A daring prince (T. R. Mahalingam) sets out to release the imprisoned men accompanied by his companion Sarangapani with whom a demoness (Chellam) falls in love. Though the directorial credit was given to AV. Meiyyappan, it was mostly directed by Pa. Neelakantan and M. V. Raman (then an editor and later a successful producer, director and studio-owner).
The music was composed by the in-house composer R. Sudarsanam with lyrics by Mahakavi Subramania Bharati, Papanasam Sivan, K. D. Santhanam and N. Raghavan. The dance sequences of Kamala, Lalitha-Padmini and Tara were choreographed by the iconic nattuvanar, Vazhuvoor B. Ramaiah Pillai. Rajakantham played the demon queen and Sarangapani provided comic relief. He also sang a song making fun of the demon princess (Chellam)… “Aiyayayaye….. Paarka kannu koosudhey….” (a straight lift from the famous song of ‘Brazilian Bombshell’ Carmen Miranda, “I….I….I…I.... like you very much…”)
Singing star Mahalingam, one of the top names in Tamil cinema then, expectedly sang solos and duets with Mangalam (voice: T. S. Bhagavathi). One of the songs picturised on Mangalam, “Araa… inbam thandhaar…”, was hummed by one and all.
As the storyline was thin, AVM introduced song and dance sequences (including a dance drama ‘Pavalakodi’) which proved to be popular — Bharati’s song in the ‘viraha thaapam’ genre, ‘Thoondil puzhuvinai pol…’ (Kamala, voice D. K. Pattammal), famous dancer Tara Chowdhary’s dance sequence and another dance drama featuring Lalitha-Padmini ‘vasamulla poo paripeney’.
As a ‘postscript sequence’ at the end of the movie, Kamala danced to the popular number ‘Theeradha vilayattu pillai’ (DKP, Bharati). The happy couple (Mahalingam and Mangalam) watches this sequence.
This last sequence was hand-tinted in colour and drew large crowds because such coloured sequences in Tamil cinema were a rarity then. Murugesan was an expert craftsman who could paint every frame in the positive print. Unfortunately, Murugesan died in obscurity and poverty.Being a tale of demons, there were a number of trick sequences in the film which were well executed by the in-house cinematographer T. Mathuram whom few remember today. The picturesque sets were contributed by well known art director of his day, A. Balu.
A mass entertainer in the usual AVM style, the film is today revived on television by private channels.
Remembered for interesting onscreen narration, pleasing music and exquisite sets and dances.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n film.
One of the two founding fathers of the Renaissance of Tamil Theatre, Pammal Sambandam Mudaliar, a lawyer and later a Small Cause Court Judge, experimented with varied genres in writing plays, many of which became hits. Some of his plays were made into films in the early decades of Tamil cinema by the fast progressing movie mogul AV. Meiyyappan. Mudaliar’s successful plays included ‘Ratnavali’… ‘Manohara’ (the most famous of them all), ‘Sabhapathi’, ‘Sathi Sulochana’ and ‘Vedhala Ulagam’ (a play of the fantasy genre).
This play was adapted for the screen by Pa. Neelakantan who was then associated with the house of AVM as writer and director. Vedhala Ulagam was shot at the AVM Studio in Karaikudi situated on the outskirts of Devakottai. Not many are aware that some parts of the film were shot earlier with T. A. Jayalakshmi (heroine of the AVM hit, Naam Iruvar) but for many reasons she was replaced by Mangalam who along with her sister Yogam were well known dancers.
Vedhala Ulagam, as the title indicates, is a world of demons where mortals are imprisoned by the demon king (R. Balasubramaniam). A daring prince (T. R. Mahalingam) sets out to release the imprisoned men accompanied by his companion Sarangapani with whom a demoness (Chellam) falls in love. Though the directorial credit was given to AV. Meiyyappan, it was mostly directed by Pa. Neelakantan and M. V. Raman (then an editor and later a successful producer, director and studio-owner).
The music was composed by the in-house composer R. Sudarsanam with lyrics by Mahakavi Subramania Bharati, Papanasam Sivan, K. D. Santhanam and N. Raghavan. The dance sequences of Kamala, Lalitha-Padmini and Tara were choreographed by the iconic nattuvanar, Vazhuvoor B. Ramaiah Pillai. Rajakantham played the demon queen and Sarangapani provided comic relief. He also sang a song making fun of the demon princess (Chellam)… “Aiyayayaye….. Paarka kannu koosudhey….” (a straight lift from the famous song of ‘Brazilian Bombshell’ Carmen Miranda, “I….I….I…I.... like you very much…”)
Singing star Mahalingam, one of the top names in Tamil cinema then, expectedly sang solos and duets with Mangalam (voice: T. S. Bhagavathi). One of the songs picturised on Mangalam, “Araa… inbam thandhaar…”, was hummed by one and all.
As the storyline was thin, AVM introduced song and dance sequences (including a dance drama ‘Pavalakodi’) which proved to be popular — Bharati’s song in the ‘viraha thaapam’ genre, ‘Thoondil puzhuvinai pol…’ (Kamala, voice D. K. Pattammal), famous dancer Tara Chowdhary’s dance sequence and another dance drama featuring Lalitha-Padmini ‘vasamulla poo paripeney’.
As a ‘postscript sequence’ at the end of the movie, Kamala danced to the popular number ‘Theeradha vilayattu pillai’ (DKP, Bharati). The happy couple (Mahalingam and Mangalam) watches this sequence.
This last sequence was hand-tinted in colour and drew large crowds because such coloured sequences in Tamil cinema were a rarity then. Murugesan was an expert craftsman who could paint every frame in the positive print. Unfortunately, Murugesan died in obscurity and poverty.Being a tale of demons, there were a number of trick sequences in the film which were well executed by the in-house cinematographer T. Mathuram whom few remember today. The picturesque sets were contributed by well known art director of his day, A. Balu.
A mass entertainer in the usual AVM style, the film is today revived on television by private channels.
Remembered for interesting onscreen narration, pleasing music and exquisite sets and dances.