President Panchaksharam
President Panchaksharam is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by A. Bhimsingh and written by B. S. Ramiah. It is based on the play of the same name written by Ramiah, itself adapted from the 1836 play The Government Inspector by Russian Nikolai Gogol. The film stars S. S. Rajendran, S. V. Sahasranamam and B. Saroja Devi. It was released on 10 July 1959 and became a commercial success.
| President Panchaksharam | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | A. Bhimsingh |
| Screenplay by | B. S. Ramiah |
| Based on | The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol |
| Produced by | V. Arunachalam Chinna Annamalai |
| Starring | S. S. Rajendran S. V. Sahasranamam B. Saroja Devi |
| Cinematography | M. Karnan |
| Edited by | A. Bhimsingh |
| Music by | G. Ramanathan |
Production company | Savithri Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 162 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
A District Board president has a daughter studying in Madras. While he and his wife have different men as prospective grooms for her in their minds, the girl falls in love with her friend Sigamani. The two aspiring grooms come to the president's town to finalise the marriage. Suddenly, the president receives a letter stating that the government is sending an official to secretly investigate his fraudulent affairs. When Sigamani visits the president and says he loves his daughter, the president mistakenly identifies Sigamani as the official.
Cast
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Production
Playwright B. S. Ramiah adapted Russian dramatist Nikolai Gogol's 1836 play The Government Inspector into a Tamil play titled President Panchaksharam with S. V. Sahasranamam starring.[2] [3] The play, which was produced by Sahasranamam's own company Seva Stage,[4] and had Devika in a key role,[5] was critically acclaimed,[6] and it was adapted into a film with the same title. Sahasranamam, who appeared in the play, returned for the film as well.[2] The film adaptation was directed and edited by A. Bhimsingh, and produced by V. Arunachalam and Chinna Annamalai under Savithri Pictures.[7] Ramiah wrote the screenplay and dialogues.[7] Cinematography was handled by M. Karnan,[8][9] and the art direction by Chowdhury.[7] The film featured a musical play based on V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.[2] The final length of the film was 14,614 feet (4,454 m).[7]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was composed by G. Ramanathan, while the lyrics were written by Subramania Bharati, Kannadasan, K. S. Gopalakrishnan and Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam.[10]
| Songs | Singers | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Intru Netru Vandha" | P. B. Srinivas and K. Jamuna Rani | Kannadasan | 05:52 |
| "Mannaadhi Mannan Inge" | P. Susheela | ||
| "Yaaro Nee Yaaro" | T. M. Soundararajan and P. Susheela | 03:21 | |
| "Myna Chittu Manasu" | T. M. Soundararajan | K. S. Gopalakrishnan | 02:57 |
| "Naan Suhavaasi, Dhinam Kaiveesi" | Seergazhi Govindarajan | ||
| "Oli Padaitha Kanninaayi VaaVaa" | M. L. Vasanthakumari and (Radha) Jayalakshmi | Subramania Bharati | |
| "Chinna Ponnu Sirikudhu" | A. P. Komala and A. G. Rathnamala | Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam | |
| "Azhagu Raani Ponne" | S. C. Krishnan, V. T. Rajagopalan and K. Jamuna Rani | ||
| "Desa Sudhanthiram Thedi Vazhangiya" | P. Leela, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi and group |
Release and reception
President Panchaksharam was released on 10 July 1959.[7] Kanthan of Kalki positively reviewed the film for being different from formulaic Tamil films released before.[11] The film was commercially successful, and film historian Randor Guy said it would be remembered for "the interesting screenplay and good performances by Sahasranamam, Rajendran and Saroja Devi."[2] Following Rajendran's death in 2014, Prakash Upadhyaya of International Business Times described it as one of his "best works as actor".[12]
References
- Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 360.
- Guy, Randor (1 October 2011). "President Panchatcharam [sic] 1959". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- Goble 1999, pp. 183.
- Proceedings of the Annual Conference. Vol. 19. National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions (U.S.). Conference, South Indian History Congress. 2000. p. 358.
- தீனதயாளன், பா. (27 August 2016). "தேவிகா: 2.பாலிருக்கும் பழமிருக்கும்...!". Dinamani (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- Bhatt, Karthik (25 April 2015). "Policekaran Magal: From stage to celluloid". The Cinema Resource Centre. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- "1959 – பிரசிடெண்ட் பஞ்சாட்சரம் –சாவித்திரி பிக்சர்ஸ்" [1959 – President Panchaksharam –Savitri Pictures]. Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- Higgins, Keresztesi & Oscherwitz 2015, pp. 165.
- Venkatraman, Karthikeyan (28 July 2016). "கேமராவுக்கு சவால்: ஒளிப்பதிவாளர் கர்ணன்". Dinamani (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- Neelamegam, G. (December 2014). Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 (in Tamil) (First ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. p. 178.
- காந்தன் (16 August 1959). "பிரசிடெண்ட் பஞ்சாட்சரம்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 26–27. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- Upadhyaya, Prakash (24 October 2014). "Veteran Actor SS Rajendran Dies at 86". International Business Times. India. Archived from the original on 2 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
Bibliography
- Goble, Alan, ed. (1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 1-85739-229-9.
- Higgins, MaryEllen; Keresztesi, Rita; Oscherwitz, Dayna, eds. (2015). The Western in the Global South. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-84312-7.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. British Film Institute and Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5.