Arasilankumari

Arasilankumari (transl. Princess) is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language historical adventure film directed by A. S. A. Sami and A. Kasilingam, and produced by M. Somasundaram under Jupiter Pictures. An adaptation of the 1952 film Scaramouche, itself based on a 1921 novel of the same name, it stars M. G. Ramachandran, Padmini and Rajasulochana. The film was originally directed by Sami, and completed by Kasilingam. It was released on 1 January 1961, and failed commercially.

Arasilankumari
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	A. S. A. Sami A. Kasilingam
Screenplay by	A. S. A. Sami
Story by	M. Karunanidhi
Produced by	M. Somasundaram
Starring	M. G. Ramachandran Padmini Rajasulochana
Cinematography	P. Dattu P. Ramasamy
Edited by	G. D. Joshi M. Kannan N. P. Sarathi A. Mohan
Music by	G. Ramanathan
Production company	Jupiter Pictures
Release date	1 January 1961 (1961-01-01)
Running time	140 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Arivazhagan has a sister Anbukarasi. Anbukarasi falls in love with Vetrivelan, who is commander-in-chief of the royal army, but he tells Anbukarasi and Arivazhagan that he is just an ordinary citizen of the kingdom and marries Anbukarasi. Arivazhagan leaves on a mission after his sister's marriage. After some time, Vetrivelan deserts his wife and child and returns to the palace. He starts plotting against the royal family. How his plans are set at naught by the hero and how his wife fights for him against her own brother form the rest of the film.

Cast

• M. G. Ramachandran as Arivazhagan^[1]
• Padmini as Anbukarasi^[1]
• Rajasulochana as Azhagurani^[1]
• R. Muthuraman as Pulikesi
• M. N. Nambiar as Vetrivelan^[1]
• K. A. Thangavelu as Kalaimani
• Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar (guest appearance)
• R. Nagendra Rao
• S. A. Ashokan as Manimara Bhoopathi^[1]
• T. A. Mathuram
• M. Saroja as Annam

Production

Arasilankumari was adapted from the 1952 film version of the Rafael Sabatini novel Scaramouche. It took as long as five years to complete. The film was originally directed by A. S. A. Sami, who had differences with the cast and crew; he was replaced by A. Kasilingam who completed the film.^[2] This was the final film produced by Jupiter Pictures.^[3]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by G. Ramanathan.^[4][5] The song "Chinna Payale" was later adapted into "Thiruttu Payale" by Bharadwaj for the 2006 film of the same name, with additional lyrics by Vairamuthu.^[6][7]

Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
"Chinna Payale Chinna Payale"	T. M. Soundararajan	Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram	03:39
"Etramunnaa Etram"	T. M. Soundararajan & Seerkazhi Govindarajan		03:11
"Kandi Kadhirkamam...Kazhugumalai Pazhanimalai"	Seerkazhi Govindarajan		01:58
"Nandhavanatthil Or Aandi"	T. M. Soundararajan		00:54
"Setthaalum Unnai Naan Vida Maatten"	N. S. Krishnan & S. C. Krishnan		03:32
"Thillaalangadi Thillaalangadi"	P. Susheela	Kannadasan	03:32
"Thaaraa Avar Varuvaaraa"	S. Janaki	Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam	03:36
"Oorvalamaaga Maappillai Pennum"	Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi, T. M. Soundararajan & P. Susheela	R. Pazhanichami	02:19
"Atthaane Aasai Atthaane"	P. Leela	K. S. Gopalakrishnan	02:10
"Thoondiyile Maattikkittu Muzhikkudhu"	K. Jamuna Rani, Seerkazhi Govindarajan & S. C. Krishnan	Muthukoothan	02:39
"Aav Aaahaav En Aasai Purave Aav"	P. Susheela	Udumalai Narayana Kavi	03:23

Release and reception

Arasilankumari was released on 1 January 1961.^[8][9] Kanthan of Kalki appreciated Nambiar's two contrasting performances of the same character.^[10] The film was not commercially successful, with historian Randor Guy attributing it to the prolonged production schedule.^[2]

References

1. Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 367.
2. Guy, Randor (2 March 2013). "Arasilankumari 1961". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
3. "ஜுபிடர் சோமு மறைந்தார்". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
4. Neelamegam, G. (2016). Thiraikalanjiyam – Part 2 (in Tamil). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. p. 14.
5. அரசிளங்குமரி (PDF) (song book) (in Tamil). Jupiter Pictures. 1961. Retrieved 30 June 2022 – via Internet Archive.
6. Vamanan (12 November 2018). "'புதிய பறவை'யும் திருட்டுப் பயல்களும் !". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Nellai. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. Karthik (3 February 2006). "Thiruttu Payale". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
8. "Arasilankumari". The Indian Express. 1 January 1961. p. 8. Retrieved 4 February 2020 – via Google News Archive.
9. "Table: Chronological List of MGR's Movies released between 1960 and 1967" (PDF). Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
10. காந்தன் (22 January 1961). "அரசிளங்குமரி". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 50. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.

Bibliography

• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. British Film Institute and Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5.

External links

• Arasilankumari at IMDb