Dhaasippen
| Dhaasippen | |
|---|---|
T. A. Madhuram | |
| Edited by | R. S. Mani |
| Music by | Lalitha Venkatraman S. Rajeswara Rao |
Production company | Devi Films |
Release date | 3 March 1943 |
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Dhaasippen, also Dhaasippenn (transl. Dancing Girl) is a 1943 Tamil-language film directed by
Lord Shiva and refusing to follow the traditional path of marrying a man. Dhaasippen performed well and became a box office hit. But no print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.[4]
Plot
M. G. Ramachandran as Shiva, with Balasaraswathi as devadasi, much to her delight it was one of MGR early movies, he played the divine role in some and looked impressive. The melodious songs and dances of Balasaraswathi and MGR provide a visual delight on the screen.
A young devadasi (R. Balasaraswathi) is forced by her family to yield to lustful
T. A. Madhuram) who carries on an affair with a travelling sari salesman (N. S. Krishnan). Her sister's illicit romance is always thwarted by the appearance of a fierce looking giant (Pulimooti Ramasamy). Eventually the devadasi grows tired of her life. Answering her prayers, Shiva transforms her into the thumbhai plant—the flowers of which are offered to Lord Shiva during worship. Hence, the film also had the title Thumbhai Mahatmayam.[4]
Production
Dhaasippen was based on a play of the same name written by
T. A. Madhuram. Due to the shortage of film negatives during World War II, this film was short (13,623 feet) when compared to the Tamil films of the 1930s. It was released on 3 March 1943 in tandem with another film – Kizhattu Mappilai (கிழட்டு மாப்பிள்ளை).[2]
Dhaasippen was shot at Minerva Movietone in Bombay and Newtone Studios in
mythology folk tales without knowing Tamil. Dnugan directed other classic films such as Sathi Leelavathi, Sakuntalai, Meera, Kalamegam, and Manthiri Kumari (in which he shared credit with its producer T. R. Sundaram).[4]
Cast
- T. R. Mahalingam
- M. G. Ramachandran
- R. Balasaraswathi
- M. R. Santhanalakshmi
- N. S. Krishnan
- T. A. Madhuram
- Krishnamurthy
- M. R. Santhanalakshmi
- V. K. Das
- "Pulimoottai" Ramasamy
Soundtrack
The music in the film was composed by Lalitha Venkatraman and
References
- ISBN 978-0-85170-455-5.
- ^ a b Film News Anandan (2004). Sadhanaigal padaitha Tamil Thiraipada Varalaaru (in Tamil). Chennai: Sivagami Publications. pp. 28:33.
- ISBN 978-81-85445-76-2.
- ^ a b c d e f Guy, Randor (20 February 2011). "dasi penn jyothimalar 1943". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
- ^ He drew inspiration from Shakespeare, The Hindu 18 April 2008
External links
- Daasi Penn at IMDb
