1000 Thalaivangi Apoorva Chinthamani

The film was based on a popular folk tale about a sinner Saint's garb, who had the princess Chinthamani under his control and how he uses her as a pawn to achieve his goals. Those who were interested in marrying the princess were asked four intriguing questions by her and those who could not answer were beheaded as a punishment. When 999 of princes were killed like this, the film reveals how a prince goes about finding the answers.[1]

A Saint (M. R. Saminathan) wants to become all powerful (Ashtamasithi) and prays to obtain such powers. He was told that if he could achieve the sacrifice of 1000 men, he shall achieve such a supreme power. As he cannot achieve this feat on his own, he works out a plan. Princess Apoorva Chinthamani (V. N. Janaki) is the daughter of King Neethi Kethu (M. G. Chakrapani). Due to her intelligence knowledge and interest in various arts, she is referred to as Apoorva Chinthamani. The happy King encourages her learn more. The magician comes to the Aditayapuri Kingdom in the garb of a Saint and becomes Chinthamani's teacher.

Gradually, he brings her under his control and manipulates her to achieve his goals. When she attains marriageable age, the magician advises that she should get an equally knowledgeable man and hence asks her to organise a contest whereby three peculiar questions will be asked to the aspiring grooms, those who fail to answer will beheaded. Since only the magician knows the answers, he is sure that he can behead 1000 prospective grooms who fail to answer and thus achieve his target of 1000 sacrifices.

The justification for the killings is to prevent leakage of the questions to other contestants. Chinthamani agrees and also convinces her father for the contest. The first to be sacrificed happens to be her cousin Purantharan (E. R. Sahadevan), who is keen to marry her. In this manner, she kills 999 people, which includes six elder brothers of Prince Meyyazhagan (P. S. Govindan). He decides to take revenge on Chinthamani when he comes to know about the killings, and comes to her kingdom with his friend and assistant Kali (Kali N. Rathnam). They decide to find the questions and their answers before venturing to meet Chinthamani. In this process, the prince falls in love with Chinthamani's friend Princess Sengamalam (S. Varalakshmi).

Through her, he learns the questions. He goes to various countries named as Madhivadhanapuram, Sambangi Puram and Nathiseela Puram, finds the answers and brings the people involved with him to Chinthamani's palace. He answers the questions and wins the contest. Along with that, he also exposes the game plan of the magician, who gets killed by one of the kings affected by him. The prince advises Chinthamani to marry her cousin who was keen to marry her and marries her friend, Sengamalam.[3]

Cast according to the opening credits of the film[4]

Music and lyrics were composed by G. Ramanathan. The film had 11 songs.

This was the first film which presented several sub-plots and inner sub-plots in a flashback and stories were presented logically making the entire film interesting and a big hit among the masses. The film was very popular with the masses for its interesting script. The film had several sub-plots and inner sub-plots which were interwoven logically. These sub-plots were presented in flashback mode and become a landmark in the history of Tamil Cinema as it was the first time such a technique was used effectively on the screen. Another highlight, was the comedy scenes of Kali N. Rathnam and C. T. Rajakantham, which were presented well.[3]

Kali N. Rathnam, who acts as a dumb person in a scene sang the most popular song of M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar's Haridas(1944) Manmadha Leelayai Vendrar Undo, through miming and music and created a sensation among the audience. The screenplay and dialogue were written by the Popular Tamil poet Pavendar Bharathidasan, but he did not wish to be credited in the titles as his convictions were against the concept of the film with illogical or unbelievable folk tales.

The film was remade in Telugu in 1960 under the title Sahasra Sirachedha Apoorva Chinthamani by the same producer Modern Theatres.[5]

• 1000 Thalaivangi Apoorva Chinthamani at IMDb

• Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2013. Blue Ocean Publishers. ISBN 978-93-84301-05-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)