Alli Arjuna (1935 film)

Alli Arjuna is a 1935 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film produced and directed by A. V. Meiyappan in his debut. It is based on the play of the same name, revolving around Arjuna from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The film stars K. S. Ananthanarayana Iyer and K. R. Kanthimathi Bai, and became a box-office bomb.[1][2]

Alli Arjuna
Poster
Directed byA. V. Meiyappan
Produced byA. V. Meiyappan
Based onAlli Arjuna (play)
StarringK. S. Ananthanarayana Iyer
K. R. Kanthimathi Bai
P.S.Rathnabai
P.S.Saraswathibai
Production
company
Saraswathi Sound Productions
Release date
1935
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Cast
  • K. S. Ananthanarayana Iyer
  • K. R. Kanthimathi Bai

Production

In 1934, A. V. Meiyappan established Saraswathi Sound Productions.[3] The debut venture of this company would be launched a year later, titled Alli Arjuna, an adaptation of the play of the same name that revolved around Arjuna from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Theatre actors K. S. Ananthanarayana Iyer and K. R. Kanthimathi Bai were cast as the lead pair. Due to lack of proper studio facilities in Madras to shoot sound films, Alli Arjuna had to be shot at the Calcutta-based New Theatres Studios.[2][4][5]

Soundtrack

Although Tamil films in the early 1930s had multiple songs, some having as many as 40 or 50, Meiyappan minimised the usage of songs in Alli Arjuna as he felt "a film could be made with new faces or less expensive artistes and with lesser number of songs".[2][4]

Release and reception

Alli Arjuna was released in 1935 and became a box-office bomb. Historian Randor Guy attributed the film's failure to various reasons, including the cast performances and the high budget. The losses were estimated as high as ₹80,000 (US$1,100), with Guy saying the travel expenses of going to Calcutta added to the budget.[2][4]

References
  1. AVM Productions (3 September 2017). "Alli Arjuna released in 1935 was a first for AVM Productions. Do you know who directed this K.S. Anantha Narayana Iyer, K.R. Kanthimathi starrer?". Facebook. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  2. Guy, Randor (2016). Gopal, T. S. (ed.). Memories of Madras: Its Movies, Musicians & Men of Letters. Chennai: Creative Workshop. p. 276. ISBN 978-81-928961-7-5.
  3. Pillai, Swarnavel Eswaran (2015). Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema. SAGE Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 9789351502128.
  4. Guy, Randor (February 2010). "A. V. Meiyappan, The Movie Mogul". Galatta Cinema. pp. 96–98.
  5. Mukherjee, Senjuti (6 July 2019). "Chennai's AVM Studios: Behind the Scenes of the Silver Screen". Sahapedia. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
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