The Message Bearers: The Nationalist Politics and the Entertainment Media in South India, 1880-1945

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‘Storage |

| 2885

|.90 | B37

| 1981 A

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THE

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Sundararaj Theodore Baskaran, born in Dharapuram in Coimbatore District,

was drawn to the study of History, his subject, as a student at Madras Christian * College. After taking his Master’s Degree, he worked for a while at Tamilnadu Archives and later entered Indian Postal Service. Baskaran has been a member

_ of the Advisory Committee for Tamilnadu Archaeological Department and the Advisory Board of the National Film Archives, Pune. He has written widely on

-archaeology, art history, cinema and also on conservation and wild life. He was a Fellow at Tamilnadu Council of Historical Research during 1974-76.

Dr. Christopher Baker who has written the Introduction, is a reputed scholar

in south Indian studies. Till recently he was teaching at Queens College, Cambridge. He is the author of Tue Poxrrics or Sourn Inp1a 1920-1937 and co-

author, with

Dr. David

Washbrook,

AND Po.tticat CHANGE 1880-1940,

of Sourn

Inp1a;

Poxiricat

InstrTuTIONs

THE MESSAGE BEARERS The Nationalist Politics and the

Entertainment Media in South India

1880-1945

S Theodore Baskaran with an Introduction by Dr. Christopher Baker

Cre-A:

885 SE

B37

First Edition March 1981

781

Published by Cre-A: 268 Royapetiah High Road Madras

©.8

600

014

Theodore Baskaran

\

Printed at Rajsri Printers Madras 600 086 Jacket printed at Supaskreen Madras 600 020 Bound at Jupiter Press Madras 600 018

Jacket designed bp A Ramachandran Drawings by K M Adimoolam, K Muralidharan Price Rs. 60.00

For Thilaka

THE

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Sundararaj Theodore Baskaran, born in Dharapuram in Coimbatore District,

was drawn to the study of History, his subject, as a student at Madras Christian ’ College. After taking his Master’s Degree, he worked for a while at Tamilnadu Archives and later entered Indian Postal Service. Baskaran has been a member

_ of the Advisory Committee for Tamilnadu Archaeological Department and the Advisory Board of the National Film Archives, Pune. He has written widely on

-archaeology, art history, cinema and also on conservation and wild life. He was a Fellow at Tamilnadu Council of Historical Research during 1974-76.

Dr. Christopher Baker who has written the Introduction, is a reputed scholar in south Indian studies. Till recently he was teaching at Queens College, Cam-

bridge. He is the author of Tu

author, with

Dr. David

Poxrrics or Sour

Washbrook,

AND Poxrricat CHANcE 1880-1940,

of Sourn

Inp1a;

Inp1a 1920-1937 and coPoxrrica

InstrruTions

THE MESSAGE BEARERS The Nationalist Politics and the Entertainment Media in South India

1880-1945

S Theodore Baskaran with an Introduction by Dr. Christopher Baker

Cre-A:

Soe5 ‘SC

B3 7

First Edition March 1981

| 9 ¢. /

Published by

Cre-A: 268 Royapettah High Road Madras

©.8

600

014

Theodore Baskaran

\

Printed at Rajsri Printers Madras 600 086 Jacket printed at Supaskreen Madras 600 020 Bound at Jupiter Press Madras 600

018

Facket designed by A Ramachandran Drawings by K M Adimoolam, K Muralidharan Price Rs. 60.00

For Thilaka

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction

1

Popular Theatre and the Rise of Nationalism 21 Popular Songs and the Civil Disobedience Movement 45 Birth of a New

Medium; Silent Cinema

Patriotic Cinema:

_ 67

an Aspect of the Freedom Struggle 97

Film Censorship and Political Control in British

India

127

Appendix

151

Notes and References Bibliography Glossary Index

182 185 187

155

PREFACE

The period with which this study is concerned, from 1880 to 1945, was a crucial one in the history of Indian nationalism. It was at this time that many Indians first took high office in government, and for the first time electoral institutions and legislative methods were introduced. Their emergence, together with developments in agriculture and in the rest of the economy contributed to the formation of a powerful, dominantly rural elite. Opportunities for participation in politics drew a large number of wealthy landlords into wider political arena. At the same time, mass communications—the cinema,

radio, gramophone and mass circulation vernacular papers—began to bring people together as never before, thus making a critical phase in the formation of the Indian nation. They also played an important role in the religious and cultural revivals of this period. These new forms of entertainment served to form social consciousness by diffusing information on political events as well as by providing entertainment and possibilities of psychic participation. The content of these media should thus be studied in terms of its interaction with the audience rather than asa thing in itself. It is in this way that the Tamil popular stage and Tamil cinema have been studied 1o show how they were not merely giving a new shape to old cultural forms, but were instruments of change in making the masses politically conscious and facilitated the emergence of nationalism in south India.

This book looks at various aspects of the new entertainment forms— drama, cinema, gramophone and popular songs—during this momentous period and attempts to delineate their role in social and politi-

cal changes. The book also attempts to interweave three separate

strands. The first is a study of an important but neglected part of

the nationalist movement. It was an age of mass politics, and mass

media were undoubtedly important. Secondly, it is a study of the formative years of a regional cinema. Through the exigencies of the

silent era, the conventions of the early talkie and the repressions of

the British, the Tamil cinema was acquiring many of the characteris-

tics that lasted long beyond our period. Thirdly, it is a piece of social history. In order to be commercially successful, popular media were bound to adjust themselves to the demands of the audience. For this reason, very often these media depicted only such attitudes as were already universally accepted by the vast audience and they may thus be taken as peculiarly sensitive indicators of the ideas and concerns of the common people. The themes, opinions and crusades of popular entertainment were bound to reflect the ideas and aspirations of a society in an era of historic change.

Indian historiography which started developing by the turn of the century depended largely on archaeology, epigraphy and occasionally, literary sources.

The history written was mostly on the rise

and fall of kingdoms and the military careers of monarchs. When

scholars began to realise the inadequacy of such history, they tured

their attention towards the growth of ideas and movements. But

while tracing the growth of popular movements in the modern

period, they relied on archival material, which is mostly governmental records. Even when they used the press as a source of information,

it was almost entirely the English press that was used. Popular sources were completely neglected. In fact, popular cultural forms were not recognised as a possible source material for the historian and till recently this rich source of information has been left untouched. To this extent the history of popular movements has remained uni-dimensional. Many of the major south Indian studies done in recent years suffer from this handicap. Traditional historiography has been snobbish about the material used and has neglected film as.a source. Historians familiar with printed works have yet to concede that films can be aids in serious

historical study. As a source of material for history, films have been little used till recently and in India this continues to be: so. Films were first recognised as possible historical documents in Gotingen,

Germany in 1949 and some serious work has been going on there

under the aegis of such figures as Walther Hubatsch and Percy Ernest Schramm. The Referat fuer Zeitgeschichtliche Filmforschung und Filmdokumentation founded in 1953 produced and edited film documents of contemporary German history for research purposes. In 1961 Charles Samaram included in his massive manual L’Histore et ses METHOonEs a section on film sources by Georges Sadoul. By 1968 the awakening had spread to England. University College, London organised a conference on ‘Film and Historian’ which set off a chain reaction expressed in the form of similar conferences in Utrecht and Gotingen. In 1970 the Historian Film Committee was founded in the United States and it now runs a journal Firm anp History, which is the only periodical devoted to the subject. One of the better known historical works which have used film as a source material is Kevin Brownlow’s THE War,

Tue West aND THE WILDERNESS which has been described by the author

as ‘a journey......in search of history on film.’

An attempt has been made in this study to tap popular sources— Tamil newspapers, magazines, popular song books, gramophone records and films—to understand the spirit of the times. A number

of writers, drama and film actors, playwrights, song-writers, and

film-makers have been interviewed and their testimonies have been used as an adjunct to more conventional sources of historical information such as archival material. But the limitations of such attempts are many and obvious. Drama scripts are not available. Magazines and other popular publications have not been preserved

in any organised manner. Very few films of the period have survived.

S. THEopoRE

BasKARAN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In 1964, Charles Ryerson Jr. drew my attention to the popular en-

tertainment forms of south India as an area of study and en-

couraged me to write an article which was later published in Reuicion & Socrety Vol XI. 2. In 1974, a Fellowship from Tamilnadu Council of Historical Research provided an opportunity for

me to enlarge my interest, the subject of this book. There, Chatur-

vedi Badrinath, the then Commissioner for Historical Research, as my supervisor, guided me to raise many questions. S. Krishnaswamy introduced me to various persons in the film industry. Later, when I spent some time at the Film & TV Institute, Pune, I came to know Satish Bahadur. This book owes much of its conceptual development to the discussions I had with him. P.K. Nair, Curator of the

National

Film

Archives,

Pune,

screened

films

from

the

Archives for me. I have a special word of thanks for Christopher Baker for writing the Introduction and for so painstakingly going through the typescript and forsuggesting improvements. S. Manee gave valuable editorial help and translated the popular songs in the text. Modern

Theatres, J. Susheela Devi, K.T. Rukmani,

Dr. V.

Jeevanandham, Dr.N. Kalavathy, Roja Muthaiya Chettiar and P.K. Nair gave the photographs. John K. Isaac of the Photographic Department of the United Nations reproduced some of the photographs. P. Sankaralingam prepared the index. V. Sambasivam helped me with typing. To all these friends I am deeply indebted.

INTRODUCTION

The political movement against colonial domination in India was closely associated with a revival of artistic forms and cultural activity of many different kinds. ‘Revival’ is probably the wrong word and ‘re-creation’ would be a more accurate description, for the imperial rulers imported new technologies of communication that the artists of India could not ignore: the printed books, the newspaper, the photograph, the sound recording, the broadcast, the cinematograph—and with them the cultural forms of the novel, European classical drama, journalist editorial, perspective painting and moving picture. ‘New Indians’ not only revived, but also innovated.

Moreover, while the aim of much of this ‘re-

creation’ was to stress the autonomy and authenticity of Indian culture, Europeans played no small part in the process. Sometimes the Europeans merely provoked a response—as was the case with many of the cases of literacy and religious revivalism in northern

India, but in other cases they lent active assistance—most notably

through the contribution of European oriental scholars to the Bengal renaissance. But the European role was rarely creative in its own right. It merely helped to uncover old strains in the local culture and make their echoes reverberate through the memories of the region. But while this process is widely recognised as an important part of the history of modern India, it has received little scholarly attention and such studies as do exist tend to cluster around parti-

2

MESSAGE BEARERS

cular regions and particular types of cultural activity—Bengal’s literary renaissance is the most obvious example, while the Arya Samaj, Maharashtrian religion and historiography, and the development of Hindi have also been noticed. There have been works on the literary and musicological revival in Tamilnadu (1), and so S. T. Baskaran’s work cannot be said to be the first work on the relationship of politics and culture in the South. Yet even if

it is not innovative in regional terms, this book certainly covers

aspects of the relationship between politics and cultural revivalism that have not been studied in any part of India. It adds considerably to our knowledge of the later stages of the nationalist movement and sheds light on another fascinating, important but still obscure subject—the importance of the cinema industry in the politics of modern Tamilnadu. The book is clearly new in theme and’ methodology because it

chooses to concentrate on popular forms of entertainment and com-

munication. Whereas other works of this sort have generally stuck to literature, language, the press and classical music, Baskaran looks at popular poems and songs, local theatricals, popular recorded music and the cinema film. We can now see that there were two clear stages to the process by which political regeneration and cultural revival inspired and assisted one another, and that the two stages differed considerably.

The first stage belonged largely to the elite of the cities and major

towns, while the second was deliberately much more popular and populist. It was not surprising that the ‘high’ culture of the cities reacted against the strains of imperialism more quickly than the popular culture of the mass of people. The priests, nobles, courtiers, officials and professionals of the city were quickly and directly affected by the imperial contact; many of their artists and entertainers deserted the cities and took refuge in the courts of indigenous princes and nobles, where ancient arts were preserved in isolation

and

tended

to become

stereotyped

and

dull.

Later,

there came attempts to regenerate the artistic and academic life of the city, with a definite political as well as aesthetic purpose. Such regeneration could help restore some of the self-confidence destroyed by the ease of colonial conquest, could provide evidence

inrRopucTion

3

to rebut the colonial rulers’ claims to a superior culture and civilisation, and could lay the foundations for a new claim to national identity. The second stage was very different, for by the time it emerged

in the 1920s and

1930s the political world was utterly changed.

The politics of ‘reasoned debate’ had been replaced by the politics

of mass demand. The confidence of the intellectual was now much less important than the mobilisation of the people. This is the area of Baskaran’s study. He describes in great detail how poems, songs, plays and films became vital carriers of nationalist ideas in mofussil Tamilnadu, and how they provoked the anger of the British government. But it is important

to recognise that Baskaran’s study has

implications beyond a simple essay in the techniques of mass politics. It helps us to understand why in post-Independence India certain cultural forms so clearly dominate and certain others so clearly languish. To see this more clearly, we will have to look back at the first stage of cultural re-creation and observe its fate. In late nineteenth and early twentieth century Tamilnadu, the dominant intellectual interests were not in literature, painting and poetry (as was often the case in other regions of India) but in history and language. The generation and then degeneration of these intellectual pursuits can provide the background to Baskaran’s study of later nationalism, and a perspective on the Independence period that fojlowed.

*

*

*

The interest in south Indian history began with British officials. In part this arose from the British rulers’ attempts to legitimate aspects of their governance by aligning their methods to ancient

practice. This prompted works like F. W. Ellis’ Papers on Mirast

Ricurt and influenced Wilks’ work on Mysore (1810-17). In part it arose from the foreigners’ curiosity about the country. Either way, it was helped by the wealth of sources scattered through the region—inscribed on copper plates and temple walls, written on cadjan leaves, or locked in the folk-memory. Four developments in the middle and late nineteenth century provided the basis fpr a thorough assessment of the region’s history.

4

MESSAGE BEARERS

The first was the organisation and cataloguing of the remarkable

collection of manuscripts on south India collected by Colonel Colin Mackenzie. Wilks had used these manuscripts, but after Mackenzie’s death in 1821, they had a difficult history. Large

parts of the collection had been sent to London before Mackenzie’s death, most of the remainder that did not deal with south India followed in the 1820s, and these London holdings were catalogued by H. H. Wilson. But the south Indian collection lay in the Madras College, in something of a mess, until in 1837 the Madras Literary Society persuaded government to support William Taylor’s efforts to produce a catalogue, which appeared in 1862 (2). Mackenzie’s collection contained

poems,

stories, historical works,

epics, religious discourses, treatises on medicine and astrology, erotic manuals, plays and children’s tables. It was a mammoth and quite extraordinary source, and some of its materials were used in the second important development, the writing of the district gazetteers. Some of this work was allotted to officers who had already shown their skill and interest in local history—notably J.H. Nelson, whose Mapura Country (1868) is perhaps the most outstanding of the manuals. All of the authors showed the possibility of using such of the epigraphic and manuscript sources as were already available, added to the oral histories of great families and

distinctive communities

and suggestive histories.

in the district, to write informative

Mackenzie’s collection had included three volumes containing 8,000 inscriptions, but these were only a fraction of the total number of inscriptions in existence. The next development was the systematic collection of epigraphic material. The Archaeological Survey of Southern India published Robert Sewell’s List OF ANTIQUARIAN REMAINS IN THE PRESIDENCY OF Mapras in 1882-4, and James Burgess’ Tami AND SANsKRIT InscRIPTions in

1886. But it was with the beginning of the series of ANNUAL REPORTS

on Soutu InpiAN Epicrapny a year later, followed by the EptGRAPHIA INDICA in 1892 and EPIGRAPHIA CARNATICA in 1894 that the collation and study of inscriptions really began in earnest. By 1919 the work was sufficiently advanced for V. Rangacharya to

INTRODUCTION

5

put out his remarkable work of indexing and reference, A ToPoGRAPHICAL List oF INSCRIPTIONS OF MADRAS PRESIDENCY.

Finally, there were attempts to unearth and publish the region’s ancient literary texts, particularly those bearing on religion and history. This had gone on in a haphazard fashion throughout the century, and had received some help from scholars like G.U. Pope who translated several works into English. But this work gained proper momentum only when U. Swaminatha Aiyar, encouraged by

Minakshisundaram

Pillai

and

later

commissioned

by

the

Madurai Tamil Sangham, began to unearth and publish not only Hindu texts but also many of the Jain, Buddhist and secular works that had been suppressed in the intervening centuries. By 1900, Swaminatha Aiyar had found the two great Sangham anthologies, and this single discovery revolutionised the possibilities of writing the early history of south India (3).

By the turn of the century, the sources were well enough laid out for historians to use them to political effect. In particular they could be used to find in the past a Golden Age which could be contrasted with the poor state of Tamilnadu under imperial rule. Such works could also equip Tamil civilisation with a depth and lineage which would enable Tamilians to regain self-confidence and to rebut any accusations of their lack of history and culture. The most remarkable of these books was V. Kanakasabhai Pillai’s Tue Tamits 1800 Years Aco, published in 1904. Kanakasabhai’s book, and others that soon followed, drew heavily

on the evidence of the Sangham poets, supplemented by some inscriptional evidence and some extracts from the Mackenzie collection, to paint a picture of a pristine and sophisticated Tamilian society. But while this interpretation of Tamil history might swell the Tamilian’s pride in his own people’ and culture, it also suggested consequent problems of historical exegesis that led to bitter disputes. The first, and less important,

of these sets of dis-

putes ranged over the dating, chronology and authenticity of the Sangham works. The second, and more important, considered the

question of how such a utopia was lost. Some scapegoat had to be found who could be blamed for the fall from grace, the evident

6

MESSAGE

BEARERS

decline of Tamil civilization from the heights it had apparently attained in thenewhistories. Three obvious culprits wereavailable— the Aryans, the Muslims and the British. It was politically most

apt to blame the British, and they bore the brunt in no small measure, but few of the writers could ignore the evidence for some

considerable decline before the coming of the European. The culpability of the northern Muslims, and more especially the Aryan Brahmin, became the central problem of works written in the first quarter of the twentieth century (notably by J. M. Nallaswami Pillai, Maraimalai Adigal, M. Srinivasa Iyengar, S. K. Krishnaswami Iyengar and P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar). It led to fierce controversies over the use of sources and over the promotion of racial hatred between Hindu

Brahmin.

and Muslim,

Brahmin

and non-

By the second decade of the twentieth century, these

academic disputes—and particularly the controversy over the historical role of the immigrant Brahmin—crept into the arena of political debate.

It was soon clear that the study of history, which had begun as a way to inspire the Tamilian, now. threatened to divide him from

his neighbour. The works of the academics had been based on scanty and imperfect evidence. These imperfections had led to scholastic differences, and these differences had lent themselves

to political debasement. From now on it was clear that the intellectual study of the region’s history could not safely contribute to political resurgence. Rather it must isolate itself from the dangers political distortion. At this point, the discipline of history divided. ‘Coarse’ history remained an intrinsic part of political myth-making, steadily declining in credibility and intellectual stature. ‘Fine’ history disappeared into the universities and research

rooms

and

did

not emerge

until devotees like K. A. Nilakanta

Sastri, T. V. Mahalingam, N. Venkataramanayya, K.K.

Pillai and

C. M. Ramachandra Chettiar had laid down new standards for the deployment of the source material available in the region. In the case of history, there was no love-match between politics and intellectual activity. After the foreplay, they had turned their backs on one another, and from now on they would not even hold hands in the dark. *

*

*

INTRODUCTION

7

The question of language is a little more complex. It is not difficult to see why it has excited the Tamilian with a fervour that in

other countries is usually reserved for questions of territory, race

or religion. The Tamils are not a well-defined group in racial terms. There is little to separate them from the Dravidian-speaking neighbours, and there is too much evidence in their early history (and their anthropology) of the admixture of a number of different peoples. Further, their more recent history has scattered a number of different and still distinct peoples throughout their country—particularly Telugus and Kannadas, but also Gujaratis, Arabic Muslims and a number of other north Indians—and has

distributed many of the Tamil-speakers in a diaspora that stretches

from the Caribbean, through South Africa and Ceylon, to south-

east Asia. Finally, the Tamils have probably never in their history at all owed allegiance to the same, Tamil ruler. The Pallava, Pandya and Chola dominions of early history were little more than sub-imperialisms of a single region, and the Tamil country since the fourteenth century has suffered from internal fragmentation and a constant stream of external invaders. Against this background it is not surprising that the Tamilian defines himself so much by his language and the cultural inheritance that conveys— the Sangham poems, the bhakti hymns, the Kural and Kamban’s

epic story.

But it was developments in the nineteenth century that helped to shape the modern concern for the Tamil language. The subject

arose because,

as it stood, Tamil was not really suitable for the

no foundation

for a wider

function it now had to perform. In the later nineteenth, Tamil was rapidly put to use in administration, Western-style education, journalism and other forms of creative prose-writing. And yet, before this period, there was nostrong tradition of ‘administrative Tamil’, and no settled and accepted manner of writing Tamil prose. Since Tamilnadu had been prey to foreign rulers in its recent history, the language of bureaucracy had been Telugu, Marathi, Persian and then English. Of course there were Tamil terms and practices used by village officials and zamindari clerks, but these were often deliberately arcane, always very localised, and provided use.

Meanwhile,

literary Tamil

had

8

MESSAGE

BEARERS

been developed towards the richness of poetic effect. It was mar-

vellously equipped with figures of speech, a vocabulary to express all shades of emotional experience, and a grammar flexible enough

to accommodate these flourishes. Almost everything written in Tamil was in poetry, composed according to strict (and often awkward) conventions. Almost the only form of prose-writing was

the urai, the commentary

on poetic

works,

which

followed

many of the styles and conventions of its subject matter (4). But there was no punctuation and no compunction

to separate indi-

vidual words or affix diacritical marks in order to avoid ambiguity. It was a language for scholars only and there was an enormous gap between this literary masterpiece and the spoken tongue. It would clearly require considerable transformation to suit the new

demands of administration, education and mass communication.

The story of the creation of modern prose Tamil has received little attention, which is surprising because it is a fascinating

subject and there have been many studies of other aspects of the

Tamil language. The subject would require much greater expertise in language and linguistics than I possess, so here I can only record some extremely inexpert impressions. Two trends in the development of modern Tamil prose, however, seem clear. The first was an inclination to retain as many of the rules of poetical composition as possible, rather than to adjust the new, written form towards the conventions of ordinary speech. The second was a tendency to modify and supplement these poetical rules wherever necessary, with regulations and conventions adopted from the study of the European classical languages. These trends helped create a written language that was some way removed from the spoken tongue and this in turn gave birth to controversies over the nature and usage of language. Once again Europeans were prominent in the early stages. The missionaries of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries were the first Europeans who took the trouble to learn Tamil well. They were motivated by a desire to understand the local culture and religion, ‘so that they might be better equipped to ridicule and refute it, and to be able themselves to write proselytising works in Tamil. Proenca, Ziegenbalg, de Nobili and Beschi

INTRODUCTION

9

were the most important figures. They had to learn Tamil by ear, without literary aids, and only when they had mastered the spoken language did they progress to a study of the script and then to the literature. When they themselves came to write Tamil, they found that there was no tradition of converting the spoken language into writing and so they were bound to use many of the conventions of the poetical language. Yet their early acquaintance with the language

through

sound

rather

than script,

and

their desire to

cultivate an audience, meant that they did try to ‘demoticise’ their prose to some extent. They attempted to write down ‘Tamil as she was spoke’ using some of the conventions of literary Tamil (5).

But after this beginning, the tendency of missionary writing was to adopt more of the canons of poetical writing, and less of the conventions of common speech, rather than vice versa. The reasons for this tendency are clear. The missionaries felt that greater sophistication of style, even though it might make their works rather more arcane, would lend greater status to their message. Beschi noted: ‘Among the Natives who are masters of is acquainted even pect; but should he

themselves, very few can now the higher dialect. He among with its rudiments, is regarded quote their abstruse works, he

to with fixed admiration’ (6).

Thus

Beschi

became

a student

of Tamil.

He

be found them who with resis listened

unearthed

some

of the classical treatises on poetical grammar, and also compiled

two of his own —one on Kodum-Tamil, the ‘common’ language, and the other on Sen-Tamil, the ‘pure’ or ‘literary’ version (7). In the introduction to the latter he justified the use of a missionary’s time on such an apparently obscure task on the grounds that it would enable his colleagues to understand the religious literature of the Tamilian Hindu, and to reply with equivalent literary effect. At roughly the same time, Ziegenbalg was also engaged in studying literary Tamil —he pioneered the printing of Tamil in Europe with his Grammatica Damutica in 1716— and when he began his translation of the Bible he endeavoured to use a poetical style that would, to his mind, match the sublimity of the content.

Ly

T° LEE

BER

ISS

This tendency 1 savpt more of the poetical language into the new Tamil prose continued in the next period of rapid change in the mid-nineteenth century. Again missionaries and proselytising works were important in the story but there were other important

influences besides. First, there was the need to produce grammar,

dictionaries and primers to serve in the education of British officials in India. Secondly, there was the need to translate textbooks into Tamil for use in the growing number of primary and secondary schools. Thirdly, there was the influence of the study of compara-

tive grammar, which had formed such an important part of the

intellectual life of Europe in the eighteenth century.

The need to educate official recruits was perhaps the most im-

portant, and curious, influence. The nineteenth century grammarians noted that the classical Tamil grammars—principally the Tolkappiyam and the Nannul—were written for native Tamilspeakers and thus of little use for enlightening the foreigners, and that the works of Zeigenbalg and Beschi had stuck fairly close to these sources and were thus almost as obscure. It is hardly surprising that when the new grammarians started to write works

more useful for Europeans, they should draw on their own education in. Greek and Latin classics. The influence of the study of European classics on the form that the new Tamil prose would take was not entirely new in this period. Beschi wrote his grammar of Sen-Tamil in Latin, and Ziegenbalg wrote several of his works in Latin. But now it was more intense. Dr. B. G. Babington, who

translated Beschi into English, was quite happy to use the techniques of classical study to help the exposititon of Tamil grammar (8). The result was a strange mixture. On the one hand, there was a tendency to revere the traditional, poetic grammars and to move very strongly towards the more elevated style of literary Tamil. Beschi’s manuscript on Tamil, which had never actually been published, was dug out by F. W. Ellis, published in translation by Babington in 1822, and then published in the original Latin by

A. C. Burnell in 1876 (9). The first of the principal nineteenth-century

Tamil grammarians, C.T.E. Rhenius, took as his assistant the latest exponent of a well-established school of literary grammarians from the Madurai district, and wrote his grammar in the ancient Tamilian

INTRODUCTION form of stanzas,

cises (10).

rather in the more

11

westernised form with exer-

On the other hand, the influence of the European classics led to a far greater concern with strict rules of declension and conjugation, with correct syntax, with standardised spelling and with correct rules for creating compound words. Both of these influences tended to draw the new Tamil prose farther away from common speech, and the extent to which this had occurred is evident from the criticisms that the nineteenthcentury grammarians heaped upon their predecessors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The nineteenth-century grammarians consistently talked of the ‘errors’ and ‘vulgarisms’ in the earlier works. They pointed out that the only Tamil prose works which Beschi and his contemporaries had been able to use were translations from Sanskrit, generally done by Brahmins, and overloaded with Sanskrit words and heavy, pedantic constructions. They contrasted their own efforts with the low, impure, hybrid works of their predecessors (11). Rhenius was the most explicit in this respect. He thought Beschi’s efforts were creditable, but full of ‘vulgarisms’, and was so keen to make his own work approximate to the canons of literary Tamil composition that he eliminated ‘errors’ at each reissue. On the eighteenth-century works, he noted: ‘They did in their days what they could do in Tamil literature, and we are greatly indebted to them for the degree of knowledge they had given us of the Tamil language. But they all have

failed

in

giving

us

pure

Tamil;

they

have

mixed

vulgarisms with grammatical niceties and left us in want of a regularly digested syntax.’ He also made it clear how he felt the new prose should be shaped. He insisted that his was not a grammar of high Tamil. ‘But it is a grammar of the vernacular, as it is spoken by well-bred Tamilians, yet so as to avoid the errors against grammar which are found amongst them. It steers between

the high and vulgar Tamil,

avoids the intricacies of the

former and the arbarism of the latter’ (12).

12

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Twentieth-century grammarians and commentators have continued this trend. In his work on THE CONTRIBUTION OF EUROPEAN Scuorars To Tamit, Dr. K. Meenakshisundaram found (p. 279) that de Nobili’s writings were ‘disadvantageously filled with Sanskrit words and entangled with outdated words and phrases.’ In his preface to the facsimile publication of Proenca’s dictionary of 1679 X.S. Thani Nayagam noted disapprovingly that ‘the compiler and the sources which he used seem to have been dependent to a large extent on reproducing sounds as heard in the speech of rural and littoral districts’ (13). A. H. Arden, whose grammar appeared in 1891 and quickly became a standard work, made it quite clear how much correct Tamil prose should diverge from common speech. ‘The object of this book’, he noted in the preface, ‘is to present the reader with a grammar of common Tamil only, as it is correctly spoken and written. In ordinary conversation and writing several vulgarisms and colloquialisms are used. These can easily be mastered by observation and by intercourse with the people of the country, and therefore they are only briefly noted in these pages’ (14). Thus one of the main influences on the creation of a Tamil prose style was the European, and particularly the mission, interest in the language. Their version of prose style dominated the first translations from European languages into Tamil, gained a wide and impressionable audience through textbooks composed or translated in the nineteenth century (the prolific grammarian G. U. Pope was very active in this respect), (15) and laid some of the groundwork for Tamil journalism; most of the Tamil printing presses that appeared in the nineteenth century were missionowned and the first Tamil journals were mostly Christian publications. Moreover, many of the non-Christian works in prose Tamil that appeared soon after were counterblasts to the mission works (Arumuga Navalar, for instance, wrote diatribes against the missionaries) and tended to adopt many of the stylistic conventions and pretensions of their opponents. The other main influence on the shape of prose Tamil was a direct inheritance from the tradition of the urai commentary.

This sort of writing, which had never completely died out since

INTRODUCTION

13

its heyday in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, also received a fillip from the advent of printing and from the renewed academic interest in history (and in language itself). While this form of prose differed from that influenced by the European missionaries and grammarians,

it was

if anything

even

more

removed

from

spoken tongue, even more deliberately a scholastic product.

the

In the second half of the nineteenth century, while Tamil prose was in this emergent form, there came the great expansion and proliferation of its use. When Miron Winslow published his famous dictionary in 1862, he noted in the preface (p. vii) that while no one doubted the poetical elegance of the Tamil language, ‘its prose style is yet in a forming state and will well repay the labour of accurate scholars in moulding it properly. Many Natives, who write poetry already, cannot write a page of correct prose.’ By 1900, Tamil publication was in full swing in textbooks, religious booklets and journals. The first Tamil newspaper, the SWADESAMITRAN appeared in 1880 (and became a daily in 1898), sixty new Tamil periodicals appeared in the last twenty years of the century, and the first attempt at a novel in Tamil was published in 1879. This curious background to the development of the prose language, and then the speed with which it was put to a variety of uses, provided the setting for academic and then political concern about the nature of the Tamil language. This concern concentrated on two main points. The first was the historical significance of language; the second was its modern form. In both cases, the pattern followed closely along the lines of the concern for history; what began as an intellectual and academic interest developed into a political controversy, after which the intellectual and political interests divided.

The interest in the history of Tamil can be traced back through

the work of Robert Caldwell. Among his many contributions to the intellectual life of nineteenth-century Tamilnadu was his

attempt to use ideas derived from the European study of compa-

rative grammar to illuminate the history of southern India. The

grammatical rules that were the conclusion of others’ works were

no more than the starting point for Caldwell’s discussion of the

14

MESSAGE

BEARERS

relation of Tamil to the other Dravidian languages of the south of India, and of the relation of the south as a whole to the Aryan north. The conclusions that he set forth in his monumental A CoMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF THE DRAVIDIAN OR SouTH INDIAN Famity or Lanouaces (16) virtually created ‘the Dravidian problem’ in its modern form, and Professor E. F. Irschick has lucidly explained the legacy of Caldwell to later writers (17). By the turn of the century, the question of the exact historical relation of the south of India to the north had become politically important, and would become more so as the prospect of an independent India ruled from the north grew steadily nearer. The second discussion took up where Pope and Arden had left off. The Madurai Tamil Sangham found a new lease of life, and began a journal in 1903. Another Sangham was founded in Madras in 1907 intended to ‘encourage the study of Tamil classics and to bring the Tamil language so as to fit it to modern times’ (18). It

was significant that the Madurai Sangham’s journal was called

SzN-TamI1, the title usually applied to the classical and poetic form of language, even though the Sangham was as much concerned with the nature of modern prose as with research into the classics. In this journal and in a number of learned works — M. Srinivasa Iyengar’s Tamit Srupres (1914), S.S. Bharati’s Tami Crassics Anp

TamitakaM

(1912), S. K. Devasikhamani’s THe Tamits AND

Tuer LancuaceE (1919)—there was a clear continuity with the nineteenth-century grammarians’ tendency to favour strict linguistic rules and more elements of the classical, poetic language. There

then followed a battle. Some

authors argued

that

the use

of the new “pure”’ prose was an explicit political act, an assertion of Tamilian civilisation in the face of the European rulers and in the face of the immigrants from the north. There were some linkages with those who wished to use history in the same light and indeed Maraimalai Adigal wrote his historical tracts in this language (19). Others like the great journalist Tiru Vi Ka argued for a more tempered language, one that was still exclusively and aggressively Tamil, but was more accessible. He stuck to the grammatical rules, but he used constructions that were simpler and clearer than the poetical fancies of Maraimalai Adigal, and he was

INTRODUCTION

15

Not quite so strict about vocabulary. He was not scared of the old Sanskrit word, and while he might use archaisms for rhetorical or humorous effect, he generally stuck to the vocabulary of common speech. His form of the language could be used for the short, snappy sentences of journalism and it set the style for the Tamil press (20). There was also a third faction that wanted a much simpler demotic language. They were equally proud of Tamil, they were reluctant to use Sanskrit words but not dogmatic about it, but most of all they were afraid that the language would become an aesthete’s and intellectual’s plaything, rather than a medium of political communication and a forerunner of social change. They were concerned that written Tamil should be accessible to the barely literate, that it should reflect the sounds that made up common speech rather than the rules of the medieval and modern grammarians (21). C. Subramania Bharathi was prominent among such writers, though the argument is implicit in his poetical and prose writings, rather than explicit in any manifesto. He is of course remembered chiefly for the quality of his poetry, but it should also be noted that this was as much a linguistic as an artistic achievement. He managed to convey everyday thoughts, political messages, children’s rhymes and romantic sentiments in language that was accessible to the man of ordinary education, yet also pleased the literati. Few

others were so unquestionably isuccessful, but then

few are blessed with Bharathi’s talents. This search for a demotic style increased in the 1930s, with an upsurge in Tamil journalism and the appearance of journals, most notably ANANDA VIKATAN, publishing short stories, serials and humorous pieces (22).

These differences in style—inevitable in the light of the recent history of the language—soon developed into fierce arguments

over the nature of ‘correct Tamil’ and these arguments soon took

on a political colouring. Some of these arguments concerned the nature

of grammar

and

the rules of syntax,

but the most

fiery

argument centred around the use of loan-words—Sanskrit, Urdu, English—in the ‘correct’ form of the tongue. Ardent nationalists strove to exclude all English words, while others criticised such writers as for making the language unnecessarily clumsy and

16

MESSAGE BEARERS

parochial. Those who claimed that it was possible to identify a Tamil civilisation that pre-dated any northern influence were careful to avoid any Sanskrit words, and this became

a fetish of

some of those who identified the non-Brahmins with the original inhabitants of the region and the Brahmins with later invaders. Opponents

of this school

considered

this

not only a bad

and

maliciously divisive reading of history, but also a pedantic attitude to a language which clearly employed many Sanskrit words in common speech.

By the 1920s, the interests in Tamil on the part of the academics

and

intellectuals on

one side, and

the politicians

on the other,

had begun to diverge. The academics settled down to a close study

of the early history of the language

and

a minute,

painstaking

study of its linguistic rules. The politicians turned the grandeur and purity of the Tamil language into a slogan. But unlike the case of the study of history, language retained and even increased its importance in politics in the years to come. But

the

medium,

politicians

were

interested

in Tamil

nor even to any great extent as

communication,

but rather

as an artefact,

not

as a creative

developing means a symbol,

a way

of

of

defining the harassed people at the tip of the subcontinent. Any

chance that the political energy of the late nationalist and early

independence periods might inspire an equally creative, critical and energetic literature was virtually lost. *

*

*

Thus in the end revivalism in history and language had not sustained revival in politics; rather the divisions among the intellectuals and the divisions among the politicians had fostered each other.

Moreover,

this

style

of cultural regeneration,

because

it

was so deliberately a minority interest, had always been vulnerable

to the imperial rulers’ antagonism. The leaders were so few and

so visible that it was easy to monitor their activities and put them in jail if really necessary. It was also easy for the British to evade the intellectuals’ attack by shifting their own ideological ground. In the nineteenth

century the British had tended

to justify their raj on

the grounds that India was too backward to rule itself. The revival

INTRODUCTION

17

of Indian intellectual life, in forms that the British could recognise

and appreciate, emptied that argument of all its force, but in its

place the British now argued that the intellectuals and politicians

of ‘New India’ were a microscopic elite, lacking the popular support that could legitimate their leadership. Political conviction in the twentieth century would have to be measured in terms of mass support. This was also the logieal corollary of the ideas of liberaldemocratic

nationalism,

already

adopted

by

Indian

politicians,

and it was the basic requirement of the new governmental institutions (elective legislatures and local boards) that the British"were

imposing on India. The character of politics had changed and the character of nationalist activity changed with it.

Thus even as the studies of history and language subsided into scholastic quarrel and political sloganeering, some of the participants moved away from these areas and towards an interest in popular culture and mass communication. Some writers and ~

“poets, interested in the development ofTamitbut bored by the pedantry

of the scholasts,

emotions

more

Tamil prose

that could closely

began

to

experiment

reflect common

than

speech

the architectonic

with

forms

of

and everyday

language

of the

Tamil purist. Others moved into the fields of activity that Baskaran

describes — writing songs and plays designed for a wide audience, and later modifying these activities to suit and to exploit the new

technologies of the sound recording and the moving picture. They

wished to use language and performance to spread a political message to a wider audience, particularly to that immense audience that lived Autside the cities and

culture.

—

out ofthe reach of literature and

.

These new activities were very different in character from those

of the earlier stage of cultural revival. The political messages were generally simple, accessible and non-controversial; ~theyjoined people together rather than dividing them. They relied less than the intellectuals had done on any European participation or inspiration, Although they used the techniques of recording and filming from the West, they created cultural forms that were

emphatically indigenous. Visual and oral arts of this sort could draw much more directly and effectively on indigenous art forms 2

18 than

MESSAGE BEARERS literary

efforts

ever

could;

folk-songs,

ballads,

temple-arts

and festival performances were a ready source of talent, style and

inspiration, and they shaped the character, the content and the

i

imagery of Indian cinema and popular music much more than the output of Hollywood and ‘Tin Pan Alley did. The cinema in particular continued to have all the characteristics of a folkmedjum amidst all the technology of western ‘modernism the ‘emphasis remained on sound, colour and special effects rather than on narration, character, continuity and plot; there were no qualms about irrealism or repetitiveness and there was lots of audience

participation.

The

political

oe}

content ‘of such

7 !

“he

a

activities appeared

Oh

‘on popular

demand’, as part of the intimate exchange between performer

and audience that is the hallmark of successful popular art. It

appeared as a reflection and crystallisation of mass feeling, rather than as a by-product (or distortion) of an intellectual search after truth. Moreover, the political message did for the most part manage to creep under the imperial rulers’ guard in a way that literary

works never could. It was rather difficult for the haughty Briton

| to take such things as songs and plays too seriously, and thus they \tended to underestimate their impact at first. Moreover, when they came to suppress such activities, they found it difficult and costly. Songs could circulate freely; vernacular plays were awkward to supervise; song-sheets, pamphlets and even records were so widely disseminated that they were almost impossible to monitor. A proper attempt to control all this activity would have used up the energies of a police force far bigger and far better equipped than the one the British possessed, and would still have been largely ineffective. Only

the cinema

was susceptible to close censorship, and

that

did not descend properly until the period of Civil Disobedience,

was then relaxed in the Ministry period, and became hopelessly confused during the war. As Baskaran describes, the very effectiveness of songs, plays and films, particularly in such times as Civil Disobedience when other forms of mass communication were closely controlled, made some attempts at repression inevitable.

INTRODUCTION

19

Yet even in the most prominent attempt at repression— inthe cinema — the results were not unequivocally effective. Firstly, the ramshackle nature of the censorship organisation made its impact rather arbitrary, and such arbitrariness was bound to fan the flames of protest rather than dowse them. Secondly, there was a sense in which the decision to impose censorship on purely political grounds implied an admission of the power and validity of the film’s message: the films were too good, too true, to be allowed _ distribution. This was especially relevant in the case of the docu—mentaries of Congsess Session or_homilies on khaddar and social reform. Such an admission was bound to-€at into the rulers’ self-

“respect and self-confidence. There was indeed a great irony involved when the British found themselves banning a film based on the most famous work of the most famous imperial poet— Kipling’s Gunca_pin.

Thirdly, the need to ban British and have the Secretary of State haggling

American films (and to with the licentious and

lovely Miss Maud Allen) on the grounds that they might under-

mine in India the carefully constructed image of the white man, could not help but impress upon the rulers the extent to which their status and legitimacy were based upon a gigantic fraud. Moreover, the image of the white man in India had been constructed atso manysteps removed from reality that it could not be protected by ad hoc censorship; there were few films that portrayed the westerner in the way that the upholders of empire would have liked, and it was impossible to ban them all. At much the same time that western films were importing a different image of western society, the Indian press gloried in feature stories written by correspondents who had visited England and who wrote of the dole queues, of the English lower middle-class, of the tawdriness of English

cities

and

of other

distinctly

non-imperial

aspects

of

British social life. The early reluctance of the Indian to cross the kala pani had unwittingly abetted the creation of the imperial image;

but

now

that

reluctance

had

relaxed,

and

the

cinema

industry was bringing across the kala pani to India images of the

West that made the grandeur of the Raj seem like a Hollywood stage set.

20

MESSAGE BEARERS

But the dramatists, song-writers and cineastes paid a price for their intimate relation with folk arts and a mass audience. Any political message was restricted to the degree of depth that a

_Mass audience would accept, and attuned to the lowest common

. denominator of mass feeling. On the question of national freedom, there was of course general agreement, but it was difficult to broaden and deepen the content of songs and films to encompass political messages which would remain important after nationalism had triumphed. Moreover, as Baskaran has pointed out, censorship of films did distort the development of Indian cinema in that it obliged producers, for the sake of economic survival, to prefer styles and subjects that were politically innocuous. While the earlier dramas and films were often constructed around elaborate allegories and contained some detailed social commentary, the films of the 1940s got little beyond the occasional political image and catch-phrase — a darting move ina cat-and-mouse game played with the imperial censor. In the end, this potent meeting of political

energy and cultural innovation in the early Indian cinema ran out into a preference for folksy trivia interspersed with coy references to political catch-phrases. Yet even with these marriage of culture Indian cinema — and popular song — made

limitations on depth and elaboration, the and politics in the early phase of the south also to a lesser extent in the drama and the for expansion rather than division, propaga-

tion rather than divorce.

It has been a marriage which has waxed

and waned; but it has also been a marriage which has lasted. Baskaran has now scripted the courtship.

Cambridge 1978 -

CHRISTOPHER

BAKER

POPULAR THEATRE AND THE RISE OF NATIONALISM

One of the inherent characteristics of the stage i is its use as a pulpit

from where ideas and value systems are disseminated, even though” the audience look upon it mainly as a recreational form. Playwrights like Ibsen, Shaw and Brecht and political groups like the Nazis have made use of this property of the stage. In south India, the stage was used as aninstrument of propaganda by the nationalists from 1919 right upto 1945. The popular theatre, in the process of helping the nationalist movement, assumed a political character and emerged as a popular political theatre (1). The intent of this chapter is to show how it gave an emotional and intellectual support to the movement and helped in politicising the masses, and secondly, to examine the reaction of the British government. The role of popular theatre in south India arose out of an interaction between the stage and the society. Though the tradition of drama goes back to the third and fourth centuries A.D., modern drama as we know it, with divisions of acts and scenes, scenography of painted settings and a concealed orchestra, is not more than a century old in south India (2). Classical drama, staged in dance form in temples during festivals, was not commercially organised and therefore never reached a sizeable section of the community. But modern drama run on commercial lines is open to everyone without any barrier of class or caste. Thus it has all the character-

istics of a mass medium and may serve as a reflector of existing social norms. Such a function of the drama deserves notice and can

22

MESSAGE BEARERS

be understood only in terms of the popular stage’s inter-relationship with the rest of society (3). When popular, commercial drama appeared on the cultural scene in south India at the end of the nineteenth century, there was no radio or cinema to compete with it in the realm of mass communication (4). It appeared in an age when

the dissemination of ideas and information was crucial

to the emergence of nationalism and it soon came to be used as an instrument in the nation’s struggle for liberation.

While the press and formal political organisation might influence the literate, for the bulk of the people popular theatre served as the only means of mass communication. In a society where the people and their culture were mainly oriented to the spoken word,

the

appearance

serves

as an

of a medium,

which

packaged

ideas

of

something

more

to

nationalism and social reform with the main ingredients of traditional entertainment such as music and mythological themes, was bound to have a significant impact (5). Such a stage not only entertainment

form,

but

does

the community. It is likely that the members of an audience watching a drama are not merely escaping from the pressures of their day-to-day life, but are also escaping into a kind of understanding of their own society, an understanding that is necessary for them to participate in society in a meaningful way. By watching a drama, they may be learning how to react to certain new factors that they have to encounter as the society gets more and more complex, and how to anticipate what is most appropriate for social behaviour in the changing circumstances. Every society requires a cultural mechanism through which social and political conflicts are analysed, and it is in this sense that the popular drama assumed a political dimension in south India.

Prologue : The

early years of the south Indian

stage

The stage first became popular in south India in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.. During the 1870s, Parsi and Marathi drama companies who camped and played.in Madras demonstrated that-dramatic organisations were a commercial proposition. Soon after, local itinerant companies appeared, such as the Mohana Nataka Company founded by T. R. Govindaswamy Rao. When one of these companies, Sami Nayudu Nataka Company, played

POPULAR

THEATRE

23

to packed houses in Madras, it inspired some educated youth to take a closer look at the popular theatre. This trend, coupled with a growing interest both in English literature, particularly Shakespeare, and the study of the Sanskrit classics, created a new interest in legitimate theatre, as distinct from the popular variety. In 1891 Pammal Sambanda Mudaliyar founded

an

in Madras towns,

such

amateur

dramatic

club,

the

Suguna

and in time several others appeared as Sudarsana

Sabha

of Thanjavur

Vilasa

Sabha,

in the district

and

the Rasika

Ranjani Sabha of Tiruchi. V. K. Suryanarayana Sastri, a teacher in Madras Christian College, started to write plays in Tamil follow-

ing conventions borrowed from Shakespearean and Sanskrit drama.

His first play, RUPAVATHI, was staged in 1897, and later he wrote NADAGAVIYAL,

a treatise designed

to explain

the characteristics

of classical drama to the small band of drama enthusiasts around

him,

But the new interest in legitimate theatre was confined to the city-based elite. It was the growing number of itinerant companies

offering popular theatricals which reached a wider and more varied

audience.

T. R.

by running his Mohana

Govindaswamy Rao had

Nataka Company,

set the model

as a theatrical ‘family’

whose members lived and travelled together and were able to influence one another considerably under these intimate conditions. Out of this and similar companies emerged a number of artistes who eventually formed their own companies in which the process was repeated. By 1920 the number of these itinerant drama companies was considerable (6).

An offshoot of these troupes was the ‘Boys Company’, in which young boys under twelve were recruited and trained in singing. These ‘Boys Companies’ were easy to run, because problems of discipline were simplified, and cheap, because no wages were paid other than food and clothing . Samarasa Sanmarga Nataka Sabha,

founded by Sankaradas Swamigal in 1910, was one of the earliest of such companies (7), and Thapa Venkatachala Bhagavathar of Kumbakonam started a similar company in 1911. These companies

24

MESSAGE BEARERS

moved from town to town camping for months in one'place till they exhausted their repertoire. In addition to these two types there was a third category known as the ‘special drama’ which was a kind of virtuoso performance. Playwrights like Sankaradas Swamigal and Ekai Sivashanmugam adapted many popular mythological stories for the stage and these adaptations became the standard versions. On certain occasions, actors who had specizlised in specific roles in these plays assembled from different places and enacted the play, each one faithfully reproducing portions fromthe standard version (8). This was the ‘special drama’. By 1920, the number of companies and the popularity of performance had expanded so much that several drama halls were built in addition to the temporary sheds that served the purpose in smaller towns. Popular theatre had emerged as the single largest mass entertain-

ment. In the first two decades of its existence, however, it remained purely an entertainment.

But the historical context to the period in which the popular theatre emerged ensured that the stage would not remain merely recreational for very long. At the start of the period, Madras was not very active politically and was dubbed the ‘benighted province’. There was some sporadic activity confined to a small section of the intelligentsia, but political consciousness had not permeated the masses (9). The political activism kindled by V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and Subramanya Siva in the extreme south of the province during the first decade of this century suffered a severe setback after their conviction in what came to be known as the Tinnevelly Sedition Case in 1911. Only in 1914, when Mrs. Besant began

to tour

the province

demanding

Home

Rule, was

there

entertainment

form,

some revival of political activity. Mrs. Besant’s movement merged into the Non-cooperation and Khilafat Movements in 1919 and these gave a lasting and broad-based character to the nationalist movement in the province. By this time the drama companies had come to stay as a truly popular mass medium, and the nationalists saw in them a much needed tool to spread their message widely and effectively. Once nationalism had acquired a mass base in

south

India, popular

theatre, a major mass

began to get involved in political action.

POPULAR THEATRE

25

Nationalism was not the only element of this tumultuous period

in Indian history which began to affect the concerns of popular

theatre. Old beliefs and old patterns of behaviour were weakening

in the face of western education, the import of new ideas and the establishment of the press and new forms of political organisation. Out of this ferment came a realization that social reforms were a necessary element in the progress towards nationhood. When the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, it was intended

to deal primarily with social reforms. In Madras, although the movement

for reforms was slow to catch on, there was an active

small group of reformers who started the journal Inp1an SociaL ReFormer in 1890. In the same year, the Hindu Social Reforms Association was founded in Madras and soon branches sprang up all over the province. Narayana Ganesh Chandavarkar, the leader of the movement at the national level, visited Madras in 1903 and injected some new vigour into the movement. The leading

light in Madras was Chandavarkar’s associate Kamatchi Natarajan who proclaimed himself a rational reformer, untrammeled

by the

canons of the sastras. Meanwhile, Madhava Rao of the Congress, along with reformers like Sankaran Nair, campaigned for widow re-marriage

and

temperance.

The

Depressed

Classes

Mission

Society was established in Madras in 1909 and soon, mainly due to the work of Veeresalingam Pantulu, branch associations were established in the districts (10). Gandhi lent his charisma to the movement when he declared at the Belgaum Congress that social reforms were essential for swaraj and that the Congress should take up this programme seriously. Thus the demand for reforms came to be identified with the cause of nationalism. Gandhi’s tour of the province along with the Ali brothers in 1919 created a considerable impact. E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, P. Varadarajulu and Thiru Vi. Kalyanasundaram took the message of Gandhi into the rural areas. Until 1919) ine popular theatre was content with putting on mythologicals with all the ingredients of ‘escapist’ entertainment. t. Stage” artistes were regarded as veritable outcastes and they kept themselves away from the mainstream Of society. It was the wave of anger

that swept

through the country following the Jallianwalla

th massacre in 1919 that triggered the process of politicisation in the popular theatre. The political activity stirred up by the

26

MESSAGE BEARERS

country-wide opposition to the Rowlatt Act and by the Non-cooperation Movement sustained this trend and inaugurated a new

phase in the world of mass entertainment.

Build-up: The Telugu stage and Non-cooperation

The initiative came from the Andhra districts. In the early years

of the twentieth century, a number of drama companies operating from Guntur had gradually come under the influence of the _ nationalist movement (11). The out-break of war in 1914 and the British anxiety about possible anti-war propaganda in India made the government view the stage with suspicion. Earlier these drama companies had been granted annual licences and the Dramtic Performances Act of 1876, as far as south India

was concerned, ~

had not been invoked. But trouble began in Guntur, the headquarters of dramatic activity in the Telugu-speaking area of Madras Presidency. In 1919, the District Magistrates of Guntur, Kistna and Godavary, began to use section 10 of the Dramatic Performances Act to maintain a register of approved plays and required all plays to be approved and registered before production. The stand of the District Magistrate of West Godavary was characteristic of the government’s attitude to popular theatre. While the government’s real objection to these dramas was the fear of generating nationalistic ideas, they stated that control of the stage was necessary to curb possible communal propaganda. He recorded: ‘In England the Lord Chamberlain scrutinises the plays. I don’t see why such scrutiny should be objected to here, especially as to arouse racial and communal feeling can be made a popular and probably profitable amusement’ (12).

The fear of the government was well founded. The Guntur drama companies soon came out with intensely political documentary dramas. The first play of this type was PANCHALA_PARABHAVAMU _ (The Glory of Panchali). Written by Dr. Pundarikakshudu of Guntur, this five-act play dealt directly with the events that followed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It depicted people expressing dissatisfaction with the Hunter Committee report and subsequently forming a Congress committee of enquiry. It also featured O’Dwyer and Johnson, the main figures in the Amritsar incidents, and contained a scene in which Mother India, one of the characters,

POPULAR THEATRE

27

told Gandhi “You should devise some means for the emancipation from servitude of the thirty-three crores of your brothers here.” The Punjab was personified asa woman whose hand and feet were

tied by O'Dwyer so that she could not move. The play explained the satyagraha

movement

and

concluded

with

a scene

of the

Amritsar Congress session featuring Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and Tyabji (13).

Popular resentment against the Amritsar incidents was expressed in a number of political dramas. Another play that attracted a lot of attention both from the public and from the government was SwarajyA Swapnam (The Dream of Self-rule), first produced by the Tilak Nataka Samajam in Buttayipet Hall, Guntur. Commenting on the Amritsar incidents the play explained the Khilafat Movement, assailed the political activities of the Justice party and propagated boycott of foreign cloths. The police Inspector who watched the play faithfully reported: ‘I beg to report that the drama impressed very well on the audience and in my humble opinion even several Non-cooperative meetings could not impress so well.’ This play depicted many national leaders, including Gandhi and Tilak, and was charged with anti-British sentiments calculated to excite the feelings of the audience against the British. O’Dwyer was shown kicking Indians and forcing them to crawl in the streets. In depicting only actual events, this play was documentary in nature. Gandhi’s visit to Tilak at his death-bed, his avowal of non-violence at the Calcutta Congress and Shaukat Ali’s moving plea to support the Khilafat were all enacted on the stage in the true style of a documentary drama. The police were alarmed at the increasing popularity of the play and reported: ‘The play appears to become more objectionable at each performance. It is highly seditious and will undoubtedly become more so if it is not stopped at once. It is calculated to do a great deal of harm and incites feelings of bitterest enmity towards government and towards loyal subjects of government.’ The play was banned throughout the Presidency (14). This method

of political propaganda

through

the enactment of

actual events soon caught on. In NAVAYUGARAMBAM

OR

GANDHI

Manopayay, a play dealing with contemporary issues allegorically,

28 MESSAGE BEARERS

.

Lord Krishna asked: ‘Why does slavery prevail in India which is regarded as the crest of the jewel of the world? Tell us why the rulers have been acting recklessly having forsaken justice’ (15). Amateur drama enthusiasts also began to come up with political dramas.

Kopali

Chinna

formed a drama company,

Krishna

Rao

and

Bodi

Narayana

the Sarasa Vinodhini Sangam,

produced Tiwak’s Lire first in Tenali in February in Guntur (16).

Rao

which

1921 and then

This group consisted mostly of Guntur lawyers and their clerks. The play was just a series of incidents from the lives of Tilak and Gandhi, including Tilak’s prison days and Gandhi’s work in South Africa. In the opening scene Bharatha Matha appeared and pleaded for boycott of British goods. A number of local political figures were also featured in the play, increasing the immediacy of the message. Evidently the life of Tilak was a favourite theme among the Telugu playwrights of this period. Sripada Krishnamurthy published Trtax Manaray NatakaM, which was banned before it could be produced. AVATARAPARIVARTANAM, which depicted Tilak’s role in the Surat Congress, the moderate-extremist split, Gandhi’s emergence as a leader, Tilak’s imprisonment and the partition of Bengal, was staged in Guntur but was soon proscribed (17). The activities of the nationalist drama groups of Guntur provoked the government into action against patriotic plays and all such plays were proscribed throughout the Presidency. But new drama groups were organised to be sent into the interior and more plays were under production. The police received information that Bankim

The

Chandra’s

government

ANANDMAT

was

being

rehearsed

in Guntur.

empowered thé district authorities “(and the

Commissioner of Police of Madras city) to call for information regarding the characters in the drama from the organisers or playwrights when there was reason to suspect that the drama would be seditious. But the rule omitted to provide for any machinery to control the artistes and for some years the nationalists took advantage of this (18).

The patriotic theatre movement that started in Guntur was fairly well organised. Drama actors formed a Dramatic Association

MM.

Chidambaranathan

Sarabam Muthusamy Kavirayar

T. P. Krishnaswamy Pavalar

Baskara Das

M. Kandaswamy Mudaliar

POPULAR THEATRE

29

to carry on propaganda for the Congress and to raise money to sustain agitations. The Association also, very ingeniously, began to put folk music, ballads, harikatha and street dramas to effective

use to gain deeper penetration in the rural areas. The success

of this activity at Guntur stimulated similar groups in other centres like Bezwada. A number of zamindars like the zamindar of Vallur patronised these actors and the public extended tremendous support to them. Maylavaram Drama Company, for example, was patronised by a number of zamindars. Some landlords of Rajahmundry founded and financed the Rajahmundry Hindu Theatrical Company. Stage luminaries like Idavalli Suryanarayana Rao and Kuppalur Sanjivi Rao actively supported this movement.

But

the most active of them

lawyer

who

brought

a new

all was

awakening

Bellary

Raghavachari,

to the stage

during

a

the

1920s. By staging reformist plays he made the popular theatre more purposeful and injected into the drama companies and their patrons a new vigour. Being a member of both the Andhra Basha Sabha and the Suguna Vilasa Sabha of Madras, he was able to bring to the world of popular theatre better organisation and improved theatrical techniques (19). The scene in Madras The situatidn was different in Madras. Although. commercial drama companies were operating in the Tamil-speaking area, the process of politicisation was rather slow. Yet from among the nationalist leaders, the world of performing arts in Madras had one great supporter in S. Sathyamurthy. Himself an amateur actor and deeply interested in drama and music, he firmly believed that these arts could be creatively used for nationalist purposes (20).

Condemning the elitist apathy towards popular arts he would often declare, ‘We will sing our way to freedom.’ He freely associated himself with stage artistes in spite of the stigma attached to their profession at that time. As a result, a number of artistes led by stage actor M.M. Chidambaranathan gave active support when Sathyamurthy organised non-violent agitation in Madras in 1921.

Hundreds of drama performances were held in the villages around Madras and the money

collected. was: used to supply food and

30

MESSAGE BEARERS

clothing to the volunteers who took part in the demonstrations (21).

Suthanandha Bharathi, a nationalist poet, staged his play VEERU

Perru Nitvapa (Stand Up in Valour) in and around Madras (22). Subramanya Siva, who was by this time out of prison having served his sentence, organised a drama troupe, Shri Bharatha Vilasa Sabha, and travelled around staging patriotic plays like Desincu Rayan and Srvaji, in which he himself played the role of Ramdas, Sivaji’s guru. R. Srinivasavaradan and N. Somayajulu, Congress organisers from Madurai, who later attracted much notice in the Neill statue agitation in Madras, were also in this group (23).

When these dramas were banned in Chidambaram by the local magistrate, Sathyamurthy raised the issue on the floor of the

legislature (24). Such encouragement did not only give a fillip to the drama movement but also conferred on the artistes a respectability which they had not enjoyed hitherto.

Entr’acte: Songs, social reform and nationalism There were three distinctive elements in the popular theatre of this period: the use of songs; the depiction of social reform; and the use of allegorical and directly political themes (25). These three elements form a kind of sequence through which political concerns entered into the activity of the stage, and they will now be dealt with in turn.

.

In the commercial drama, the story was merely a series of excuses for introducing a song. The companies had on their pay-rolls song-writers conversant with classical and folk music who composed songs to suit popular tastes. The main work of the songwriter, known as vathiar (teacher), was to write songs and teach them to the actors. As the only person with some formal education in the company, the vathiar served as its antenna and the dramas reflected his reactions to the political events outside. The Rowlatt Act, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Non-Cooperation Movement supplied grist to his mill. These songs served the very definite purpose of educating the audience on political developments in the country. Earlier, poet Subramanya Bharathi had shown the way in using popular songs for political education. His songs on V.O. Chidamabaram Pillai’s trial in the Tinnevelly Sedition Case and on the conflict between the extremists and the

POPULAR THEATRE moderates

in the Congress

served

as models

31

for later writers.

The songs, simple and direct, used one of the traditional modes

of mass communication to create an awareness of current political

events.

==

It was M.G. Bairava Sundaram Pillai who began this trend; during the performance of a folk-lore drama ALI BapuUsHA in 1921, he sang a nationalist song of his own composition about he arrival of Mahatma Gandhi on the political scene: There is the Khaddar flag ship — Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi — The flag ship of India (26).

1

The song was timely and became a favourite among play-goers. The style quickly caught on as other song-writers began popularising patriotic songs from the stage. In time such songs became a necessary ingredient in all the dramas of the popular theatre, be it mythological or historical (27). Typical of this new school of

song-writers was Oradi Muthoveerappa Pillai, so named because

of his single-lined (Oradi) stanza songs through which he commented extempore on the political events of the day. The most well-known song-writers of this class were Madurakavi Baskara Das and Bhumi Balagadas, whose songs were sung by numerous artistes, and

the most active was S.S. Viswanatha Das (28), who

became

famous through a moving song on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Set to rather elementary music and rendered in a carrying voice, Viswanatha Das’ songs ridiculed the alien rulers, appealed to the

audience’s emotions and were politically informative. His song about the Indians in South Africa appealing to Gandhi for help ran thus: Like untouchables

We have been living afar—since

your arrival, we are courageous

50, please listen to our plea (29).

He advertised his drama on the well-known Kovalan-Kannagi story as Desrya Kovatan (Nationalist Kovalan) indicating that the play had a political flavour.

32

MESSAGE BEARERS

Udumalai Sarabam Muthuswamy Kavirayar, a poet bred in the classical tradition and conversant with grammatical works relating to poetry, was inspired by the Khilafat Movement to write simple popular songs supporting the nationalist movement. His students,

greatly influenced by his zeal, blossomed in the same mould as their

master; they included Udumalai Narayana Kavi, who worked as‘a free lance drama teacher for a long time and then joined films, Kumbakonam K.V. Santhanakrishna Nayudu, who was the manager and teacher in Arya Gana Sabha, and M. M. Chidambaranathan. Arya Gana Sabha was a veritable training ground for nationalistic dramatists. Subramanya Bharathi used to visit

the Sabha and Udumalai came under his spell (30).

Narayana

Kavi

met

him

there

and

Another class of artistes who used songs for purposes of political propaganda were the pin-patiu (back-stage) singers. A pin-patiu artiste, playing on the harmonium and singing along with the actors on the stage, formed the back-bone of a stage performance. He had to be familiar with all the songs and have a good command of music; during intervals in the play he gave solo performance as well. Soon songs acquired a significance independent of the drama and these pin-pattu artistes were sought after for individual performances. Many of them took part in the direct political activities and this display of commitment increased the authenticity of their songs. One such singer was Ramanathapuram P. V.Govindaswamy, who courted arrest as a volunteer in the Non-Cooperation Movement.

S. V. Vasudevan Nair, another pin-patiu artiste, started

his political career as a volunteer in the Vaikam Sathyagraha in 1924. and later suffered imprisonment during the Civil Disobedience

Movement (31).

The work of pin-pattu artistes brought in a new method of political campaign. These songs were sung from political platform and during picketing they served to lend emotional support to the volunteers. Song-writers unconnected with the stage began to publish small booklets of nationalist songs, a kind of degenerate sub-literary poetry set to the kind of folk music that had been popularised by the stage. One such writer was Choolai Manicka Naicker. In his

book

published

in

1928, Manatma

Ganpul

ArRREsTU

Pattu,

POPULAR THEATRE

33

(Song on the Arrest of Gandhi) he comments on Gandhi’s arrest thus: ‘Along with G.R. Das, Lala Lajpath and the noble/Ali brothers were

Jailed on charges

of improper|speeches

and for the cause

of Non-

Cooperation|'Tens of thousands of our friends are pining in prison’ (32).

The appearance,

in the last decades

of the

nineteenth

century,

of Tamil novels dealing with contemporary themes pointed to the possibility of ‘social’ plays. Kasi Viswanatha Mudaliyar wrote and staged DumBacHari, one of the earliest ‘socials’ in

Madras in. the 1880s. Pammal Sambanda Mudaliyar produced Dast

Penn and Kooturavu

swamy Mudaliyar, and

who later

Natakam

(33), and he and

a graduate trained in Suguna Vilasa

worked for commercial

drama

Kanda-

Sabha

companies, served

as a link between the legitimate and the popular theatre. He produced a fresh crop of reformist dramas through which he satirized certain social attitudes and highlighted the need for reform. J.R. Rangaraju, a writer of the 1920s, wrote popular novels dealing with issues which were agitating the minds

of reformers like the

emancipation of women (34). The innovative mind of Kandaswamy Mudaliyar saw the possibility of adapting these novels for the stage. He gave up a comfortable government job and turned a

professional diamatist, working as a drama teacher in a number

of companies including Madurai Bala Meena Sangitha Sabha. At a time when the popular stage was dealing only with mythologicals, Kandaswamy Mudaliyar’s ‘socials’ with the emphasis on acting (an aspect of drama that had been totally neglected so far) came as a breath of fresh air. The audience welcomed this change and soon other companies like Madurai Original Boys Company. also began to stage reformist plays. A new direction was. thus given | to popular theatre. Rajenpra, one of Rangaraju’s works published in 1920 and adapted by Kandaswamy Mudaliyar, was about a newly wedded girl who was rejected by the husband because she had not brought a dowry. The girl was forced into prostitution to earn enough money to make up for this failure, and when she eventually joined

3

:

-

oe

!

34

MESSAGE BEARERS

her husband, she recognised him as one of her clients. CaAnpRa-

KANTHA, telling the story of the Pandara Sannadhi of Tirukallur, exposed the hypocrisy of some fraudulent priests in a dramatic manner. RaJAMBAL was a story about an old man marrying a young girl and also included criticisms of corruption of official life.

The reformists soon recognised the role of popular theatre in communicating their ideas to the people. In 1924 Vengalathur Swaminatha Sarma, who had been influenced by the reformist ideas of the Theosophical Society, staged in the Society’s campus at Adyar his adaptation of Tagore’s Sacririce as JEZVABALAN, a play condemning animal sacrifice. Dr. Besant and Arundale watched the performance and persuaded Sarma to take it into

the villages (35).

The next development in the sequence was the introduction of political comments and symbols of nationalism into dramas. To begin with, in mythologicals sly references to specific political

situations were introduced in the dialogue. For example, the scene

in which people in the streets of Ayodhya comment on the royal

order exiling Rama was used to make critical references to the

repressive measures adopted by the British government following the 1919 movements, and Valli would drive away the flocks of birds that came to feed off the corn, singing: ‘From somewhere you have come here to stay and exploit India—go away, you birds to your native land, go away’ (36).

In Aut Bapusia, an oft-repeated play, there was a court scene in which the king discussed the natural resources of India and

wondered why the country remained poor; was it not because of alien rule? Three artistes dressed fully in red, white and green respectively would, at a given moment, stand in a row on the stage, forming the tri-colour Congress flag. When reputed writers and journalists recognised the force of popular theatre and turned to the stage for expression, the era of

direct political propaganda began. Up to this point commercial

POPULAR THEATRE

35

drama was not considered a medium fit for any serious expression and it was T. P. Krishnaswamy Pavalar, a nationalist playwright, who first moved in this direction. Giving up his job as a Tamil teacher in 1914, for four years he ran a daily InRayA SAMACHARAM

(To-day’s News) devoted mainly to the ideas of Tilak and Gandhi and wrote in journals like BHaRaTHI and Vipya Buusnani. He

soon observed that because literacy was very low, some other means should be employed to educate the people politically. Trained m Suguna Vilasa Sabha, Pavalar saw the potential of the stage in this direction. In 1920, he founded Ramanathapuram Bala Manogara Boys Company and initially staged mythologicals like Sarmr Savirri and HAaRiscHANDRA. Once the company was established, he switched over to historicals with a nationalistic appeal-such

as

Hyper

Aut,

Desincu

Rajan

and

NarpoLzon—

all stories of battles against the British. Pavalar then went on to produce reformist plays like Parut Buaxtut (Devotion to the Husband) m which the hero Rajasekaran became an alcoholic and tortured his wife and children, BALAmBAL which dramatised the ideals of Gandhi,

horse-racing (37).

and

Govgernor’s

Cup

which

condemned

Pavalar’s direct nationalistic propaganda began when KHADDARIN Verai (Triumph of Khaddar), a dramatization of the ideas of the

ewadeshi

movement,

1922. The play

was staged

explained

in Royal

the economic

Theatres,

Madras,

implications

in

of using

indigenous cloth; there was a scene in which the hero, Sundaram, would not allow the heroine, Maragatham to touch him as she was

wearing foreign cloth. The play then moved on to thé confrontation between the National Congress and the Justice party; the daughter and the son-in-law on the Congress side argued with the father who was a supporter of the Jusiice party. Pavalar made good use of symbols like the charka (spinning wheel) and the Gandhi cap in his dramas. Spurred by the enthusiastic welcome this drama had, Pavalar produced Desrya Kopr (The National Flag) dealing with the Nagpur flag agitation. His plays set new

standards in popular drama and his troupe was invited to perform

these two dramas

in the Wembley

exhibition in London in 1923.

When he got back to India, he found that a number of his plays had been banned and many companies were staging them under

36

MESSAGE

BEARERS

different names. He gave up the stage and took to full-time political work as the Secretary of the Madras District Congress Committee.

Until he died in 1934 he ran the monthly DesaBanpuu (38).

Swaminatha Sarma published a nationalistic play BANAPURATHU VeeERAN (The Warrior of Banapuram) in 1924. This vernacular version of the story of Robert Bruce of Scotland, with the names of characters and places suitably tamilized—Bruce became Puresan, Wallace changed into Valisan and Bannockburn became Banapuram—was presented as ann allegorical dramatization of the free-

dom struggle in India. Valisan, a patriot of Banapuram, was tried and executed and his friend Puresan continued

the struggle and

brought liberation to Banapuram. The play also touched on the role of women in the national struggle, a point stressed by Gandhi. It was promptly banned and Sarma himself fled toRangoon, but S. Viswanathan, a dramatist of Madras, managed to stage it. This play was literary in style and this characteristic restricted the actors’ freedom to modify the play in performances, in contrast to the plays in colloquial language which gave scope for improvisation (39). Meanwhile, the Guntur group of ling documentary and historical TuatikoTra YuppHamu (The T. Rangacharyalu, depicting the the Vijayanagar kings and the

drama companies was still handdramas. In 1927 they produced Battle of Talikota), a play by last phase of the struggle between Deccan Sultans. While playing

in Kistna district the play was banned as “‘apt to excite the feelings

of the audience.” Another historical drama, RosHANARA, set in a

background of Moghul palace intrigues, was banned in Guntur because Aurangzeb’s son was shown as a drunkard. The banning of RosHANaRA figured in the Madras Legislative Council. The Law

some

close

Member

of the Madras

questioning

by

government

R. Veerian,

a

was subjected to

member

who

asked

whether plays like Dumpacnari (in which the main character is.a Mudaliyar) and NANDANAR CHARITHRAM (in which the hero is a Harijan) also wounded the feelings of any particular community (40). Two more plays of the same type, RasapuTra ViJAYAMU and JABUNNISA, came in for rough handling from the district

POPULAR THEATRE

37

authorities. Local bodies like municipalities also tried to curb the activity of the patriotic drama groups by imposing restrictive conditions relating to the auditorium and the show timings (41).

Climax:

The Civil Disobedience period and after

Partly because of the repressive measures taken by the government and partly because of lack of stimuli, the patriotic theatre slackened in the latter half of the 1920s and had to wait until another major wave of political activism gave it new vitality. Such a stimulus was provided by the execution of Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries and by the wave of political activities that followed the inaugura-

tion of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Popular theatre once

again became politically communicative. The Bhagat Singh episode, dramatic in itself, became a favourite theme for the stage. Sarma’s

BANAPURATHU VEERAN was adapted by Madura Kavi Baskara Das and the drama company of T. K. S. brothers(T.K. Shanmugam and brothers had been trained by Pavalar and in 1925 had started their own company), Bala Shanmugananda Sabha, staged it as Desa BuaxrHi (Patriotism) in 1931. The play opened with Valisan’s éxecution scene; he was dressed like Bhagat Singh, as shown in his well-known portraits, complete with felt-hat and clipped moustache; the soldiers and other men in the king’s court were in British

army officers’ costumes. The allegorical reference could not be missed. Valisan was shown being hanged (Sarma’s original play did not mention the specific mode of execution) and the scene drew

shouts of ‘Hail Bhagat Singh’. The play was laced with Bharathi’s

songs and included a villu-pattu on the life of Gandhi. T. K.8. brothers also staged KHADDARIN VETRI by Pavalar and JAMBULINGAM, another patriotic play. The District Magistrate of Tirunelveli banned all these plays and recorded, explaining his action, ‘one aspect of the activities of the Congress is making the theatres one of the means of its propaganda’ (42). The District Congress Gommittee protested and eventually got the ban lifted. The troupe

ran into trouble in other districts in connection with KHADDARIN Verri, and T. K. S. brothers corresponded with Gandhi about the

play and the difficulties it was facing. The play was staged under a different name as Kmappar Buaxtur (Devotion to Khaddar) with some changes (43).

38

MESSAGE BEARERS

Gradually the involvement of popular theatre in the cause of nationalism began to widen in scope. In Madurai, which was the headquarters of drama groups in the Tamil-speaking area,

B. Sarangan and other artistes had formed

Thamizhnadu Nadigar

Sangam (Tamilnadu Actors’ Association) in 1928 to provide an organisational framework for the political involvement of drama artistes. The Sangam later sponsored its members as volunteers for picketing and other such demonstrations. After years of campaigning from the stage, many artistes began taking part in direct political activity off the stage, thereby demonstrating their commitment to the cause they were supporting through dramas and lending their popularity as performing artistes to the cause of the freedom movement. In December 1931, again in Madurai, a conference of drama actors was held in which it was resolved to give all assistance to the Congress and to intensify nationalistic propaganda through the stage. The government responded with an order that no drama could be staged without permission from the district authorities. The nationalist leadership responded with encouragement; Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajaji visited the office of the Tamilnadu

Actors’ Association in Madurai and appreciated their work. The

Association arranged benefit performances to raise money for Gandhi’s Harijan Fund and for the Quetta Earthquake Relief Fund. Kamaraj presided over a show of Desa Buaktu1 (Patriotism)

by T.K.S. brothers in Dindigul in 1937 (44).

S. G. Kittappa, one of the brightest luminaries of the Tamil stage

and also the husband of the singer K.B. Sundarambal, took no

direct part in political agitations, but always wore a Gandhi cap and dressed only in khaddar. Invariably hisdramas ended with Gandhi’s prayer song ‘Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram’ (45). During the

Quit India Movement, Kittappa and Sundarambal staged VAELI-

THTRUMANAM (Valli’s Wedding) in Madras for the benefit of the women’s wing of the freedom fighters (46). The agitations that

followed the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement attracted a large number of artistes from the stage. B. A. Subbaiya Pillai and actress M.R. Santhanalakshmi picketed toddy shops in Madurai in 1931 and courted arrest (47). Mannargudi Nataraja

Pillai took part in the Vedaranyam salt agitation and was in jait

for a year.

POPULAR THEATRE 39 As the leading figures of the stage took part in political agitations and coarted arrest one after another, the community of stage artistes threw in their lot with the cause of freedom. The audience response was alse greatly encouraging to this trend. Every drama now had to have political flavour—at the very least a few patriotic songs by the: pin-patte artistes—to make the grade in the eyes of the phaygoers: Even companies which had hitherto been playing safe and putting on only religious dramas, began to register a change. Such was the Devi Bala Vinodha Sangitha Sabha of Nawab T. S. Rajamanikkam. Kovai A. Ayyamuthu, a writer doing ptoneering work in organising the Swadeshi Movement in Coimbatore, came imto contact with this troupe and tried his hand at play-writing with InBAsAGARAN, which was staged by the Nawab’s

company at Ponnamaravathi in 1936. The play was set in the

period of the Pandyan occupation of Sri Lanka and depicted the struggle of the local people to free themselves by launching a satyagraha type of agitation. The play preached self-rule and used symbols like the charka and khaddar. It was staged in Madras at the Royal Theatres in 1937. Bulusu Sambamurthy presided over the opening show and complimented Ayyamuthu for introducing nationalistic symbols on the stage. It proved to be a durable drama and was staged 500 times in various towns by 1939 (48). Another such company that changed its fare was Madurai Original Boys Company which put on the play DrsaBHAKTH! oR

SanopHara Duronam

(Patriotism or the Betrayal of a Brother).

The story was set against the background of the Maratha-Moghul conflict, which afforded a lot of scope to express anti-colonial

sentiments.

A

commander

addressed

his soldiers: ‘Friends,

You

know that though a government may be an excellent one, it cannot

equal self-government.’

There was also a reference to the no-tax

campaign; one farmer told another that if the authorities refused to reduce the land tax, they should refuse to pay it. There was even a mock session of the House of Lords. The government

scsutinised the play and recorded that it ‘indireetly attacks the present form of Government and is sarcastic. Some of the

passages are clearly intended to bring the present administration iméo coatermpt’ (49).

40

MESSAGE

BEARERS

While the drama companies of Guntur toured around the Telugu-

speaking areas like Kistna, West and East Godavari and Guntur districts, the companies headquartered in Madurai and Madras travelled around Hyderabad, Cochin, Ernakulam and Mysore.

These companies found a good number of patrons from among the zamindars, particularly in southern Tamilnadu; the zamindars of Chokkampatti, Andipatti, Ettayapuram, Singampatti and Oorkadu sponsored and patronised patriotic plays (50).

-

oe

Encouraged by this support and by the audience response, many companies began to defy the restrictive orders. Sri Lalitya Natya Mandali of Guntur staged three dramas without the prior approval of the District Magistrate. Others devised ways of circumventing the application of the Dramatic Performances

Act; for instance,

they staged proscribed plays under different titles, or introduced extempore dialogue preaching nationalism (51). When the Congress

came to power in 1937 all the drama companies pleaded that the

the restrictions on their operations should be lifted. As the President of the Andhra Provincial Congress Committee, Pattabhi Sitaramayya appealed to the government

to permit companies

to

stage plays without prior licence. He pointed out that in the Telugu

area about five hundred artistes had been rendered jobless by the imposition of restrictions on the drama companies... The_ District

Magistrate of T’runelveli had banned several of the T.K.S. brothers’ plays on episodes from the poligar revolt against the East India Gompany in the last decades of the eighteenth century — Oomar

THural, KaTrasomMAN, PANCHALANKURICHI BATTLE and MARUDU-

PANDIYAN, (52) and

the Tirunelveli District Congress

Committee

took up the matter with the newly-formed Congress government; Smt. Lakshmi Ammal raised the issue on the floor of the Legislative Assembly and Rajagopalachari as Prime Minister removed the ban with the observation that ‘there seems to be no reason to maintain such extraordinary jurisdiction now’ (53). The fall of the curtain : However, this freedom of action acquired by the popular stage. was offset by the appearance of the Tamil ‘talkie’. By the late

thirties, Tamil films began to come out in a steady flow; many

drama halls were converted into cinema houses and the. popular:

POPULAR THEATRE

4I-

stage began to languish. This trend was temporarily reversed when

the war broke out.and the production of Tamil films dropped considerably. At the same time, the stage received some encouragement from: the literati. The Tamil language itself was undergoing a change with an emphasis on pure, literary style; and a conference

on drama, in which playwrights, actors and song-writers . took part, -was organised at Erode in 1944. It considered ‘the pre occupation of the popular theatre with mythologicals and musicals asa sign of decadence, and discussed steps to infuse a new vigour into the stage

(54).

Such a mood of introspection on

was a result of the stage’s

the part of the popular theatre

role in the national

movement.

The

handling of social and political themes on the stage had incidentally produced a salutary effect on the quality of plays. It marked a definite: change in the dramatic content of stage-writing. ‘Until the nationalist period, the company productions barely merited the title of ‘drama’; they lacked dramatic merit and were not

very theatrical in performance. The principles of legitimate theatre which the amateur clubs tried to popularise did not have any appreciable impact on company productions. ‘The companies mostly staged well-known stories from mythology and folklore, and

because the stories were ‘second nature’ to most of the audience,

there was ho importance attached to the development of’a plot or narrative in the play. Songs dominated the plays and were often interjected without any relevance to the structure of the plot:

The only qualification for an ‘actor’ was the ability to sing, and

the most popular character of the drama was the clown who indulged in a lot of ribaldry. Stage-craft and costumes, were

neglected and there was little respect for sequence; a ‘dead’ king

would come to life and render one of his special songs when the audience clamoured for it (55). With the arrival of reformist dramas and the consequent didacticism of the popular theatre, this pattern

slowly changed. Acting and

ance.

dialogue began to gain some import-

As long as the dramas were written mainly with a view to exploit the histrionic talents of some particular artiste to the maximum, they were not in the realm of literature. But towards the end

42 MESAGE. BEARERS

ef our period the new emphasis on the language used in the stage acted as a link between the stage and literature, and dsamas written

for the stage then came to be widely read as well. Symptomatic

of this trend

was

§. D. Sundaram,

Kavivin

Kanavu (The

Poet’s Dream)

by

a young nationalist who was imprisoned during

the. Quit India Movement. While in jail he wrote this play telling the story of a poet who dreams of his country’s liberation and turns it into reality. The play was staged at Nagapattinam ia 1944 by Sakthi Nataka Sabha and ran for many months to packed houses. The evening train which carried the playgoers from Thanjavur to Nagapattinam was referred to as the ‘Kaviyin Kanavu Express’, The same company staged another patriotic play calted JEEVAN (Life). After the end of the war, the production

of Tamil

films picked

up again and the popular theatre could not hold its ground.

Several cinema houses were built as the talkie emerged as the new entertainment colossus, completely eclipsing drama. One after another the drama companies had to fold up, and there was a frantic exodus into the glittering world of cinema (56).A few well-

established companies continued to function, but as Independence

came into view nationalism gradually disappeared as a subject for drama. When a particular issue is no longer a matter of confliet, it ceases to be reflected in the popular theatre. A social or

political problem which has been solved or for which the solution is mear at hand will be too dull a subject for the stage. But then

there were new issues. Out of the Self-Respect movement emerged

a fresh crop of playwrights who were eager to use the stage to put their ideas across to the people. This trend began with Bharathidasan’s IRANIYAN OR INAIYATRA VEERAN (Iraniyan or the Matchless Warrior) and C.N. Annadurai’s CHANDRODHAYAM (The Moonrise).

POPULAR SONGS AND THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

In the feature film TuyacasHoom: (Land of Sacrifice, 1939, Tamil) there is a sequence showing Congress volunteers in a. procession, holding tri-colour flags and singing patriotic songs. The Commissioner of Police in Madras banned the film, observing that it projected the idea that ‘service for the motherland is:a noble ideal and that it should be of the Congress pattern’ (1). During the freedom movement in south India, picketing and demonstra-

tions had acquired the characteristics of a ritual with songs as an

essential ingredient of the ceremony. THYAGABHOOMI was merely portraying onesuch incident in full detail.

Traditional societies have their own mass media which disseminate ideas and information (2). In Tamilnadu, folk songs, therukoothu

(street drama) performances, the repertoire of itinerant minstrels

and musicians at festivals all functioned as mass media. In all such local entertainments, songs were the main vehicle for communicating ideas. It might be a minstrel narrating tales from the epics, it might bea traditional drama (3) or it might bea funeral lament,

but it was always in the form of a song. When the cause of freedom

needed a mags médiuni, these traditional cultural forms were pressed into service. The powerful current of aural tradition so

characteristic of pre-industrial

times was

utilised by the

new

song-writers to push’ the nationalist message deep into the rural areas, to communicate political ideas and information to a.people

predominantly illiterate, to: rouse people to fight. for freedom,

46

MESSAGE BEARERS

Particularly during the Civil Disobedience Movement, when all the usual means of publicity were denied to the nationalist

leaders, songs were used in a big way. Folk-songs, poets and politicians

There had always. been a powerful tradition of folk music in

Tamilnadu. The songs related to day-to-day life and events that affected the common man. Boatmen sang odappattu to relieve the tedium of rowing, farmers sang etrappattu while irrigating the fields, and their women chanted nadavuppattu as they transplanted paddy seedlings. When groups of devotees trekked their way to temple

towns, they stepped to the rhythm of chindhu, a kind of quick-

step song. There were songs in domestic life as well. During family ceremonies the women danced to kummi songs with rhythmic handclapping. They lamented the death of dear ones through the plaintive appari songs (4). These songs were two-lined stanzas aad were essentially simple in style. Because they came through

eral tradition, as all forms of folk music do, they were easy to learn

and could be sung without any accompaniment. Although they conformed to the traditional melodic system, they were net recorded through amy codified system of musical notation. Yet once the facility of the printing press was available, the lyrics were printed and published. New songs marked events of importance in the lives of the ordinary people. The appearance of the _Tailway train, a totally new phenomenon in the landscape of

Madras, was the occasion for a special composition; a book of

songs about the railway CHENNAPATTINA PUKAIVANDI ELAPPATTU

(Madras Railway Songs) was released in 1868. When there was an epidemic of bubonic plague around Madras in 1898 PLacug Cuinpuu (Songs on the Plague) was released. VEERANATHU ERI Upatpru VELLATHAL MADINDHA VIBAREETHA CHINDU (Songs on

Those Who Died in the Veeranam Lake Breach) was published to record a disaster in South Arcot District in 1913 (5).

The use of popular songs as a medium for political message began in Bengal. The Swadeshi Movement which gained momentum in Bengal by 1905 broadened the base of the national movement there, mainly through new methods of mass contact, adopted by

those leaders whe had realised the inadequacy of the press and

POPULAR sowas

47

platform for maintaining a close link with the masses. The _modem theatre was used in support of the Swadeshi Movement,

‘but it operated mainly in the urban areas. In his famous Swadeshi

Samaj address of July 1904, Rabindranath Tagore drew attention

to the neglect of the rural regions and suggested that. festivals, open-air folk entertainments like the jatra, and songs should be used to reach out to the masses. He urged that propaganda be conducted on the lines of religious discourses and festivals. This

speech sparked off a lively and fruitful debate in the pages of

Tagore’s monthly Buanpar (6). Bipin Chandra Pal joined m i the discussion in April 1905 by suggesting that ‘patriotism must be

/_gonverted into-a_religion with its own symbols, images, vows amd |/ Ceremonials.’ It was during this period that Bengal produced some

~

Of the finest nationalistic songs. By 1905 Tagore’s own output was prolific; and other poets like Kamin Kumar Bhattacharya and Rajni Kantha Sen turned their talents to this particular activity. Several song-books were published, the most famous of them being Jogindranath Sarkar’s Banpz Mataram which ran into three

editions in the single month of September 1905.

In the same year, at Madras, poet Subramanya Bharathi (1882-

1921)

ushered in a similar awakening

in the realm of Tamil

poetry, Influenced by the movement in Bengal, he started writing nationalistic lyrical poetry in a simple and lucid style suitable for singing. He believed that any literary form should be simple enough to be understood by the common man, With remarkable

understanding of the hold of folk music on people, he adopted

forms such as chindhu and kummi and composed songs to suit these

styles. In 1905 he published his own translation of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s famous song ‘Bande Mataram’ in his monthly

CHAKRAVARDHINI (7). His collection of Swapzsa GEETHANGAL (Songs on Swadeshi) was published in 1908 and another collection Janma Buumt (The Land of Birth) came out in the following

year. When he started working for the daily SwaprsamITRAN (Friend of the Native) in Madras from 1915, a steady stream of poetry flowed from his facile pen(8). It was

his practice to sing

his songs to groups of friends and ako from political platforms. These songs of Bharathi set the basic pattern for the patriotic

song in-south India.

48

MESSAGE

BEARERS

in his judgement in the Tinnevelly Sedition case involving V. O. Chidambaram.

Nair

observed

between.

Pillai

that

Pillai and

and

Subramanya

Bharathi’s

District

song

Magistrate

Siva,

Justice

describing Wynch

had

the

Sankaran

argument

had

a strong

impact on the public and had helped to charge the political atmosphere in Tuticorin with rising nationalist fervour during the trial (9). The trend set by Bharathi quickly caught on. In a prefatory note to his book of songs called INpHU DEsABHIMANIKAL Jeeviva CHENTHAMIZH THILAKAM (Songs on the Lives of Indian Patriots), 1921, A. S. Sadashiva Rao of Madurai drew pointed atten-

tion to'the use of popular songs in inspiring nationalist activity in Bengal and advocated a similar usage in Madras. In the early 1920s, N.S. Veluswamy Kavirayar produced songs set to popular

music which, though without literary roots, gained a wide audience.

His

DestyA GeeTHANGAL

(National

Songs)

was

published

in

1921 (10). In 1923:Namakkal V. Ramalingam Pillai made his mark

as a nationalistic poet through a song he wrote for the Desa Bhaktha Samajam, an organisation of nationalists which used to conduct bhajans of patriotic songs and political meetings in Madurai. Foreseeing the potential of such songs for disseminating ideas,

£. V. Ramaswamy

Naicker (then an ardent Congressman) had

thousands of copies of this song printed and distributed all over Tamilnadu (11). The political activism of the Non-Cooperation

Movement formed the material for a number of other song-writers

including S. Rathinam who brought out his Destya GEETHANGAL and Karupaiya Achari who produced DesaBHIMANIKAL DuIvyaMUDHA KEERTHANAM (Songs on Patriots). In 1921 poet Bharathidasan,

who

later emerged

as a fiery advocate of social reforms,

was inspired by Bharathi’s works to bring out his own collection of patriotic songs, Kuappar Ratina Partu (Song on Charka)

explaining the ideas of Swadeshi economics. He took part in the

Non-Cooperation Movement and published songs THoNDAR Papai Patru for the volunteers. He also wrote lullabies. and wedding songs with patriotic messages and brought them out as

Destva

Tuatattu

Pattu

(Nationalistic Lullabies)

and

Desrya

Katyana Parru (Nationalistic Wedding Songs) (12). The journalist and essayist Thiru. Vi. Kalyanasundaram also wrote national

POPULAR

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49

songs which came out as URmar Verxar ALLADHU NATTUPADAL (The Thirst for Rights or the National Songs) in 1931 (13). When the commercial stage was swayed by the sweeping wind of nationalism and came to be utilised for political propaganda, these songs found a new platform in the theatre. Even though drama companies adapted some modern theatrical devices like scenery and stage-setting, they still retained the characteristics of the therukoothu musical drama and called this new hybrid form the vilasam. When dramatists like Krishnaswamy Pavalar began to use the stage to propagate political ideas, they adopted the nationalistic songs on topics like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the events following the Rowlatt Act and the emergence of Gandhi’s leadership. Stage artistes gradually acquired ‘star’ value as singers in their own right, and songs popularised on the stage by artistes like K. B. Sundarambal and S. S. Viswanatha Das began to have a significance quite independent of their theatrical connections. In the numerous demonstrations got up to register protest against the Jallianwala Bagh incident, the volunteers marched singing the songs that had originally been written for the stage. Soon after, the same songs began to appear in booklet form at a price of half

to one anna.

Other songs on political personalities, on the glories of the charka, on temperance and on the need to boycott British goods were composed to fit well-known folk tunes and were again published as cheap booklets. One of the earliest booklets, PuNjaB PADUKOLAI Cuinpuu (Songs on the Massacre in Punjab) was about Jallianwala Bagh. In later years local political events formed the subject matter. In 1927 when a group of volunteers from’ Madurai led by stage-singer N. Somayajulu demanded the removal of the

Neill statue in Mount Road, Madras, and did some damage to it,

songs on this episode came out in the booklet NEELAN Stat KALAGA Cuinpuu (Songs on the Neill Statue Agitation). Mass

communication

in Civil Disobedience

It was during the Civil Disobedience Movement that these songs were put to most effective use. The publication of song-books increased enormously and reached a peak in 1932. A number of

4

50

MESSAGE BEARERS

factors contributed

to this

phenomenon.

Firstly there was the

character of the political movement of the time. Although the national movement had been active in the Madras Presidency in earlier years, it was only with Civil Disobedience that it acquired a truly mass base. A government report of 1931 noted: ‘The Civil Disobedience Movement undeniably reflected the working of a spirit of nationalism...it had more staying power than the NonCooperation Movement, because

it had embodied more nationalistic

spirit’ (14). The use of popular songs was a reflection of the popularity of the political sentiment. Secondly there was the effect of the stringent repressive laws with which the British muzzled the usual means of publicity and communication. These laws had been building up since the end of the nineteenth century. Control of the stage began with Lord Lytton’s Dramatic. Performances Ac

of 1876,

passed

mainly

to deal

with

the emergent

politic

theatre in Bengal (15). Control of films began with the Cinematograph Act of 1918 which established censor boards to screen all the films to be shown in India (16). The increasing use of the printing press by the nationalists had led to a series of measures ‘culminating in the Press Act of 1931. After the Lahore session of the Congress in 1929 set Poorna Swaraj (Total Independence) as its goal, the government geared up its repressive machinery to meet the situation. The Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act of 1931 tightened the hold over the press, while the Unauthorised News

Sheets and Newspaper Ordinance of 1930 extended control to pamphlets and handbills. The Dramatic Performances Act and Cinematograph Act were used with a new deliberation, and a whole host of new ordinances appeared to supplement the government’s powers of repression and suppression. Through prohibitory orders preventing public meetings and through the arrest of nationalist leaders, the government tried to disrupt the contact between the Congress and the people. With most of the leaders like C. Rajagopalachari and S. Sathyamurthy in prison for participating in Civil Disobedience and nationalist orders outlawed, the power of the simple song assumed a com-

pletely new dimension.

*(aupsf paSsvjua) (6¢61) UNOOHAVOVAH], wosf auass y ‘a3Enys wopoesf ayy ur yonjis v—sBuos m4010g Sursurs sysyouoyvu fo uorssar0sg

yn

j

52 At

MESSAGE BEARERS their simplest,

songs

could

be

transmitted

aurally,

without

\@y intervening medium, and thus they were difficult for the government to control. Singers and song+writers helped to keep up the spirit and the momentum of the movement, and to mobilise men for action, when other forms of publicity were hounded off the streets. Besides this, songs could be promoted from the allied medium of the popular stage, and from the new mechanical means of disseminating music, the gramophone. Though the latter methods made the songs more vulnerable to government restriction (plays could be proscribed and records seized), the advantage that such methods offered in terms of increased publicity still outweighed the disadvantages of vulnerability. Popular songs thus became a vital and appropriate medium for the mass campaign of Civil Disobedience. This new and powerful coalition of songs and protest began dramatically in April 1930 when C. Rajagopalachari led a group of volunteers from Tiruchirapalli to Vedaranyam in Thanjavur District to defy the salt laws. Namakkal V. Ramalingam Pillai composed a march song for the occasion: Here comes a war without blood, without sword all those who believe in the eternity of Truth, join (17) The marchers were joined by a large number of students carrying tri-colour flags and singing nationalistic songs to add moral

support.

The

District

Magistrate of Thanjavur, J. A.

Thorne,

recorded: ‘The march was spectacular’ (18). Once at Vedaranyam, the volunteers had to. face a police assault every morning on their way from the camp fo the salt pans; they kept up their spirits by

singing, in particular,-a ‘song by Bharathi:

We are not afraidlwe

are not afraid. Those arrested were taken by train to various prisons; and at every station they would sing aloud to announce their presence to the local people who would gather around the train

to cheer and sometimes, to pass food.and drinks throwgh the win:

dows (19). To support another camp set up to defy the salt laws at Udayavanam near Santhome in Madras City, the stage-singer M. M. Chidambaranathan organised special dramatic performances

POPULAR

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53

and collected funds (20). K. S. Gopalakrishnan, Secretary of the ‘Hind Sevak Samaj’ and later a popular cinema actor, organised a music festival and utilised the proceeds to support the satyagraha camps at Udayavanam and at Sholinganallur on the MadrasMahabalipuram road. He would go from village to village singing Bharathi’s songs: he would begin a meeting with a song; a crowd would gather and then he would make a speech. He was imprisoned for one year (21). There were more such camps all along the coast and for the satyagrahis there were songs for the occasion: Let’s march—march

To the sea-shore to make salt God created salt and there can be no tax and He cannot be charitable to the Government. It is our patience that has led us to such a pass but now ......... let’s gather to make salt (22)

[ /

The closing of the Vedaranyam camp on 30th May, 1930 was followed by intense political activity throughout the presidency. Most of the district-level leaders had been imprisoned, following picketing all over the presidency, but the numerical strength of the Congress had increased and its membership in Tamilnadu began to swell in an unprecedented way. The need for closer link with the rural.areas was increasingly felt. The nationalists saw in(popular music an effective packaging in which ideas and

\ information’ could be passed on easily, aided by the familiarity

._ sof the idiom and the simplicity of the music. The events of the salt satyagraha, the efforts of the Collector of Thanjavur to disrupt the march, and the Gandhi-Irwin pact, all formed the subject matter for the numerous songs that came to be written at this time. Venues of picketing like toddy shops and cloth stores reverberated with these songs:

Like the hunter who comfortably collects the honey gathered by the bees Seventy-five crores of Rupees are given as wasteful tax, through toddy and by drinking, we sink deeper in debt Behold the toddy shop—and the khaddar flag that flutters in front Come........+006 lets picket

Nothing can stop us. (23)

54 MESSAGE BEARERS But the single event which provoked the largest number of songs was the execution of Bhagat Singh at Lahore on 23rd March, 1931 (24). These songs were heard on drama stages, in tra‘ns, in street corners and in school assemblies, while musical luminaries

of the day recorded them for the gramophone. The most popular of

these gramophone songs was the one recorded byK.B. Sundarambal. It was in characteristic folk form, combining the real and the mythological elements to increase the impact: (She) wept at the prison gates—Bharatha Matha she was grieved at the strangling of the three innocent men, without any just cause.

Where are Rajaguru, Sukh Dev and Bhagat Singh who declared that they would not be afraid of blood-shed to attain salvation of their priceless mother; (they) are not to be seen. Our mother stands armed with a long trident sayimg that she would, this very day, tear the bowels of the wretched men

who carried the decapitated trunks and cremated them

on the bank of the Sutlej without even being seen by the parents (25)

The Congress units in small towns arranged bhajans and concerts in which these songs were sung. Processions were organised to protest against the sale of foreign cloth, and the volunteers marched spinning from hand-held thaklis and singing (26). The news of the release of Gandhi and Nehru by the end of January 1931 was received with great rejoicing, and in defiance of prohibitory orders people marched in processions singing patriotic songs (27). Flag salutation ceremonies, a new kind of nationalistic ritual, began to

be held in all important towns. They always opened with community singing of nationalistic songs (28).

Many town municipalities which were controlled by the Congress party instructed that in all schools under their management patriotic songs should be sung daily and prayers offered to the welfare of national leaders. The Congress-controlled Salem District Board printed books of nationalistic songs and distributed them

among the schools under its control. 700 schools in the district began this practice of singing national songs regularly (29). An

POPULAR

SONGS

55

embarrassed provincial government threatened to withold all financial assistance to these local bodies (30). At festivals Congress men sang and campaigned; beggars in trains and musicians in wedding concerts all sang these songs. Congressmen in prison, particularly those incarcerated in separate cells, maintained contact with other inmates and kept up their morale by singing aloud as soon as they were locked in for the night (31). One well-known incident in the history of the freedom struggle in Madras province highlights the role of songs in political action in this period. O.K.S. Kumaraswamy of the ‘Desabandhu Youth League’ of Tiruppur, and better known as Tiruppur Kumaran, took out a procession carrying tri-colour flags and singing in defiance of prohibitory orders. Kumaraswamy held on to his flag and persisted in singing in the face of a lathi charge which later proved fatal for him (32). The use of popular music in the movement took on a new dimension when many artistes themselves took part in direct political action

and thus gave a certain authenticity to the messages they were already communicating

through

songs.

For the benefit of local

Congress units, S. S. Viswanatha Das began to give independent

concerts of national songs. The District Magistrate of Salem reported after one of Das’ performances: ‘We have had one Viswanatha Das, a singer, here. He gave a performance in aid of Congress funds which will give picketing a new lease of life’ (33). Das was also a member of the Tirumangalam Taluk Congress Committee in Madurai District (34). The police labelled him as ‘the man who has the reputation of singing seditious songs’ and shadowed his movements. Undaunted he would sing: A posse of police/ are following us like tigers[we are not frightened (35). Until he collapsed and died on stage in the middle of a song in 1940, he kept up his support for the Congress.

It was also the era of K.B. Sundarambal, Her music was far superior

Das ant-ste acted as a_link between the to that of Viswanatha

masses_and the

elite in the field of performing arts. Her gramo-

phone records greatly increased the audience for many nationalistic songs. She campaigned actively for the Congress and toured with Sathyamurthy (36). Political workers of this period remember

with nostalgia the electrifying effect of her song appealing

to

56

MESSAGE

BEARERS

the voters: All those with ‘franchise, listen. Sathyamurthy himself believed that the performing arts, particularly music and drama, could

be

used

with

advantage

for political propaganda.

When

Bharathi’s songs were proscribed, he raised the issue in the Madras Legislative Council and accompanied by L. K. Thulasiram of Madurai, sang some of the proscribed songs on the floor of the legislature, challenging the government to proceed against them (37).

The whole community of stage-singers and other artistes of the popular stage were becoming involved in the struggle and started offering satyagraha. S.V. Subbaiya Bhagavathar, a popular

drama actor and gramophone artiste, picketed toddy shops in Coimbatore and courted arrest. M. V. Kamalam, C. D. Ruk-

mini Bai and T.S. Tirumalai Kozhundu were imprisoned for singing songs on the boycott of British goods in violation of prohibitory orders.

N.

Nataraja

Pillai, a singer

who

also ran a Tamil

journal THEeNnNaDu, was arrested on charges of sedition when he made a fiery speech against the British (38). Many women artistes led by M. R. Kamalaveni vowed to sing only patriotic songs and spent several months in prison (39). This was a development that was truly symptomatic of the process of mass politicisation begun by the Vedaranyam March. Though they were looked down on in society, the community of stage actors and singers now found themselves in the front line of political activities. To their audience this was an example to emulate and a cue to get involved. The The was that The

Gramophone coming of the gramophone to Tamilnadu in the early 1920s __ something in the nature of a revolution. It was the first time music was accessible to all, irrespective of caste or class. radio which was also introduced in Madras at this time

did not have the same levelling effect because

the Indian Broad-

casting Company stuck largely to western music and a little bit of Hindustani classical (40). Through the gramophone, even

people in interior villages without electricity could listen to famous

singers and musicians—a privilege that they did not have in the past.

For

nearly

a decade

the gramophone

records

released

in

India were confined to classical music, but eventually folk songs

POPULAR

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57

and patriotic songs came to be recorded and sold in large numbers (41). The political climate created by Civil Disobedience and the wide use of songs in agitations offered a good opportunity for the gramophone companies to record nationalistic songs. The Odeon Company and later, Saraswathi Stores began to produce records of songs with a political content by popular artistes like K.B. Sundarambal, S.S. Viswanatha Das and S. V. Subbaiya Bhagavathar. Events of national importance were made the occasions for new releases. When Gandhi journeyed to England for the Round Table Conference in 1931, K.B. Sundarambal brought out a record: Gandhi has reached London|Let us honour him (42). Folk ‘songs

which had never been reduced to writing were now recorded

on

discs and this process increased the currency of certain folk tunes on which many nationalistic songs came to be composed. Kannam-

mal and P.S. Sivabagyam were

famous folk-music artistes who

worked for these gramophone companies (43). One gramophone record advertisement proudly announced: ‘The gospel of khaddar has inspired many a great artiste to musical exposition of its virtues and values and these are now available in the form of records’ (44). Only towards the end of the Civil Disobedience Movement, by which time there were already hundreds of gramophone records of patriotic songs in circulation, did the government

seem to wake

law

which

up to their importance.

could

the government treating records

be used

against

But there was no specific

gramophone

records.

(Then

decided to control this form of propaganda by as documents.) Even so, very few records were

actually proscribed, although one that was banned was an Odeon record entitled Taki Sone written by Baskara Das and sung by K. Kannammal (45).

Songs and song-writers Comments on political developments, narratives of important events, lessons on the implications. of the use of indigenous goods, discourses on the need for temperance, eulogies of leaders and glorifications of Bharatha Matha formed the main themes of the patriotic songs. There were also protests against specific actions of the government like the proscription of Bharathi’s songs, and

58

MESSAGE BEARERS

many uses of the traditional ballad format in the struggle for freedom.

to narrate incidents

There was often a distinct religious flavour in these songs, reminis-

cent of Bipin Chandra PaYsidea of converting patriotism into a religion. Gandhi was referred to as a divine incarnation and the charka was compared to the mighty discus wielded by Vishnu against the forces of darkness. Bande mataram was hailed as a mantra that could lead the people to liberation, and the mother goddess image of Bharatha Matha made many appearances. The Vedaranyam March was described as a kurukshetra, the climactic battle between

the

Pandavas

and

Kauravas

in

the

MAHABHARATHA,

and patriotism was equated with religious devotion through the use of the phrase desa bhakthi meaning ‘national piety’. Collections of songs were called pasuram and keerthanam after Hindu devotional hymns. Often the opening song in these books was, in fact, a devotional hymn, and the tunes of certain well-known semi-classical religious songs were adopted for many of the nationalistic songs. The

emphasis was not on any literary quality nor on complex

musical

forms,

but on

communication

and

on

a simplicity that

would facilitate oral transmission. Many writers used colloquial expressions, ignored grammatical rules and employed common English words like ‘government’ and ‘arrest’. The drama companies,

the gramophone and later, the ‘talkie’ had brought classicat music.

to the masses and many nationalistic songs were set to certain simple classical tunes that had been popularised by these media. Song-writers also used a genre of semi-classical music emerging from the popular stage and some Hindustani tunes introduced through the Marathi and Parsi drama companies that toured the South.

Although the songs of poets like Bharathi, Namakkal V. Ramalingam Pillai and Bharathidasan were used by the nationalists, the bulk of the songs came from the world of commerical drama. While many of the drama company writers like Sarabam Muthuswamy Kavirayar were well up in grammar and musical forms, there

were

others

who

produced

semi-literate

songs

in

great

numbers and remained indifferent to the forms and rules of com-

position. The

most

well-known

of this class was Vellaisamy

POPULAR

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59

Thevar, better known as Baskara Das, whose songs were sung by almost all the leading artistes of the day. His song Vande mataram|the tenet of our lives echoed in every corner of Tamilnadu. Another was P. Peer Mohammed, who resigned his job as a Police Inspector to become a full-time Congress worker and song-writer. His book of songs, GANDHI Maa.ika! (A Garland for Gandhi), released in 1923 with an encouraging foreword by E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, was one of the earliest of the genre. Madurai M. S. Balasundaram,

a student of Sankaradas Swamigal

(the doyen of the Tamil popular stage), came into prominence in 1931 through his song lamenting the death of Motilal Nehru which was popularised by K. B. Sundarambal on a gramophone record (46). Bhumi Balagadas of Udumalaipettai, a disciple of Sarabam Muthuswamy Kavirayar, was very active during the

Civil Disobedience Movement as an organiser of picketing (47).

K. S. Santhanakrishna Nayudu was a vathiyar in Arya Gana Sabha, a drama company, with which many nationalist writers

including Bharathi were associated.

There were also those writers without much formal education who composed no music but merely set words to already popular tunes. R. B.S. Mani, a book-shop owner, published a series of books

of his songs, SWATHANTHIRA NapuHam (Sound of Freedom) in four parts and faced prosecution when they were proscribed. The judge observed that Mani ‘assumed a defiant and a non-penitent attitude’ and convicted him to nine months’ imprisonment (48).

Some of the writers were commissioned by small publishers to produce just enough songs to fill a book of twelve pages. When

V. Nataraja Pillai faced trial for his Buacat SincH _KEERTHANAMRUDHAM, (Songs on Bhagat Singh) he stated that he had received Rs. 4 for writing those songs. Since many of these books were not registered and there was no copyright protection, some writers wrote songs closely patterned after popular hits of this genre. During Nataraja Pillai’s trial the judge recorded, ‘his work bears in many places a suspicious likeness to other proscribed books on the same subject, many phrases being identical with the phrases in the said

books’ (49).

60

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Repression The authorities were much perturbed by the role played by songs in inspiring nationalistic activities. The police were prepared to ignore the violations of prohibitory orders through meetings and processions if only the volunteers desisted from singing these ‘seditious’ songs (50). Akkur Ananthachari, a Congress worker in charge of propaganda in North Arcot District, was arrested for singing patriotic songs in public in 1931 (51). The Government of Madras was particularly harsh towards song-books and a large number of them were proscribed during this period (52). Even by the latter half of the last century, collections of folk songs and ballads were brought out in print, in the form of small low-priced booklets (53). With the coming of the gramo-

phone,

the publication of song books increased.

In the early

records the quality of recording was so poor that it was only with difficulty that the words and music could be made out. So books containing these songs—‘plate songs’ as they were called—and indicating the tunes were brought out as companion volumes for gramophone records. In one such book of ‘plate songs’ published in 1921, the preface stated: ‘In the absence of this compilation, most of the records would have been unintelligible and ununderstandable and many appeared as a jumble of discordant sounds’ (54). When patriotic songs were recorded. for the gramophone in large number during the Civil Disobedience Movement, numerous

grew,

song-books

numerous

publications.

its attention

To

came

songs came

contain

out.

As

the demand

for these

books

to be written specifically for such

the use of songs

to these books. As a

the government

part of the measures

turned

taken

to

counter the Civil Disobedience Movement, press censorship had been tightened up by the Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act of 1931. Those books which were published before October 1931, when the Act came into force, were proscribed and in the cases of those brought out later, the writer and the publisher were prosecuted. To circumvent the law, many books were printed in Ceylon and were brought in through Dhanushkodi in passengers’, personal luggage (55). The concern of the Government of India was reflected in a letter to the Government of Ceylon: ‘Publi-

POPULAR soncs

61

cations of highly seditious nature, printed in Tamil in Colombo have been finding their way into British India from Ceylon’ (56). Customs authorities were empowered to seize such books; and post offices scrutinised the materials coming from Ceylon by post.

In Madras many books were released anonymously; the Commis-

sioner of Police alerted the Government of Madras to this and said ‘there is reason to believe that there is a large circulation of such publications, which could have been checked by proscription if they had come up to my notice in time’ (57). The government instructed the Registrar of Books to bring to the notice of the police

any objectionable book that came up for registration. But numerous

books were already in circulation, having been released without any registration by underground publishers. Four full-time official translators were set to work to examine all such books that came to the notice of the government and to point out the portions which made them liable for proscription (58). These measures arrested

the publications which were at their highest in 1932—forty-two

titles came to the notice of the government in 1932, yet by 1934 the number had dwindled to almost nothing (59). In 1934 the Civil Disobedience Movement slowly drew to a close. In April Gandhi appealed to Congressmen to stop the activities connected with the movement. However, the songs were very much there, clinging on tenaciously to the oral traditions of folk music and flourishing on the popular stage. Books and gramophone records already released could not be destroyed. Although the publication of song-books had ceased by 1934, interaction between political activism and popular culture had found another

avenue of expression in the new-fangled medium of the ‘talkie’. Many

nationalist song-writers like Baskara Das, M. S. Balasunda-

ram and K. S. Santhanakrishna Nayudu began to work for films, and many artistes like K. B. Sundarambal and S. V. Subbaiya

Bhagavathar began acting in talkies. The lay-out and characteristics of talkie song-books, an important ingredient of India’s film culture,

were very similar to the song-books days.

of the Civil Disobedience

62

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Nationalistic

Song-Books

Proscribed

During

the Civil Disobedience Movement

ManatuMa

Ganpu! Arrestu Parru—anon—Madras

Cegyar Das Sirappu—anon—Madras Manatuma Ganpu! DuyanaM—N. Krishnasamy Nayudu and Baskara Das—Madras

Manatuma Ganpu!I Mauimal—K. Colombo BHARATHA MaTHA

S. Abdul Razak—

BAKTHIRASA PasuraM—K.

giri Nadar—Colombo

S. Aruna-

Crryar Das Sirappu DestyA GEETHAM—Anon— Madras

Nationat

—Madras

Soncs

Parts

I & II—Subramanya

Bharathi

Nayudu

12. 13. 14,

15. 16. 17. 18. 19, 20.

BuacatH

Pillai

SincH KEERTHANAMRUDHAM—V.

DESABHAKTHI GEETHANGAL—R.

Nataraja

B. S. Mani

SaTHYAGRAHA Pattu Parts I & II—Venugopal Das _ SupHANTHIRA Napam

R. B. S. Mani

1928 1928

1928 1928 1929

NEELAN Patru & PunjaB PapuKoLai—P. Rajagopal— Madurai Mapuuvitakku Mani—T. K. M. Jappar—Colombo 10. DestyaA BHAJANAMRUDHA KEERTHANAM—Janardhanam lL.

1928

Parts I, II, II & IV—

BuacatH SincH THooku ALANGARAM—K.S, Sundararaju Chettiyar

ParitHaPpA GEETHAM—T. M. Tirumalaisamy Das

1929

1930 1930 1931

1931 1931

1931

1931 1931

1931

Sat SATHYAGRAHA Soncs—Vidwan Subbarajan 1932 ‘VEDARANYAM SALT SATHYAGRAHA GEETHAM 1932 Destya GeeTHAM—S, S, Viswanatha Das & V.S, Sundaresa Ayyer 1932 DestvA GEETHANGAL—T, K. Durairajan

POPULAR 8oNncs 21. 22.

MAHATHMA

GANDHI ARRESTU PaTTU

.

Mauatuma GANDHI KEERTHANAMRUDHAM—V. Nataraja Pillai 23. PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NeHRuU SWARAJYA THILAKAM 24, Panpir Motitat Newru GEETHAM Part III 25. DESABHAKTHA GEETHAM—Parts I To IV 26. Panpir Motitat Patru—V. A. Thyagaraja Chettiyar 27. Concress THONDAR MarIvat Patru 28. Mauatuma Ganpu! DHYANAM 29. SarpaR Pate Patru 30. BAHADUR BHAGATH SINGHAM THOOKUMALAI 31. MauatuMa GANDHI 63RD JAYANTHI 32. GRAMOPHONE KEERTHANAMRUDHAM 33. NavaJAWAN BHARATH KEERTHANAMRUDHAM 34, SuDHANTHIRA PoRATTAM OR SWARAJYA GEETHAM— K. V. Meenakshisundaram Chettiyar 35. Tami Concress Parru—V. A. Thyagaraja Chettiar 36. GRAMOPHONE SANGEETHA KALANJIYAM 37. ANANDHA Kuappar Patru—V.A. Thyagaraja Chettiyar 38. Ganput Ka.anjtvaM GEETHAM—Padman Chellappan 39. VanvE MATHARAM (SwaDEsA CHINDHU)—Korakottai P. Vadivelu Chettiyar 40. 41.

63 1932

1932 1932 1932 1932

1932 1932 1932

1932 1932 1932 1932

1932 .

1932 1932 1933 1932

1932 1932

MaAnaTHMA GANDHI PUKAZHPA OR DesiyA GEETHA

TuIrATTU 1932 DestyA GEETHAM OR SWADESARATHNAM—Nataraja Pillai 1932

Note: Some books of songs did not give the details of the author or the place of publication.

BIRTH OF A NEW MEDIUM: SILENT CINEMA

In Tue Passinc or TraviTionat Society (1958), a study of mass media in the Middle East, Daniel Lerner has brought out the role played by films as an agency of modernisation. When cinema appeared in Tamilnadu at the turn of this century, it played a similar role. Cinema by-passed the need for literacy on the part of the audience and opened up a new world of vicarious experience to large masses of people whose span of experience was severely limited by poverty and by restriction on physical travel. In that way, films influenced public opinion in Tamilnadu on matters relating to war, social reforms and nationalism in a manner that no other medium had done. This process set in motion during the silent days of Tamil cinema continues to the present day in a much more ramified form. The phenomenon of moving pictures, first demonstrated in India in 1896, continued to attract people even after the novelty of the device wore off and cinema shows became part of day-to-day life (1). No other entertainment had ever been so universal in appeal and so mass oriented. One of the reasons for its popularity was that even the poorest could afford a cinema seat. Traditional art forms and recreational facilities had catered to exclusive sections of society but cinema was an entertainment form which was

mechanically reproduced to facilitate mass distribution and mass

exhibition, and therefore could be offered at a low cost.

68

MESSAGE

BEARERS

The origins of most art forms and entertainment media are lost in antiquity, but those of the cinema can be easily traced. While the advent of cinema marked the beginning of a new era of mass media that revolutionised the nature of popular culture, the new era for all its novelty was bound to have roots in the past. Yet the tradition of popular songs and popular theatricals did not affect the south

Indian cinema

to any

great

extent

until

the

coming

of sound in 1930s. This chapter traces the birth, growth and decline of the silent cinema in Tamilnadu and looks at three sorts of influences that shaped the south Indian cinema in its infancy.

The first was the technical conditions of production and distribution ;

the second was the influence of Hollywood, Bombay film-makers

and the contemporary political climate on the style and content

of south Indian films, and the third was the constraints that the

technology, the audience and the government placed on the development of the medium. Although the confluence of the traditions of popular theatre and the sensitivity to the political climate had to wait on the arrival of the ‘talkie’, many of the con-

ventions,

concerns

and

constraints of the mature

were prefigured in the tender years of silence.

Tamil

cinema

The silent era in south India

Almost immediately after their first cinematograph show in Paris in 1895, the Lumiere brothers sent their agents to various coun-

tries with films and equipment to demonstrate and commercially exploit their achievement (2). One team arrived in India and

gave their first show in Watson Hall, Bombay, in 1896. The next

year Madras was introduced to moving pictures when one Edward held shows in the Victoria Public Hall; but regular commercial shows in Madras began only in 1900 when Major Warwick set

up the first cinema house, the Electric Theatre, in the building

that later housed Mount Road Post Office (3). In 1907 Cohen established another cinema house, the Lyric, on the Elphinstone talkies site, but it was burnt down in an accident (4). By this time there were clear indications of the cinema’s commercial potential and some enterprising Indians beginning with Swamikannu Vincent, a draftsman in the Railways at Tiruchi, saw this as a new area of business. In 1905, Dupont, a touring cinema

SILENT CINEMA

69

The first cinema house in south India, The Electric Theatre, started by Major Warwick in 1900. Now a part of Mount Road Post Office complex. exhibitor from France who was passing through Tiruchi, decided to return home because of illness and offered his equipment for sale. Vincent bought this, established ‘Edison’s Cinematograph’, a touring cinema, and began showing shortreelers like the Lire oF Jzsus Curist. After a successful spell in Tiruchi, he moved to Madras

and

later toured

all over India

exhibiting films. When

a

movie projector synchronised with a gramophone was introduced, Vincent bought one of these Crono-megaphones, renamed his touring cinema as ‘Edison’s Grand Cinemegaphone’ and made the first show in 1909 at the Esplanade ground in Madras. He also set up an agency for importing Pathe projectors, and thus enabled some more touring companies to appear in Madras Presidency (5). At the same time, R. Venkiah, a still photographer of Madras, began giving cinema shows with synchronised sound in Victoria Public Hall. Encouraged by the increasing interest shown

in these shows, he also established

a touring cinema

and

went around south India, Burma and Ceylon before returning to Madras City to build a permanent theatre, the Gaiety, in

70

MESSAGE BEARERS

1913. He later added the Crown (1914) and the Globe the present Roxy) to his exhibition chain (6).

(1915,

While

to the

Vincent

and

Venkiah

restricted

their

exhibition of films, an automobile spare-parts

R. Nataraja

Mudaliar,

relating

Indian

to

saw

the

subjects.

activity

dealer in Madras,

possibility of producing

In

1912,

R.G.

Torney

D. G. Phalke of Bombay had shown the way by making on Indian mythology. Nataraja Mudaliar got in touch Stewart Smith,

the cinematographer

in

Lord

Curzon’s

films and

films with

durbar,

and arranged a meeting in Poona. After a brief talk, Smith showed Nataraja Mudaliar how to operate a movie camera and asked him to crank a scene. The first efforts of the aspiring film-maker were shown at an after-dinner screening in Smith’s Poona residence. The lack of uniform speed in hand cranking had

resulted

Mudaliar to master

in

ludicrous

movements,

but

Smith

encouraged

and made him stay for some more time in Poona the art of cranking. Nataraja Mudaliar returned to

Madras and with the help of his business associate, S. M. Dharma-

lingam

Mudliar,

started

Film Company, in 1916 (7).

a film-producing

concern,

the

India

The first studio in south India was set up in Millers Road, Kilpauk,

with Nataraja Mudaliar as the director, cinematographer and editor. A laboratory was established in Bangalore—the climate there was more conducive to processing—and Narayanaswami Achari,

who

had

been

trained

in

processing

methods, -was

put in charge. Exposed film rolls were rushed to Bangalore daily and every Sunday, Mudaliar would go to supervise the work.

Rangavadivelu, a drama actor was engaged to train actors, and

within thirty-five days, KeecHAKAVATHAM (1916), the first film of the company and the first one to be made in south India was ready for screening. This was soon followed by DRauPaTHi

VASTHIRABAHARANAM

(1917)

before Mudaliar left the company

planning to move into independent production (8). He went back to his native town, Vellore, and within a month single-handedly produced two films, Mantravana (1919) and MarKaNDeEya (1919), shot in the Vellore fort and in the hills around the town. He went

on to make three more films in Vellore, but after this spurt could

SILENT CINEMA

not sustain his production in the absence and gave up film-making in 1923 (9).

of proper

7]

financing

After some years of success as an exhibitor, R. Venkiah also decided to embark upon film production and as a preliminary step sent his son Raghupathy

Prakasa

to England

to be trained

in film-

making. Prakasa emerged as a pioneer film-maker, who along with A. Narayanan put the south Indian cinema industry on a sound basis, and whose career lasted long into the talkie era (he died in 1957). On a fee of $ 500, he joined Barker Motion Pictures studio in London as an apprentice in 1919. No one taught

him film-making systematically but he was allowed to attend the

studio and learn by himself. He observed work in all the branches of film-making and even played a small role as an Indian in a film made there. He returned to India after a year, visiting Pathe studio in France on his way. Back in Madras, he set up a modern studio at a cost of Rs. 1,00,000 for the Star of the East Film Company started by his father. Located behind the Globe theatre (now the Roxy), the studio had a glass roof and a laboratory attached. The company started on a hopeful note when their first production

BrisuMA Praticna (1921) yielded Rs. 60,000 in return for an investment of Rs. 12,000. Prakasa enthusiastically went ahead and made three more films, each 6,000 foot long, and

a number

of topical shorts. These films of the Star of the East Film Company

were screened all over India, Burma and Ceylon, sub-titled in Hindi, English, Gujarathi, Tamil and Telugu. However, this

period of euphoria did not last long and in 1924 the company sank owing to financial troubles; huge loans taken to build the three theatres, high rates of interest and bad financial management contributed to the disaster (10). The studio was taken over by the Official Assignee, dismantled and sold in parts.

In the same period,

there was another short-lived production

company begun by T. H. Huffton who had earlier made shorts for

the Electric Theatre. He started the Peninsula Company which

made Macuavatar (1927) and two more films before facing closure. After the fall of the Star of the East Company, Prakasa struggled to continue making films by hiring the equipment

from the Official Assignee. With the help of the merchant and

72

MESSAGE BEARERS

zamindar, Moti Narayana Rao, he founded the Guarantee Picture Corporation which made two films DasavaTar (1927) and Stace Grex (1929) (11). But when General Pictures Corporation, the company that truly laid the foundation for the film industry ir south India, was founded in 1929, Prakasa joined them. This company was the work of A. Narayanan, the dominant figure of the silent era. Ananthanarayanan Narayanan was born in Sivaganga in 1900 and graduated from the Presidency College, Madras. Giving up his job in a Bombay bank, he joined Krishnadas Dwarakanath brothers of Bombay Films Distributors in 1922. Soon after, he started off on his own

and

managed

cinema

houses in Calicut,

Madurai and lastly in Madras. Then in 1927, he started his own film distribution concern, the Exhibitor Film Services. The

next

year he went on a tour of western countries to promote Indian films there, taking with him a print of Imperial Films’ ANARKALI (1928) (12). This was a crucial point in his career, for it was during this trip that he met Carl Laemmle in Hollywood and visited his Universal City Studio complex there (13). On his return to

Madras, Narayanan, in the flush of enthusiasm inspired by his

Hollywood stay, founded General Pictures Corporation in August

1929.

Narayanan tried to place this new company on a sound basis. He registered the company as a public limited concern and floated shares. He also linked .it to the network for distributing and exhibiting films that he had already set up. This unit firmly established film-making as an industry in south India and produced the largest number of silent films (14). In addition, GPC played a more important role as the school for the pioneer film-makers who later nursed and shaped vernacular cinema in different producing centres in south India (15). While the two earlier companies had prepared the way for film-production, it was GPC that siabilised and assured a future for the fledgeling industry. Beginning with DHARMAPATHINI (1929) it produced eighteen feature films

but still had to face liquidation in 1933.

Associated Films, founded by R. Padmanabhan in 1928, was next

only to GPC

in getting the cinema established in Madras;

K.

“uo1gv907 D uo ‘vuLaui9 uvipuy yynos fo s22U01g v ‘uDuDdoLoNy *Y

74

MESSAGE BEARERS

Subrahmanyam and the legendary Raja Sandow were associated

with this company. Subrahmanyam was to make his mark later as a film-maker through productions like THyacaBHoomi (1939, Tamil), while Raja Sandow already had the glamour of a career

as a hero in the films made in Bombay. He directed and acted in

a number of films made by Associated Films including Peyum Pennum (1930) and Pripe or HinpusrHan (1931). With his experience in Bombay cinema, he made films on contemporary themes,

which

came

BAKTHAVATHSALA Company.

to be known

(1931)

for

the

as ‘socials’. He

short-lived

also directed

National

Theatre

Men who were trained in the various branches of film-making in Madras went out and started companies in places like Bangalore and Hyderabad. K. V. Acharya, an associate of R. Prakasa, founded the Mysore Picture Corporation in Bangalore, which soon became another important film producing centre in South India. The most durable production unit in Bangalore was H. R. Desai’s Surya Film

Company,

which started

with THe

Heart

oF THE Rajan

(1929) and continued to make films with a steadiness that suggested sound management. At Nagercoil, a very unlikely place for a film-making company, Chitra Art Productions made their first film THe Lost Cuitp (1931) and went onto make a few more

films (16). Alongside

India

the development of the feature film industry in south

there was a gradual

growth

of documentary

film-making.

This, in fact, began slightly earlier, when in 1907 T. H. Huffton produced a few shorts and screened them in the Electric Theatre, which he was managing at that time. In 1914, Devashankar Ayyer,

a clerk in the Railways, became

interested in

cinemato-

graphy and sent his shorts to Pathe in the United States to be

included in their newsreel services. One of the memorable films of this amateur cinematographer was a twenty-minute short,

Tue FuNERAL PROCESSION OF GOKHALE. He also made a film on the Prince of Wales’ visit to India and another on the Sivarathiri festival in Bombay (17).

All these films were simple coverages of important happenings, and were referred to at the time as ‘review’ films. But the first

SILENT CINEMA

75

efforts towards documentary as we understand it today, tackling a subject as objectively as possible through the medium of cinema, were made in 1921 by Joseph A. David of Madras, a self-taught

cinematographer. He made short films on typically Indian sub-

jects like temple sculptures and festivals and sold them to companies in the United States such as International Newsreel Corporation, Fox Newsreel Corporation and Pathe Exchange. He was paid a dollar for each foot of film accepted. These materials were incorporated in the documentaries of those companies and screened widely in the United States. David had set up a small laboratory in his house, where he processed the films, but did not have the facility to priat them. He sent the processed films with a summary of the content to the United States, where they were printed and provided with sub-titles. David himself was not able to see any of his work projected. Some of the films he made reveal an excellent choice of subjects such as CARVINGS OF MAHABALIPURAM and THE Maaic or Pappy. In the second film, which was perhaps inspired by Phalke’s short, Tue GrowTu or A Pega Prant (1912), David was able to depict the growth of a paddy plant from a grain to a full plant ready for harvest, in a matter of a few minutes, using time-lapse photography. His flair for natural history expressed itself in such shorts as ButBuL, Moncoose and Monkeys in a

series called Indian Pets,

and films on coconut palms and the touch-me-not plant. He also documented certain important events and made newsreels suck as the 42np NATIONAL Concress and the reception to the Apostle Delegate of India. When some fishermen from Chittagong got lost at sea and landed in Madras after being adrift in the sea for several days, David was there with his camera. Since none of his films on the culture of India and on nature topics was screened in India, there was no chance of David’s work influencing south Indian cinema at all. But the foreign documentaries that were screened here with every show did give the Indian film-makers the idea to use the screen for propaganda (18). Prakasa, who had a film producing unit and a chain of three cinema houses, made plans to run a regular newsreel and documentary service. As a beginning he made shorts of some events in

76

MESSAGE

Madras,

BEARERS

such

as

the

INAUGURATION

oF

WELLINGDON

BRIDGE

and Tue Openinc oF THE Roya. Batu in Mapras (19). A missionary stationed at Tindivanam commissioned Prakasa to produce the documentary, THe Catecuist or KILLaRNey, on the evangelistic work going on in that area and this film received wide

exposure in England while provoking protests at home (20). The department of Public Health also engaged him to make a propaganda film on the prevention of cholera.

Meanwhile,

the British Government

and began using it for propaganda

realised the force of cinema

in India.

W. Evans, a cinema

expert who was invited by the government to do a survey of Indian cirema in 1922, pointed out the potential of the screen in a country like India, and the Advisory Publicity Committee emphasized this in their discussion of Evan’s report (21). In order to forestall any effort on the part of Indian film-makers to make propaganda films, the Government of India itself began sponsoring newsreel films. But these attempts were mostly confined to unimaginative films showing receptions given to Governors and the ‘at home’ parties hosted by them. Such material did not interest the audience. A good example was a film made for the government by the Tata Publicity Corporation, depicting the Duke of Connaught’s tour of India. Madan and other such large distri-

bution chains rejected this film (22). However, the Moplah Rebellion of 1921-22, which had administered a rude shock to the

complacent British Government, offered a good subject for a documentary. The government felt the need to explain the action taken against the Moplahs both to the Indian and English public and this was partly achieved by a film made on the subject as an official record for the government. It was made primarily to be shown in England at the Wembley Exhibition. Produced by Major Robinson of the 75th Carnatic Infantry and photographed

by H. Doveton

of Calcutta, the film depicted the

refugees, con-

victed rebels and their weapons, in order ‘to show the brutal and ruthless character of the rebels’ (23).

A. Narayanan had started his cinematic career with a short, InpIAN NATIONAL Concress aT GAUHATI, in 1927 (24). After the founding of GPC he continued to make documentaries whenever

SILENT

CINEMA

77

he had an opportunity. When a major fire broke out in the Burma Oil Company tank in Madras and raged for hours, Narayanan produced a short on. the. accident (25). Commissioned by the

Government to produce two documentaries for the Department

of Public

Health,

he

made

the

films

MATERNITY

AND

CHILD

WetrarE and VENEREAL Diseases (26). Many private companies

were also beginning to use the screen for advertising purposes. Dodge Brothers of Addison Company produced a film about the production of cars, and Imperial Chemical Industries engaged Narayanan to make Spirit or AGRICULTURE on the use of chemicals in farming (27). Features of the early film industry

The studios of the silent era were extremely simple affairs, just an enclosed space without any roof. In the absence of artificial

lighting, the film-makers had to rely on natural light aided by reflecto:s, and in a country like India this was no problem (28). The

more affluent studios such as the Star of the East Company had glass roofs, while the others controlled lighting with white

blue perforated cloths spread overhead

reduce the glare.

and

to diffuse the light and

Although sets were often constructed, scenes were often shot in outdoor locales since lighting conditions were no different from those in the studio. When Narayanan was engaged in the production of his ambitious serial, THz STAR oF MANGRELIA (1931), he shot many sequences in the palace of the Raja of Venkatagiri, using elephants and horses from the royal stable (29). Prakasa made the Ginjee fort and its environs a favourite location for his mythologicals (30). Each film company had its own laboratory in which films were processed by the hand-washing method. At times the film was tinted to make the material more attractive by dipping the film in a bath of aniline colours and glycerine. Hand-colouring was also known but rarely used (31). As the stunt film was a very popular genre, proficiency in physical culture and acrobatics was a pre-requisite for men to enter films as

actors. Special institutions appeared to train menin stunt acts, and

the actors in Madras were greatly influenced by the exaggerated

[aunsf padanjus] vrpuy yynos wosf upf quaprs Surarasns Guo ayy “(I€61) NVWVAVGNVHLUVy wosf suas Y

SILENT CINEMA

79

reports that appeared in the press about the life-styles of Hollywood stuntmen such as Edie Polo. Thus ‘Battling Mani’ and ‘Stunt Raju’ became the leading actors of the silent screen in Madras. But actors as a whole jwere not given much importance until

decades later. Even in advertisements their names were not given any prominence, and sometimes, were not mentioned at all. It was

the director who was in total control of film-making. Actors playing main roles were engaged for monthly wages, and while some were drafted from drama clubs in the City like the Immanuel Club, others were non-professionals. When they were not acting before the camera,

the actors had to do the other chores in the

studio such as make-up, assisting the cinematographer and even holding the light reflectors (32). In fact, there was no specific allocation of work in these studios. In an emergency an actor

could handle

the camera

and

an accountant could play lord

Krishna. Out of this group of early actors came a number of cinematographers and directors who sustained the talkie in south India in its infancy (33). One of the major problems that beset the pioneer film-makers was the reluctance on the part of women to act in films. Witness after witness told the Cinematograph Enquiry Committee of 1927 of this difficulty and suggested a school for actresses. Though

by this time the popular stage had many female artistes—there were even some all-female troupes—very few were enter the cinema.

prepared

to

The belief that exposure to the camera lens would impair one’s health was strong enough to keep women away from the cinema in the first few years (34). Nataraja Mudaliar overcame this handicap by engaging a European lady for his film DRAUPATHI VASTHIRABAHARANAM (1917) (35). The first few women who ventured into films were Anglo-Indians; Marien Hill, who with the screen name

Vilochana, became the highest paid artiste of the silent era, and

Mrs. Aellkot of GPC were some of the earliest female artistes of south India (36). Other women came into films through the

dances which were put on as side attractions in the cinema houses.

For example, Ram Piyari who had been performing in the cinema

houses later became a leading actress (37). Once the danceuses

80

MESSAGE

BEARERS

entered films, some women from the popular stage such as T. P. Rajalakshmi and K. T. Rukmani also took the plunge. However, this did not overcome the scarcity of actresses and it was a common practice for one female artiste to play several roles in a single film or for men to play female roles. Although the popular stage was a favourite entertainment form and numerous drama companies were operating at this time, there was no appreciable movement of artistes from the stage to the screen. One reason was that the screen artistes were not paid well and employment was less secure than it was on the stage. Another reason was that drama artistes were mostly trained singers who could shine on the stage but had no role to play in a silent medium; the screen preferred athletes and stuntmen who could thrill the audience with daring acts. Similarly, the women who went into the cinema were mainly dancers rather than singers. As the story in a silent film had to be told through mannered gestures and emphatic pantomime, stage actors were generally found to be unsuitable. The exodus from stage to screen began only after the arrival of sound. Prior to that, the silent screen and the popular stage flourished side by side.

The commercial film shows of the early years were in the style

of a variety performance, usually consisting of three or four shorts supplied by British, French and Danish companies. The screening in 1915 of the first full length feature films from the Universal

Company, U.S.A., Lucitte Love (1914) and (1914),

for

the

first time

demonstrated

to

Trey O’ Hearts

the

Indian

audience

that the cinema could be a means of recreation akin to the theatre (38). Although by this time Indian films had begun arriving in the market, American and British films were more popular and it took about five years for the Indian cinema industry to be in a position to supply a steady stream of feature films to the few cinema houses which screened exclusively Indian films. Even after the middle of the 1920s, when film production began in Madras, the films screened in this province

William

Desmond’s

film divided

were mostly of American

stunt films were popular

into several

such as Edie Polo’s Tue

parts screened

on

and

origin.

serials—one

consecutive

days—

Lure or THE Circus (1918) and Elmo

SILENT CINEMA

8]

Lincoln’s Emo THE Micuty (1919) were widely patronised (39). However, the situation on the exhibition side was far better than

the production side. The number of permanent theatres went up from fourteen in 1921 to forty-three in 1927 including nine in Madras

City. In addition there were twenty-three touring talkies that took cinema to the rural areas of the province (40). They camped in small towns where there was no permanent of festivals. At times; they would rent ahall tents, and they transported tents, benches place to place in bullock carts. Two or three

theatre and at sites but mostly they used and equipment from second-hand western

films which could be bought cheaply was all their repertoire

and after showing them ‘in one place for a month or two, with a single, hand-dperated projector and carbide jet-burners (the absence of sound-track facilitated hand projectiori), they would

move on (41). In some places, rice and other such articles had to

be accepted instead of money for the sale of tickets and the articles thus collected at the gate were sold by the exhibitor in the weekly village market

(42).

Since the audience was mainly illiterate, particularly in the rural

areas, every cinema house engaged a narrator who read the title cards aloud for the benefit of the audience, spoke the lines for the main characters, and gave a running commentary on the happen: ings on the screen. Very often the performance of the narrator itself acquired an independent value and films which would have otherwise been unsuccessful were often saved by the narrators. The services of the more entertaining among them were much sought after and some of them became actors when the talkies appeared (43). Another device employed to tell the story was la small booklet containing a sequence-by-sequence synopsis and credits, which was distributed to the audience when a film opened in big towns.

The irregular supply and poor quality of films coupled with poorer

projection facilities made it necessary to pad out the shows with extraneous entertainment features in between films. The less attractive the material screened, the stronger was the emphasis on these extra programmes. The most common of these was the

stage dance; groups of artistes who specialised in these dances went around the towns in which films were being screened. Some

82

MESSAGE BEARERS

of them managed to elevate themselves to the status of actors, and a well-known example of this kind of entry into films was that of Rathna Bai sisters (44). Short dramas were also staged by artistes from the world of popular stage. The more innovative theatre owners,

and other feats side attractions manent cinema the pit in front the film.

like

the one

by the along houses of the

who

announced

‘Boxing,

shooting

famous Gun-boat Jack’ introduced varied with the cinema shows (45). All the perhad an orchestra which took its place in screen and provided background music to

Once the industry was well established in Madras, film journals

appeared and quickly

tion

of

the

industry

became

and

an

an important aid in the promo-

instrument

for

the

spread

of

filmic sub-culture. While managing a distribution company in Calcutta, S.K. Vasagam started a journal, PHoToPpLay, covering

Another scene from MARTHANDAVARMAN

[enlarged frame]

SILENT CINEMA. 83 the happenings in the three film-producing centres of the country. After returning to Madras he started the first film journal of south India, Mov Mirror, an English monthly in 1928. It carried news regarding Indian and foreign films, and because it was the only one of its kind, its editor had considerable influence in shaping the industry. Vasagam soon emerged as an important force in the'silent cinema, active in forming new companies and importing talents from Bombay. His column ‘Overheard in Broadway’ was popular and much respected by the film-world. This journal ran for three years and by the end of the silent era, Vasagam

started Tae AmuszMENT WEEKLY which carried features both in English and in Tamil and lasted long into the talkie era (46).

External influences From among the tangle of influences over the early south Indian cinema, the one that stands out is, of course, Hollywood, the home. of commercial cinema. Most of the films screened in India were

from America and those involved in the production of films in

India looked up to the place of its origin for models on which they could base their own works. Although the content of films made in India was often very different, the format and style were typically American. Even the practice of giving double titles was followed, as for instance KovALAN OR THE FaTaL ANKLET (1929). The audience which had been fed only on American films for more than a decade had developed a taste for a certain kind of cinematic entertainment, and Indian film-makers found it easier and

safer to follow this already popular format. The emphasis on gymnastics and stunt sequences, and the kissing sequences and belly-dances that were quite common in south Indian films, were a direct result of Hollywood influence. Chases and fights were also closely patterned after American films. The two dominant figures of the silent screen,

both been makers.

very much

A.

Narayanan and

influenced

R.

Prakasa, had

by western cinema

and film-

Film-makify had begun much earlier in Bombay and Calcutta and these two film-producing centres in the country. also

influenced and aided the growth of cinema in south India. By. 1920 the industry in these centres was well: established

84

MESSAGE BEARERS

and was able to flood the market with feature films. Most of the Indian films screened in the South were from Bombay;

in 1921,

for example, eighty films were produced in Bombay and all of them were screened in the South. All the major companies of Bombay such as Kohinoor and Ranjit, and Hindustan Films of Calcutta

had offices in Madras to distribute their films on a regular basis.

Even after production units appeared in Madras,

most of the

Indian films shown continued to come from Bombay and therefore the interaction between these centres was quite pronounced. When GPC was started, Narayanan brought two cinematographers,

Diren Dey and Sailen Bose from

Bombay.

They trained local

men who figured later in the establishment of new film-making companies. Some of the leading artistes of Madras like Y. V. Rao had had training earlier in Bombay. Associate Films, a close rival to GPC, recruited technicians from Bombay including some

tailors and the cameramen Bhave and E.G. Gokte.

But the most prominent indication of this interaction was the career of Raja Sandow. Pudukottai-born P.J. Raja Sandow became interested in physical culture, trained as a gymnast, and proceeded to Bombay in search of opportunities in the world of cinema. He started as an actor, made a name in films like Veer BuimsEN

(1923), and soon was in great demand as a leading artiste. He dominated the’screen in Bombay for a few years in the 1920s. When

R. Padmanabhan and S.K. Vasagam were in Bombay recruiting men

for their new company, they persuaded Raja Sandow to come and work as a director in Madras. Lured by the prospect of graduating from acting to direction, Raja Sandow returned to Madras, bringing with him valuable experience and some of his earlier associates to work in his films. One such was Hiroji who acted in Sandow’s Anapual Penn (1931). In these early years a great many of the films made in Madras had been merely remakes of the earlier mythologicals of Bombay, like PANDAVA AGNADHAVASAM (1931) which was closely patterned after PANDAvas (1925). In an attempt to reverse this trend, Raja Sandow began to make socials and advertised his films with the caption: ‘Don’t miss to see your own picture’

(47). He arrived at a clever compromise between the preference

of the audience for mythologicals and his own bias for contem-

porary themes, by producing modern

versions of mythological

“SILENT CINEMA

85

stories; such was Rayeswari (1931), an adaptation of Nallathangal from the folk legends of Tamilnadu. Besides these rather remote influences from Hollywood and northern India, the Madras cinema also began to reflect, however dimly at first, the influence of the contemporary social and poli-

tical climate. At the time when cinema was becoming established as a popular entertainment form in south India, the Non-Coopera-

tion and awakening the silent ideological of political

Khilafat Movements had brought about a political and Gandhi had emerged as a national leader. Although cinema in Madras did not have any pretensions to or political activism, it certainly acquired overtones consciousness.

This first emerged with treatment of themes of social reform which

Gandhi had given a new prominence in national politics. The first film on a contemporary theme made in south India, Narayanan’s DHARMAPATHINI (1929), had a sequence explaining how addiction to alcoholic drinks could ruin domestic peace. This set the tone for temperance propaganda in films which assumed the proportions of an obsession in later years. In fact, in all the social films there was an obligatory anti-drinking scene. Raja Sandow’s NANDANAR OR THE ELEVATION OF THE DOWNTRODDEN (1930) was an adaptation of the drama NANDAN CHARITHIRAM by poet Gopalakrishna Bharathi, who was himself a great protagonist for the removal of untouchability. It told the story of Nandan, a low caste devotee of Siva and a loyal servant of a brahmin land-lord, who suffered greatly before he could fulfil his ambition of worshipping Lord Siva at Chidambaram. Nandan preached against superstition and alcoholic drinks and led his co-farmworkers towards a virtuous life. The landlord, observing the impact of Nandan’s evangelistic work, had a change of heart and accepted the untouchable farm labourer as his‘ religious mentor (48). : Social injustice to women was another theme that was often” touched upon in films with contemporary stories. By this time a

number of reformist films like Soctat Pirates (1925) had already

been ‘released in Bombay. Sandow’s own ANADHAI PENN (1931),

86

MESSAGE BEARERS

produced in Madras, was about a girl who wanted to marry theman she loved and was therefore forsaken by her angry father;. she

suffered many hardships but was eventually married to her man. This incidentally was one of the earliest apologies in.south Indian films for marriage by choice. Another film by Sandow, RaJEswaRI (1931), told the story of a woman who was driven to suicide by the ill-treatment meted out to her by her in-laws in order to focus attention on the plight of women in society. Constraints on development The sway of foreign films had a crippling effect on the fledgeling industry.

American

films could

be hired

for a much

lower

rate

compared to Indian films and most of the cinema houses were in

the hands of monopolistic concerns like Madans

foreign

films. Therefore

local film-makers

found

find exhibitors for their films, and this-in turn made

who preferred it difficult

to

it difficult to

find the large sums of money needed for the construction of sets

and other such works. In the film Kovatan (1929) scenes of Poompuhar, the pre-medieval port of Tamilnadu, were shot in Madras

harbour with modern background (49).

steamers

and

suit-clad

westerners in the

Other handicaps arose from technical difficulties. Because all the films were shot in natural light, there had to be a certain amount of sacrifice in the quality of photography. Though there were technicians trained in lighting and photography, they could not use artificial lighting because the electric corporation was not in a position to supply the voltage needed to operate arc lamps. The Cinematograph Committee, commenting on the quality of Indian

silent films, recorded: ‘They are defective both artistically and technically. Plots and scenarios are indifferent and lack origina-

lity. The acting is apt to be wooden and inexpressive. Episodes are long drawn out so that action is slow. The multiplicity of captions accentuates the slowness of action’ (50).

It is in the silent phase of the cinema that cinematic vocabulary

is established.

In the absence

of sound,

depend entirely on visual communication.

the film-maker

The works

has

to

of D. W.

Griffith mark this phase of American cinema. In the trial episode

SILENT CINEMA

(87

of the film InToLERANCE (1916, U.S.) he introduced an extreme close-up of Mae Marsh’s clasped hands, opening and closing, to ‘suggest the agitation in her mind at the critical moment in the trial. While thus trying to tell a story through a new medium, the film-maker is forced to evolve a syntax of cinema. To cite a recent example, the underground film-makers of the United States, who cannot afford sound when they begin, have to concentrate so much on visual communication that.once they are in a

position to afford a sound track, the product is a powerful cinema which at times threatens the very establishment at Hollywood.

But such a development never came about in the south Indian cinema. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that the

Films with mythological themes already well-known to Indian audience retarded the growth of cinematic vocabulary. A scene from ViswaMITHRA (1931).

88 MESSAGE BEARERS

films made in the silent era were mostly mythologicals. Through

wandering minstrels, kalatchepam bhagavathars, the popular stage and

the therukoothu performances, the audience was familiar with all the mythological episodes; the film-maker did not need to devise

ways of telling the story as he was merely transposing a wellknown drama into a different medium. When Rama followed the golden deer at the request of Sita, the audience knew very well that it was actually Maricha in the form of a deer and that it was part of Ravana’s dark design to kidnap Sita. Even though there were a great many stories in Indian mythology, only a few wellknown episodes were repeatedly taken up for filming. In four years there were four films that told the story of Rama and another four relating to the Pandavas’ exile. The same principle operated when directors took up dramas which had been popular on the stage for a number of years, and the plays NANDANAR and Kovatan were each made into two silent film versions.

As there were attempts to cover large portions of an epic in a ‘single film, many episodes had to be skipped and these gaps in the narrative covered by title cards. This over-reliance on titles also retarded the growth of narrative technique in films. In trying ‘to overcome the inability of the audience to read the title-cards, the loquacious narrator prevented the full play of the exclusive properties and powers of the cinema. The silent cinema was never allowed to remain silent, and the scope for the development of a visual language peculiar to the cinema was severely restricted (51). At the same time as the healthy growth of the south Indian cinema industry was hindered by such deficiencies of technique and direction, it was further stunted by the apathy of the elitist class. Being

commercial

in nature

and

sensational

in

content,

the

cinema

endeared itself to the masses but alienated the elite. The stigma that was attached to the popular stage and those working for it was extended to the world of cinema also. The witnesses who deposed before the Cinematograph Enquiry Committee repeatedly

declared that they were either averse

to watching films or that

they had never seen one, that only the low class ftequented cinema houses, and that cinema was harmful to the community. Typical

of this attitude was the statement of the President of the Corpora-

SILENT CINEMA 89 tion of Madras, G. Narayanaswamy Chetty, who told the

com-

mittee: ‘I find the uncultured flock to the cinema. It could be said, that 75% of cinema patrons are of the lower order.’ The Indian

members of the Board of Film Censors, Madras, also adopted the

same attitude (52). Both English and vernacular newspapers did

not take much notice of the cinema and the little space that they

gave for cinema concerned Hollywood. At a crucial stage in the

growth of cinema, the intelligentsia refused to be associated with

it in any way. Instances of interaction between the intelligentsia and the cinema in other countries, like France where intellectuals

associated themselves with cinema in the silent era itself and contributed

to make

French

cinema

what

it is to-day,

clearly

indicate the consequences of the negative attitude of the elite of

south India.

_

Nor was the attitude jof the British Government very different. It was indifferent to the problems of the Indian cinema and cared less for the economic implications of such a policy. In the twenties, the government’s only concern about the cinema related to the domination of American films vis-a-vis British films in cinema houses in India. Repeated pleas for protection of the indigenous film industry along the lines adopted by Germany in the 1920s went unheeded. To the British Government, the Indian cinema was merely a potential weapon in the hands of the nationalists.

The Indian Cinematograph Committee of 1927 was set up mainly

to review the censorship policy towards Indian films, but all its recommendations including a spirited plea for a liberal censorship policy were totally ignored. When the committee sat in various

provincial capitals, it experienced the indifference of these govern-

ments towards the working of the committee and recorded this in its report. To improve the quality of Indian cinema it recommend-

ed, with admirable foresight, the setting up of an institute for training men in film-making, a school for acting and a library to

preserve films. Yet the British Government showed no interest (53).

It is during the periods of national stress and social upheaval that purposeful film-making is motivated, as it happened in Russia

after the Revolution

and in Italy after the war. Although

political atmosphere was conducive

to such a development

the

in

90

MMMAGE BEARERS

India, film-makers found that the government would not tolerate

tie handling of social issues of the day. Mahathma Gandhi had

” made it clear that social reforms were closely related to the efforts towards nationhood and that there could be no real searaj without

social change. Because issues like untouchability and emancipation of women formed part of the Gandhian programme, the British Government did not permit these ideas to be dealt with in films. It was not an atmosphere in which a socially conscious cinema could grow. And the film-makers confined themselves to predominantly escapist variety and mythological films. (There were other reasons for their preoccupation with mythologicals. As the films were to be screened all over India, it was safer to handle puranic stories that were well known throughout the

country.) Attempts to break away from this pattern often met with difficulties. A good case in point is the film Caarna SUNDARI ‘begun in 1932, which told the story ofa little girl who supports her invalid father by spinning on a charka. When this was under production,

the

censor

board

told the

producers

in Madras

that

it would not to be permitted for exhibition and the film was given up (54).

The advent of the talkie in Madras in 1930 marked the beginning of the end of the silent era (55). The Elphinstone Picture

Palace was fitted with sound equipment and became Elphinstone Talkies. Silent films continued to be made for some time until there was a sufficient supply of talkie production and until all the cinema houseshad been re-cquipped with sound apparatus. H.R. Desai’s Buacya Cuaxra (1932) was the last silent film to be made in south India and it marked the end of an era in the lustory of Indian cinema.

. SLENT. ODM

91

List of films made in south India during the silent era KEECHAKAVATHAM DraupaTH! MANASAMRAK-

Pera

hd

SHANAM

MAYILRAVANAN OR Marrreyi ViyAYAM Lava Kusa KALINGAMARDANAM VAL

TiRUMANAM

Ruxkmant KALYANAM BHISHMA

PRATIGNA

GajenpRA

MoxksHam

10. 11.

BaxtHa

12. 13. 14, 15. 16. 17.

SamuDRA

18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

MACHAVATHAR

NANDAN

MarkKANDEYA LEELA

OR

SIvA

1916

Nataraja Mudaliyar

1917

”

1918 1919 1920. 1921 1921 1921 1923 1923

” ao

.

Nataraja Mudaliyar

_

Whittaker

:

Nataraja Mudaliyar R.

Prakasa ” ”

1923 1923 1924 1925 1926 1926

Nataraja Mudaliyar

Surya T. H. Huffton

KovaLan

1927 1927 1928 1928 1929 1929

KovALAN OR THE FATAL ANKLET

1929

MADANAM

DRAUPATHI

BHAGYA

Mauatuma

Kasrr

Mount

Stace

AVATAR

Giri

Srr KANNIKA

WARI

Ram

Das

PARAMES-

Das

:

BuaxTHa

Kasir

Das

DASAVATHAR

24, 25.

DHARMAPATHINI . NANDANAR OR THE ELE-

26.

TRODDEN Peyum PEnNuM

VATION OF THE Down-

1929

1930 _ 1930

-

R.

Prakasa

R.

Prakasa ”

a” 2”

R.

Prakasa ”

A. Narayanan »

Raja Sandow

Raja Sandow

.

92 MESSAGE BEARERS 27.

Sri VALLI TrRuMANAM

1930

28.

GNANASUNDARI

1930

A, Narayanan

29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34,

Garupa Garva Bancam Lanxa DAHANAM PANDAVA NiRvAHAN SARANGADARA GANDHARIYEN PULAMBAL Tue Heart oF THE

1930

A. Narayanan R. Prakasa Y. V. Rao ” R. Prakasa

35. 36.

Rajan

1930

1929

H. Desai

RapHa SHYAM Veer BHusHAN

1930 1930

Madusudan K. Joshi

37.

AVARICE

1930

Harilal Bhatt

38.

VIPRANARAYANA

1930

T.H. Huffton

39.

Ray DHARMA

1930

Mahavir Photoplays

40.

An

IpgaAL WoMAN

1930

41. 42.

Prwe or Hinpustan ANADHAI PENN

1931 1931

43.

UsHa

1931

SuNDARI

44.

Rajeswari

45.

BAKTHAVATHSALA

Duruvanin GARVA

”

Raja Sandow ” ”

1931

”

1931

”

OR

BANGAM

46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

MARTHANDAVARMAN Brack EAGLE Lost Cuitp Pramita ARJUN Kine BHoja

1931 1931 1931 1931 1931

51.

Panpava

1931

»

52.

Nara

1931

”

53. 54.

Stoner Rine Rose or RajasTHAN

1931 1931.

P. V. Rao R. Prakasa.

55.

CoraL

1931

»

56.

Leia or STAR OF MANGRELIA

1931

”

AGNADAVASAM

NARAYANA

QuEEN

P. V. Rao Harilal Bhatt H. Desai §S. Gopalan Y.V. Rao

SILENT CINEMA

57. 58.

SATARAM Satu KAUSALYA OR THE - Bmtu or RAMACHANDRA

1931 1931 1931 1931

VISWAMITHRA

61.

RAJALAKSHMI

1931

62.

Rep ARCHER FIme.iry VeErRA SmMHA CaR CRAZE Kasi Das

1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931

S889

&RB

59. 60

71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76 77. 78. 79.

“81.

Maya

MapvusuDAN

KisHoria

MAcHAGANDHI Hopia Raypoor Divine SABRE CHAUHANI TALWAR Fioccep

into

Love

Sone oF Love Ray PRABHAN] Tue TYRANT Hawk KausanT1 Sworp oF ALLA Nemesis oF Lust Vyay DHWANI Wp Wotr ZaBIN SULEKA

1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931 1931

Surya PRaBHA DooMAKHEDU

1931 1931

Roya

SAvAcE

M.

Seshaiya

M. Seshaiya and Jiten Banerji Surya Films Surya Films

Guha Pictures T. Rangaiya

H. Desai G. P. Pawar

H. Desai ”

G. P. Pawar

H. Desai ” ” ” ” ”

Surya Films Surya Prakash Film

Company

Surya Films Sundararao Nadkarni

93

94

MESSAGE .REARERS

87.

DiscarDED

88.

89.

90.

Love

1931

Surya Prakash Film Company

Martyr

1931

GampLeor Lire —

1931

Sundararao Nadkarni and Babu Rao

Hero oF THe Witps

1931

D. Prakash

91. 92.

Jaw BREAKER KipNnapPED BRIDE

93.

Tuer oF IRaQ

1931

K. P. Bhave

94. 95. 96. 97.

RajADHIRAJA CHoTa CHor DrsHABANDU HarIMAYA

1932 1932 1932 1932

Surya Films National Pictures Mysore Films Company

99.

Kya

Buatr

1932

100.

My

MorTHER

1932

National Pictures

101.

Suer

Dit

1932

H. Desai

102. 103. 104.

STAR oF AsIA Srunt Kine Stree SHAKTHI

1932 1932 1932

Surya Films * H.Desai_

105.

AvENcING

BLoop

1932

Sri Ramesh Films Company

106.

THe UNDAUNTED

1932

H. Desai’

107.

Visunu LEELA

1932

R. Prakasa

108.

BHacya

1932

H. Desai

98.

Norte:

IN SHACKLES

1. This

CHAKRA

1931 1931

-

1932

V. K. Patil

Surya Films

:

”

not.an exhaustive list.

2. For some films the available records do not mention the directors’

names or the year of production. 3. Some films were known by English titles.

PATRIOTIC CINEMA: AN ASPECT OF THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE

George A. Huaco in his book THE socIoLoGy, OF FILM ART says that under given socio-historical’ preconditions, a stylistically unified wave of film art charged with a certain political ideology appears and lasts as long as these preconditions endure. The conditions for the emergence and duration of such a

film wave are located

in the prevailing political atmosphere and the of the society

in question. The

wave

artistic traditions

requires a coherent group

of directors and actors, the machinery and plant needed for film production, a political climate which inspires the wave of films, and an organization of the film industry which is sympathetic to the political ideology of that time. When any one or two of these conditions disappear, the film wave also begins to decline and eventually peters out. Using this model, Huaco analyses the German Expressionist films after the first Great War, the Soviet Expressive Realist films that followed the communist revolution and the Italian Neorealistic films after the Second World War (1). When mind,

one looks at the Tamil

cinema

with Huaco’s

one can see a distinct wave of films in the

model

in

1930s and early

1940s inspired by the nationalist movement. An analysis of these films reveals the populist nature of the freedom struggle, .and indicates the issues that formed part of the national movement in Tamilnadu (2). More than any other entertainment form, films

7

98

MESSAGE

BEARERS

reflect the concerns of the people. Depending upon popular patro-

nage for its very survival, the film industry has to mirror mass desires. Moreover, the cinema envelops and combines within itself all other performing art forms of the time. Thus when certain cinematic motifs are persistently repeated, it can be safely presumed

that these are the outward expressions of the inner urges of the

people. As the film theoretician

Siegfried Kracauer says, ‘What

films reflect are not so much explicit credos as psychological dispositions—those deep layers of collective mentality which extend more or less below the dimensions of consciousness’ (3).

Another special feature of the cinema as a medium is audience participation. The audience project themselves into situations they see on the screen and in a vicarious way share the experiences portrayed. Thus Tamil films of the period under review serve as a reflector of the values and the issues that preoccupied the minds of the people at that time. Although there was not much of political content in these films, they were geared towards provoking political action. To borrow that useful distinction made

by Jean Luc Godard, the film-makers of this period did not make

political films but made films politically, in an effort to change

the political situation of the day or at least to express unhappiness

over the situation as it existed.

There was another dimension to the involvement of Tamil cinema in the nationalist movement. Actors and film-makers as a community supported the nationalist cause and participated in the hectic political activities of the period. In fact, this participation endowed their films with greater appeal than they otherwise would have possessed. The spread of movies as an entertainment form had by this time produced a new sociological phenomenon in the community of actors; they had become a new ‘powerless elite’ whose way of life and actions aroused great interest among the audience for whom they performed. By their participation they lent their popularity to the nationalist cause and thus widened

the mass basis of the movement.

In the process, their activities

which would otherwise have been of little consequence greater political significanee (4).

gained

PATRIOTIC

CINEMA

99

The coming of the Tamil talkie Production of films started surprisingly early in Madras—as early as 1916, and for nearly ten years there was a regular flow of

silent films from Madras studios (5). But in the face of stiff competition from America and Bombay and the unhelpful attitude of the British Government, the silent film industry in Madras could not hold on its own. One after another the studios in Madras folded up and by 1932 production had ceased completely. But the situation changed dramatically with the coming of sound, for the Tamil talkie had a safe market in the Tamil speaking region. This protected market was enough to give the Tamil cinema industry a firmer commercial base than was ever possible in the silent era.

The first talkie shorts screened in Madras were imported from

England by R. Salisbury and shown in January 1931 in the tent of the Carson circus. A number of sound shorts were made in India in the following months, including a six reeler by Krishna Tone, Bombay, and the first full-length Indian feature film ALam Ara reached Madras in June. A party of projectionists known as Select Touring Talkies took this film on a tour to Tamilnadu with portable sound equipment supplied by Bombay Radio. The first attempt at a Tamil talkie was a four-reel short entitled Koratui Sones AND Dance (1931) produced by Sagar Movietone of Bombay and featuring T. P. Rajalakshmi. The first full-length

Tamil talkie was Kamas (1931) made in Bombay, and for the first four years Tamil talkies were made only in Bombay and

Calcutta. But soon the Madras based cinema began to develop and to form its own individual cheracteristics. In 1934, A. Narayanan who had produced a number of silent films as the head of General Pictures Corporation in Madras, set up Srinivasa Cinetone, the first studio equipped with a sound system in Madras. His first venture here, SRINIVASA KALYANAM (1934), was the first talkie

produced in Madras

and marked

era in Tamilnadu (6). In 1935, made in Madras.

the beginning

of the sound

a total of thirty-six talkies were

Within three years the Tamil talkie industry had taken firm roots ‘in Madras. Following Srinivasa Cinetone another production

100

MESSAGE BEARERS

centre, Vel Pictures Studios, was set up in the bungalow

of the

Raja of Pithapuram at Eldams Road (7). The third was Minakshi Cinetone at Adyar. By 1937 there were nine studios in Madras, two in Coimbatore and one in Salem. Sound technicians came

from

Calcutta

and

Bombay,

and

there

were

even

a few

men

from Germany and America training technicians in Madras. Nearly a hundred independent producing companies were soon operating in Madras, hiring studios and producing their own films. The flow of capital from eastern countries was another factor that aided the growth of the film industry during these

years. A large number

of Nattukottai

Chettiars with business

concerns in Malaya, Burma and Indo-China had to withdraw their investments due to the uncertain political climate there and this money was sunk in the Madras film industry, both in the

production and exhibition side. The joint-stock form of private

limited companies, which was becoming increasingly common, made it possible for partnership companies to get the benefit of limited liability without the publicity imposed on public limited companies. In 1937 the total investment in cinema in Madras was Rs.17 crores out of which Rs. 68 lakhs was on the production side (8). In that year thirty seven Tamil films were made in Madras. In the first four years of its existence the Tamil cinema was content with adaptations of mythological stage dramas that had proved popular and durable. But after the political activism triggered by the Civil Disobedience Movement engulfed south India and brought in a new political awakening, the aims and purposes of Tamil cinema began to register a definite change. Stimulated by the political fervour of the day, Tamil cinema gained a new content and course. The challenge of foreign rule and the awareness of the need for social reforms as a part of the society’s efforts to meet this challenge profoundly affected Tamil cinema. As the mass basis for the demand for freedom widened and the people began participating in elections, film-makers responded increasingly to the political tensions of the times by mirroring this new mood. By supporting nationalistic ideas on the screen, films reflected the popular attitude of the times and often gave a definite shape to vague political inclinations. The cinema lent a new emotional

PATRIOTIC CINEMA

101

aspect to the political situation by handling melodramatic patriotic themes on the screen.

Nationalism and the Tamil cinema One of the major influences that affected Tamil cinema right from its infancy, and has never been quite outgrown, was the

popular drama.

During the silent days, the commercial

stage

and the screen flourished side by side, without affecting each other’s interests to any considerable extent. As their forte was singing, the stage artistes found no place in the silent films which relied,

instead, on

stunt

men

and

acrobats.

Once

sound

came,

the situation changed overnight and there was a great demand for singing actors. Stage-actors, song-writers and set-artistes all moved en-masse into the studios (9). The pit orchestra groups of the drama companies were also employed in the studios. Cinematically,

The advent of sound caused an exodus of actors and set designers from the popular stage to the cinema. Satt AKALYA (1937).

102 MESSAGE BEARERS this movement had a rather disastrous effect; the films turned out

to be merely photographed

of the camera

dramas and the unique capabilities

could not be developed.

But at the same

time, it

was this exodus from the stage that was to infuse the early Tamil

cinema with a political flavour.

Following the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1919, the commercial drama companies of Tamilnadu had become deeply involved

in political propaganda. By the time of the Civil Disobedience Movement, every drama staged was geared towards nationalistic propaganda. When the talkie was introduced and songs came to form the predominant element in filmic entertainment, actors

and other artistes from the popular stage moved into the studios and as a result, the Tamil cinema

emerged

as a factor

in the

political life of the country. Many of the stage-actors who came to act in films had taken part in direct political action and their association with Tamil cinema flavour.

inevitably brought in a political

The song-writers, who had been the back-bone of the popular

stage

and

the main

force

behind

its

politicisation,

also

began

to work for films. To begin with, they introduced covert reference

to political events in film songs, in the same way that they had previously done in dramas, even though most of the early Tamil films were adaptations of stage versions of popular mythologicals

like the RAMAYANA episodes or folklore tales like NALLATHANGAL and the references were largely irrelevant. K. S. Santhanakrishna

Nayudu of Arya Gana Sabha, a drama company which had staged many patriotic plays and was a kind of home for nationalistic actors, was one of the earliest song-writers to enter films. Madurai

M. 8. Balasundaram, another song-writer of the early years of Tamil cinema, had been a stage-actor and song-writer who had become known through his song lamenting the death of Motilal

Nehru. Baskara Das and Bhumi Balagadas, already well-known

for their nationalistic songs in dramas, were also among the earliest to get into films. N.G. Nataraja Pillai, who had been imprisoned during the Civil Disobedience Movement, and S. V. Subbaiya Bhagavathar, who

had courted arrest picketing toddy shops, were some of the earliest

PATRIOTIC CINEMA

103

heroes of Tamil films. Sundaramurthy Odhuvar, another popular

actor of early Tamil films, had been an active campaigner for the removal of untouchability in the Tirunelveli area. M. V. Mani had been compaigning from the Congress platforms for many years before he entered films. S. Devudu Ayyer, an active volunteer in the political agitations following the Vedaranyam March and who was jailed for singing ‘seditious’ songs, later shone as a film actor. A number of actresses from the stage, including M. R. Kamalaveni who was imprisoned for nationalistic activities, entered films with a history of political activitism. With so many song-writers and actors with avowed sympathy for the Congress working in early Tamil films, the cinema was bound

to reflect the spirit of the times. But film censorship was so strict

that to begin with films could register only veiled support for nationalistic ideas. This came in the shape of films supporting the social reforms so passionately advocated by Mahatma Gandhi and other political leaders. A. Narayanan, the most significant personality of this early south Indian cinema and the founder of the first sound studio, envisioned a political role for the Tamil cinema. His sympathies were with the Congress and he openly advocated propaganda through films. He appealed to the filmworkers and film-fans to ‘buy Indian’ and encouraged young men and women to come forward to act in films (10). Va. Ra., who formed a part of the highly politicised group of writers that grew around the Tamil monthly Manixonr (a phrase describing the tri-colour flag, borrowed from a Bharathi

song),

was one

of

the major influences on Narayanan’s political outlook. Narayanan was associated with Rajaji, Sathyamurthy and T. Prakasam and after a much publicised bonfire of foreign cloths in his house, took to wearing only khaddar (11). As head of General Pictures Corporation, he had produced a large number of silent movies and newsreels covering the Congress happenings and had visited filmmaking centres in America, England and Japan. The articles he

wrote in THz Hinpu on cinema clearly show that he was aware of

the power of this medium on the mass audience and its unique possibilities for ment (12).

aiding

the

momentum

of the freedom

move-

104

MESSAGE BEARERS Leading personalities of the early south Indian talkie

From left: (Standing): A. Narayanan, C. K. Sachi, a director with Meenakshi Talkies. On the extreme right is T. C. Vadivelu Naicker who

directed some of the films of Srinivasa Cinetone.

(Sitting) Mrs. Meena Narayanan who was a. sound recordist, C. K. Sachi. The other lady could not be identified. While

drama

Narayanan

actors,

made

singers

individual

and

prominent

film-makers

efforts to invest the Tamil

Mrs. like

cinema

with a political purpose, there was also the powerful influence of the prevailing political climate. At the time of the appearance of the Tamil talkie, the political atmosphere in Madras was such that no performing art as mass-based as the cinema could remain unaffected by it for long. The Civil Disobedience Movement had

PATRIOTIC CINEMA

105

given the national movement for the first time a truly popular basis, and in its wake the Congress had gained control over a number of municipalities and other local self-government bodies. With Rajaji as the President, the Tamilnadu Congress Committee had launched-a campaign to strengthen its mass-base. The workers at the grass-root level were using the commercial stage, popular songs and the gramophone to carry the message of nationalism into the villages. The Taluk Congress Committees organised conferences, processions, bhajans and padayatras in the villages (13). This period also saw the rise of the Self-Respect Movement and a great spurt in socialist propaganda by Nehru. Politics was moving into the countryside. The social questions of the time were closely linked up with the nationalistic cause. Social reforms formed a part of the Gandhian programme of national uplift and were being strongly advocated on the floor of the legislature by the Congress members. When political agitations ceased in the years following the Civil Disobedience Movement, the nationalistic urge surfaced in the form of open discussion on these social issues. Rajaji stepped up his campaign for temperance by setting up a prohibition committee and by launching the journal ProHIBITION in which he also took up the cause of temple entry (14). This latter issue raked up many fundamental questions about the basic fabric of Tamil society, including the removal of untouchability. C.S. Rangachari introduced a bill on temple entry in the Madras

legislature in 1933 (15), and in 1934 the Government

of India sent a circular on removal of temple entry disabilities to the provincial governments and thus sparked off much discussion. Reforms to better the lot of women also received much attention. The Tinnevelly District Women’s Conference passed a resolution in 1934 that the government should amend the Sarada Act to prevent child marriages, and pleaded for direct action against those who performed child marriages (16). (To escape the

the provisions of the Act, many crossed over into the French territory of Pondicherry to perform marriage for their children (17).) The removal of disabilities for harijans, a reform close to Gandhi’s

heart, was another much minated in the Removal

discussed issue. These moves later culof Civil Disabilities Act of 1938, but

106

mEssAGE

BEARERS

such legislation could not completely obliterate custom and the question continued to remain very much alive as a subject for writers and film-makers (18).

The political activism of the Civil Disobedience years

had left

the atmosphere in Madras Presidency surcharged with the spirit of a new awakening. The cinema was all set for a meaningful interaction with this political ferment. The Government had attempted to muzzle all mass media during the Civil Disobedience Movement and film censorship had grown very tight, but once the movement ended and the Government of India Act of 1935 ushered in new elections, the governmental hold on mass media was relaxed and film-makers in Tamilnadu utilised this opportunity to introduce propaganda into their films.

In Sathyamurthy, who was then at the helm of affairs in Tamilnadu politics, the cinema found an enthusiastic patron. He had all along pleaded for the involvement of performing arts like the drama and dance in politics, and when the talkie appeared he récognised its vast potential for bringing the message of nationalism to the masses. He believed that for thirty years to come the cinema was going to be the predominant medium and that in a country like India, where literacy was so low, such an entertainment form should tackle contemporary socio-political questions. At a time when the educated elite as a class was condemning the cinema as immoral and culturally demeaning, Sathyamurthy’s positive support put the role of cinema in a different perspective. Through his speeches and newspaper articles—he was a prolific writer both in English and Tamil—he persistently pleaded for such a role for the cinema. ‘The need of the moment in the talkie’, he wrote in one of his articles in Taz Hinov, ‘is for a producer who has the genius to translate the gripping questions of social and political life into the language of talking pictures’ (19). Sathyamurthy set the pattern by reviewing films in journals and by persuading other leaders to take the cinema seriously.. It was he who induced the famous musician Maharajapuram Viswanatha Tyer to play the role of Vedhiyar in NANDANAR (1935) (20). He associated himself with all filmland functions and with artistes, acted as their spokesman in the legislative forums and encouraged them

SILENT CINEMA

107

to participate in direct political action. He himself produced two short propaganda films on behalf of the Congress, one on the

eve of the 1934 Municipal elections and the other during the 1937 Assembly election campaign. While the first one was screened widely, the second film featuring Sathyamurthy, Rajaji and Bhulabai Desai was banned by the provincial government (21). Following Sathyamurthy’s example, many other Congress leaders associated themselves with the cinema world and encouraged film-makers. They appeared on stage during premieres and took part in functions marking the inauguration of shooting new films. K. Santhanam wrote articles on Tamil films (22). V. S. Srinivasa Sastri released SARANGADHARA (1935) at a function in Tirupur (23). Rukmani Lakshmipathy presided over the inaugural function of the film journal Crvema ULaca and advised journalists to help improve thestandard of films. When Inu SAKODHARARKAL (1936) was released, Sathyamurthy persuaded Rajaji to see this nationalistic film and

Buacya LeEza

(1938). All ‘socials’ had a political overtone.

The last song in this film was in praise of the tri-colour flag.

108

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Ridiculing titles of honour was a strain of criticism. Diwan Banwapur (1940). took him along to the Elphinstone. Rajaji’s attitude to films with nationalis:ic appeal changed from that time (24). Rajaji atiended the premiere of the film Sarr Anusuya (1937), praised the scene showing the heroine working on a charka, and appealed to the audience to take to khaddar (25). The methods and messages of political propaganda in films Given such a leavening political climate, a fairly sound commercial basis, a group of directors and artistes sympathetic to the freedom movement, the Tamil cinema began to reflect the political aspirations of the people. To begin with, symbols of nationalism like the charka and Gandhi cap were deftly introduced in the visuals, and nationalistic song-writers from the popular stage kept up a steady stream of songs on the model of those popular songs that were so widely used during the Civil Disobedience Movement:

PATRIOTIC CINEMA

109

Mother India,

Will she ever be liberated absolutely? So many castes and'religions, Will they ever rise Into a single will And smash her shackles down? ANADHAI PENN

(1931)

After a series of hackneyed mythological subjects, the first ever talkie film to handle a contemporary theme appeared in 1935. Dumpacuari was the story of a wealthy playboy ruining his health and frittering away his money in the brothels of Madras. In the second of these ‘socials’, Mznaxa (1935), there was a plea

for a better social status for women.

In addition, the film had a

song by Bharathi (26), the poet whose songs were used with great effect by the Congress volunteers. By supporting programmes like harijan uplift and temperance, the film lent momentum to the nationalist movement.

Temperance had been an enduring theme in the company dramas,

and the play PaTHiwxagti had proved particularly popular. Two films derived from this play, SarH1 LEELAVATHI (1935) and PatuiBAKTHI (1936) were both well received (27). It was the story of a

young man froma

respectable family who became addicted to alco-

hol and brought misery to himself and his family. He ran away to Ceylon and toiled in the tea gardens while his wife eked out a living by working on a charka. In addition to introducing nationalist symbols, the film-maker added a few songs praising the swadeshi movement, and focussed attention on the miserable conditions of labourers from Tamilnadu in the tea estates of Ceylon (28). In CHANDRA MouaN or Samuca TuHonbu (1936), the hero Chandrasekar, a young graduate, quit a government job to go back to his village, set up an ashram and engage himself in rural uplift. This was an obvious reference to Gandhi’s call to resign from government

‘jobs during the Civil Disobedience Movement and to Gandhi’s

plan for bolstering the rural economy. The film also included songs glorifying Bharatha Matha (29). Even in mythological films, nationalistic symbols came to be introduced, albeit in a very contrived and uncinematic manner. In NAVEENA SARANGADHARA

110

MESSAGE BEARERS

(1936) the citizens of Hastinapura demonstrated against the tyranny of King Narendra and many of them were shown wearing Gandhi caps. Kovai. A. Ayyamuthu, a trusted lieutenant of Gandhi in the swadeshi movement, had produced a successful play INBASAGARAN which used the fight against the Pandyan occupation of Ceylon as an allegory on British India. The play had received the appreciation of Congress leaders like Bulusu Sambamurthy as being inspiring and patriotic. K. Subrahmanyam made it into a film under the same title but unfortunately it could not be screened as the negative was destroyed in a fire accident at the studios. LaksHMi oR Haran Girt (1937) dealt with untouchability and the

question of the conversion of harijans to Christianity. The most

significant film of the period was Bata Yooini (1936), made by K. Subrahmanyam for the Madras United Artistes’ Corporation. The film attacked the caste system, exposed the hypocrisy in the

priesthood and pleaded for better treatment

of widows.

There

was a sequence showing a brahmin widow and her little daughter taking shelter in the household of a low-caste servant who offered to take care of them.

One genre of cinema that had survived the silent era was the stunt film. Even these films had atleast one obligatory song or sequence glorifying nationalism, somehow thrust into the story. Bompay Mat (1939), for example, opened with a scene showing the Congress volunteers with tri-colour flags. Maya Mayavan (1938) had a song praising Gandhi. JayaxKonr (1939) was about a

brahmin girl who turned into a kind of Robinhood, imprisoned a

group of orthodox people in a cave and lectured to them on the evils of the dowry system.

There was also at this time a series of films on the lives of saints which gave an impetus to the freedom movement as much as it brought a respectability to the medium of cinema. The makers of these films pointed out that many of the social reforms so zealously advocated by the nationalist leaders were, in fact, the ideas of these saints and this strategy gained for the reform movement the approval of religion. One such film was JoTH1 RAMALINGASWA-

MIGAL (1939), a biography of Vallalar, the nineteenth century Tamil

PATRIOTIC

CINEMA

|]]

Even stunt films had the obligatory nationalistic song. Maya Mayavan (1938). saint who preached against caste. In the same year appeared SANKARACHARYA, which was shot in the authentic locale of the Sringeri mutt. The Sankaracharya of Joshi Mutt presided over the premiere of the film at Madurai (30). EXANATH (1939) was the story of the sixteenth century Marathi saint who served the food he had cooked for srardham ceremony to starving untouchables and was ostracized by society but accepted by God. The film created quite a furore in Tamilnadu. Among the films adapted from ancient classics and from the works of well-known playwrights with reformist themes, NANDANAR (1939) was the most important. Three versions were released within a few years besides the earlier silent version. This film was based on Gopala Krishna Bharathi’s famous opera NANDAN CHARITHIRA KEERTHANANGAL about the untouchable devotee of Siva. Gopala-

krishna Bharathi himself was a fiery campaigner against untoucha-

bility long before this was made part of the Gandhian programme of social uplift. The film retained the character of an opera and the

112

MESSAGE BEARERS

There was a series of films on the lives of saints with an accent on social reforms. THAYUMANAVAR (1938). force of Bharathi’s appeal while M. M. Dandapani Desigar’s songs added to the impact. BuaxtHa Rampas (1935) highlighted a sequence of the Nawab of Hyderabad donating land to.a Rama temple

in order to preach the Gandhian ideal of communal amity (31).

To bolster up the Congress programme of mass contact, many film-makers produced newsreels of the Congress happenings and screened them as side attractions along with feature films. A powerful documentary movement had begun during the silent era and gained in volume and impact with the coming of the -talkie. By

PATRIOTIC

CINEMA

1.13.

actually showing scenes of nationalistic appeal, speeches by leaders

and the deliberations in the Congress sessions, these films brought

the audience closer to the movement. A. Narayanan’s Srinivasa Cinetone at Madras and Modern Theatres at Salem were the two concerns that produced a large number of such documentaries. One of the earliest was Narayanan’s UNFURLING OF THE NationaL Frac (32). The Congress session at Bombay in 1933 under the presidentship of Rajendra Prasad was shot as a tenreel talkie-and shown in instalments along with the film PavaLaKop1 (1934) (33). Similarly the film SarHr AKaLya was shown along with the short Newru Visits Satem made by Modern Theatres (34). The Forty-ninth Congress session was shot as a newsreel, recording in detail even the discussions of the subjects committee, and THe Hinpu

commented that ‘The film shows

the

patriotic fervour evident at the sessions’ (35). Sri Nammalvar Films

PapMa Jorut (1937) made a case for inter-caste marriage. The documentary on Salem Swadeshi Exhibition was shown along with this’ film.

8

114

MESSAGE BEARERS ©

produced

a short titled GANDHI JAYANTHI in 1939,

while another

memorable documentary was Modern Theatres’ THE OPENING or SALEM SwADESHI AND Kuapi Exuisition By V. V. Girt which was screened along with their feature film Papma JoTut (1937) (36). These authentic and intimate cinematic records provoked many film-makers in Madras to lace their feature films with scenes of patriotic appeal. The biggest effort in this direction came from A. K. Chettiar, a free-lance writer and a nationalist of Madras who collected actuality material on Gandhi, shot thousands of feet with Dr.P. V. Pathi as technical director, wove all the material together and produced a mammoth four-hour long documentary called MawatumMa GANDHI in 1940. Many well-known and distin.

guished talents from various fields assisted in the making of this

documentary. Tha. Na. Kumaraswamy wrote the script. The novelist Kothainayakiammal, actor Serukalathur Sama, and nationalist leader Sa. Ganesan spoke the commentary. The singers D.K. Pattammal and Surya Kumari provided the background songs. Chettiar got the active co-operation of Congress leaders for making this film, and it is the only documentary of the period that has survived, albeit in parts (37).

Nationalistic propaganda became fully explicit in films after the popular government headed by C. Rajagopalachari was formed in Madras Presidency following the 1937 elections. The tight censorship policy was relaxed and the Censor Board under the control of the provincial government was re-organised on a popular basis. The predominantly bureaucratic character of the Board was changed by the addition of representatives from the press, university and cinema industry, and the Board was obliged to

confine its attention to moral issues like sex and violence and give a free run to the expression of political ideas. Film-makers who had

hitherto adopted indirect cinematic devices to escape the censors

hurried to utilise the new-found freedom. It was during this two

and a quarter years of the Congress interregnum that patriotic cinema attained its peak in. Tamilnadu.and a series of patently

propagandist films like VaLiBar SANGAM (1938),-ANANDASHRAMAM

IHGNVD

VWHLVHVY

5.401704)

“Yy “p woLf auaos py “suiuuds ssopy

sangnaty, svau ijvgqoivyiayy yo nyjnuvdipy waoy 4g paduvisn som auars sry 7,

‘(OF61)

116

MESSAGE BEARERS

(1939) and DesaBHAKTHI (1939) were released. The best representative of this group of films was THyaGaBHoomt (1939). Thyagabhoomi K. Subrahmanyam, the maker of THyAGABHOoMI, was typical of the nationalistic film-makers. Born in 1904 in a brahmin family in Kumbakonam,

the seat of orthodoxy, he studied to be a lawyer

but gave it up to work for Associate Films in Madras in 1928. His father C. S. Krishnaswamy Ayyer was a lawyer handling the cases of big mutts around Kumbakonam. He would often feel guilty about being a party to the injustices perpetrated by the mutts

in the name of religion and deplored that the priesthood was not playing the positive role it should in society (38). Subrahmanyam

imbibed

all these ideas from his father, and his highly critical

view of the priesthood was reflected in all his films, particularly in Batayoeint (1936), where he treated priests with ridicule and even used scenes showing priests for comic relief.

Earlier during the silent era, he had produced films with contemporary themes, like ANATHAI PEN (1931) with the actor Raja Sandow. After a few years’ break, during which time he was actively engaged in the Scout Movement, he came back to film in 1934 when the studio Minakshi Cinetone was started in Madras. The next year itself he floated his own film-producing company, Madras United Artistes Corporation, and brought out a steady stream of films. He saw the tremendous possibility of cinema and the need for better organization of the industry. He was instrumental in establishing

the

South

Indian

Film

Chamber

of Commerce,

an organisation which up to the present day guards the interests of the industry in south India. He pleaded for an insurance scheme for the industry, a common bank, a library and a school for acting (39). After he joined the Congress,

his films

began

to have more

and

more patriotic flavour. In all his films there was also a powerful plea for a re-thinking on many social institutions. While filmmakers in general were wary about treading on the sensibilities of middle. class audience, Subrahmanyam

came out boldly attack-

ing their beliefs. The best example of his works, and the film for

which

he

is remembered,

was

THYAGABOOMI.

PATRrOTIC CINEMA

«6117

The story is located in Nedungarai village in the Thanjavur delta, and revolves around Sambu Sastri, a penurious priest, his only

daughter

Savithiri and

Nallan,

the harijan

farm-hand.

After

Savithiri’s marriage runs into rough weather, she returns to the

village pregnant, only to find that her father has left in the face

of persecution from fellow priests for his sympathy for harijans. She sets out to look for Sambu

Sastri in Madras,

and when

she

finds him in a chance encounter, leaves the baby by his side without his knowledge. After a few years she returns to Madras, wealthy

and powerful and finds that Sastri is immersed in harijan uplift work in the slums of Madras. Meanwhile, her husband is attracted

by Savithiri’s new wealth, and sues for restitution of conjugal rights. The court decides in his favour, but Savithiri joins the freedom movement as a volunteer and is imprisoned. There she learns that her husband too has had a change of heart, taken part in

political agitations and been taken into police custody.

Subrahmanyam liked to present the main currents of national life through various characters in his films. Sambu Sastri, with his strong religious faith and a passion for harijan uplift, represented Gandhi.

Nallan, the farm-hand, stood

tude of long-suffering Indian women caught in transition. The

for the anonymous

harijans and Savithri exemplified the in the conflicting values of a society

film opens with shots of a cyclone,

India and

Gandhi.

The

multi-

and

a song glorifying

huts in the cheri are destroyed

and

the

harijans run for shelter towards the temple where priests have gathered for a puja. Through a lingering shot of rain-soaked harijans waiting in front of the closed doors of the temple, Subrahmanyam established the whole force behind the temple entry movement. Sambu Sastri throws open the temple and serves them the food he has cooked for the puja. Outraged, the other priests

beat up and chase the harijans out. Sastri is left alone in the temple.

He turns around to face the idol inthe sanctum and the camera pans round to connect him to the idol. Sastri prostrates. He leaves for Madras

where

he

meets Nallan

and

moves

into

Savadikuppam, the harijan colony where Nallan lives. The political awakening in Tamilnadu is dramatised through a series of low

118

MESSAGE BEARERS

angle shots of a procession of volunteers and close-ups of their

determined faces. As the marchers pass by the cheri, Sastri inter-

prets it as Goddess Ambikai’s will and joins the movement. Sastri

now described as the Gandhi of Tamilnadu, travels around preaching nationalism. In the processions that he leads, brahmins and harijans march together with tharai and thappattai. Sastri starts on a campaign to change the life style in the cheri. Toddy shops are pulled down and the streets are cleaned. There is a scene showing a mass spinning session, a practice that had been given the status of a ritual by Gandhi. Sastri is sitting on a dais spinning a charka in a posture reminiscent of Gandhi, surrounded by the

people of the cheri. As the camera dollys up to Sastri, the scene is

interspersed with documentary shots showing Gandhi.

After the court verdict, Savithiri also joins the nationalists and leads a march. A long tracking shot of the march closes with a shot showing the police intervening. The film ends with Savithiri in prison and a flag-hoisting ceremony in the cheri (40). K. Subrahmanyam gave the film a powerful impact by confirm-

ing the basic beliefs of Indian society and then going on to question the social evils that have come up as accretions to religious

life. Sastri’s faith in God is again and again emphasized, and Sastri even interprets the call to join the freedom movement as Goddess Ambikai’s will. He conducts a dhivasam ceremony in the cheri and turns to God in trouble. The message of social reforms and nationalism is infused with a religious flavour. As a film-maker conscious of the religious and social background of his audience, Subrahmanyam established his credibility by affirming his faith in God and religion. Moreover, the anti-caste appeal of the film gained greater impact from the fact that most of the team

who worked on the film were brahmins. Papanasam Sivan was

authentically cast as Sambu Sastri and the story was scripted by R. Krishnamurthy, better known as ‘Kalki’. Film, politics and the intelligentsia

As with the drama artistes and song-writers, many of the prominent figures of the Tamil cinema began to take an active role in

nationalist politics. M. V. Mani, who became very popular as an

PATRIOTIC CINEMA

119

actor through films like Sarur LeeLavaTur (1935) and VENuGanaM (1941), toured with Rajaji and appeared on many political platforms with him. It was Mani who first organised all the film actors into an association and held their first meeting in the Congress office at Madras in 1938 (41). K. S. Ananthanarayanan, who had a number of successful films, including ALLI Arjuna (1935) to his credit, took a leading part in political demonstrations. Many artistes who had become involved in politics while working on the stage kept up their political activity after they had made the transition into the cinema. These included S. V. Subbaiya Bhagavathar who was the singing star of SUBHADRAHARAN (1935) and M. G. Nataraja Pillai who made his name in films such as THAKSHAYAGNAM (1938). The singer K. B. Sundarambal made her biggest mark in politics after the sensational news that she had been paid a lakh of rupees for her role in NANDANAR (1935), which had also made her into Tamilnadu’s first proper ‘film star’. It was soon after this that Sathyamurthy took her on his election tours, where meetings would start with a song by Sundarambal and continue with Sathyamurthy’s powerful oration (42). This impressive combination was also recorded on a gramophone record, with Sundarambal’s song on one side and Sathyamurthy’s speech on the other. The most active among this group of film artistes who were both in politics and films was K. S. Gopalakrishnan. He dropped out of Madras Law College to join the agitation to boycott the Simon Commission in 1928, and later attended the Lahore Congress session. When Civil Disobedience was launched he organised the All India Swadeshi Exhibition in Madras, was in charge of the salt satyagrahis camp at Udayavanam near Santhome, and organised a number of picketing points around Madras as part of the salt agitation. These activities led him to become the Secretary of the Madras branch of the Hindustan Sevak Dal. In all his efforts to raise money for the picketeers’ camp, he got help from stage and film artistes, and with the realisation that the cinema could be a potent means for propaganda, he himself got into films. He starred in a number of patriotic films including Dzsa Munnerram (1938) and Javaya (1938), and later emerged as a very popular director with CHAKRADHARI (1948), one of his most

120

MESSAGE BEARERS

popular films (43). Later he became a trade union leader and orga-

nised the workers in the film industry. Sathyamurthy

was quick to perceive the propagandist value of

actors’ involvement in political activities and inducted many of them officially into the Congress. V. Nagaiya, for instance, was persuaded to go as a delegate to the Gauhati Congress (44). Sathyamurthy’s aim was to make the film industry an integral part of the freedom movement. As President of the Indian Motion Picture Congress held in May 1939 in Bombay, he stated “You must try by every means in your power to make your industry cent per cent swadeshi, in cases where you can do so. The dress of your actors and actresses, the jewelry which they use and the scenery and other material which you use, except the machinery which you cannot manufacture just now in this country, must all be swadeshi” (45). In his capacity as the President of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and as the Mayor of Madras Corporation, he stressed this role of the cinema whenever he had an opportunity.

The participation of cinema in political propaganda forced the intelligentsia, which had so far looked upon the cinema as a cheap and contemptible popular art, to take a closer and more serious look. A write-up in the conservative Tamil daily Divamant reflected this change: “What our country wants at present are only propaganda films. The cinema can participate to a large extent in the struggle for the liberation of the country. It is possible for the cinema to carry on simultaneously in several places a great agitation that can be carried on only by great orators and writers... A new spirit can be created among the people by introducing the songs of poet Bharathi in political, economic, social and devo-

tional films” (46).

Another indication of the intelligentsia drawing closer to Tamil cinema was the involvement of the Manikodi group of writers. Around Mantkop1, a Tamil monthly started in 1933, had gathered nationalist writers like K. Srinivasan, B. S. Ramaiya, Va. Ra.,

Raya. Chokkalingam, S. D. S. Yogi and Ilangovan. The journal took the cinema seriously and began running articles and reviews on films. These writers understood the work being done by the

PATRIOTIC CINEMA

121

cinema and tried to increase its usefulness by directly involving themselves in the production of films. Ilangovan, Nalayutham, B.S. Ramaiya and S.D.S. Yogi became script-writers and Ramaiya went on to become a director (47). In Madras, some leading citizens joined together and formed the Film Appraisal Committee, which evaluated films and sent

reports to schools and colleges

(48). The Madras

Film League

was also formed to generate an enlightened awareness of films:

it organised lectures and discussions on topics like ‘The society’s concern with films’ (49).

In Coimbatore, the Film Critics League was formed with CG. S. Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar as President and dramatist Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar as patron (50). Congress leaders took

notice of the role that cinema was playing in the political life of the nation, and K. Santhanam wrote in THz Mapras Mam: “Of

late Indian films have taken a new turn. Film producers have properly perceived the growing spirit of nationalism in India. The film is now being sought to be utilised as a propaganda for the national movement and film fans will welcome such productions” (51). Sathyamurthy in his capacity as a member of the Senate of the University of Madras made a futile attempt to introduce film techniques in the curriculum of the university (52).

The respectability which the Tamil cinema had acquired through its participation in the nationalist movement attracted a number

of artistes from the exclusive world of classical music. Nurtured in temple precincts and patronised by a wealthy few, classical music had always been an elitist pastime. But its area of appeal began

to widen

as classical

music

was

brought

to the

masses

through films. As the system of pre-recording was yet to be adop-

ted in Indian

films, famous

singers were

sought

after to act in

films. No doubt attracted also by the easy money that was in films, many leading exponents of carnatic music gravitated towards the cinema, which at that time was dominated by stage artistes who were virtual outcastes socially. Vidwan Kothamangalam Srinivasan became a familiar figure in films after 1935. M. S. Subbu-

lakshmi appeared in a lead role in BALAYoGINI and was soon acting in a number of films. M. M. Dandapani Desigar opened a

122

MESSAGE BEARERS

career in cinema with NanpAnar (1936). Nadhaswaram maestro T. N. Rajarathinam Pillai came into films with KaviraTHNA KataMEGAM (1926). A dance number by Rukmini Arundale preceded by a short speech on the greatness of Bharathanatyam by Dr. Arundale was released as a side-reel along with the film Desincu Rayan (1936) (53). A group of musicians from Kumbakonam led by Madhirimangalam Natesa Ayyer and some ‘women from

respectable families,’ as the advertisement said, acted in the film

SHREEMATHI ParINAYAM (1936), which was directed by T. P. Kalyana Sastri, a local lawyer (54).

War and Independence The resignation of the Congress ministry in protest against India’s participation in the war and the renewed tightening of censor-

A war-effort film, Burma Rant (1944). G. T. B. Harvey, Director of War Publicity presided over the premiere of this film.

PATRIOTIC-GINEMA

123

ship marked the end of propaganda films. As it depended entirely on imported material for survival, the industry was badly hit by

He

made

MANASAMRAKSHANAM

(1944),

in

the

face

of protest

from nationalists who thought that he was falling in line and supporting the war (56). The story was about a girl, a Burma evacuee, who came to Madras to locate the hide-out of Japanese agents and foil their attempt to blow up an Indian ship. Though apparently a war-effort film, Subrahmanyam had a hidden message for Indians. By telling the Japanese that India could take care of herself, he was hitting at the British. Although

nationalistic overtones begzn to disappear from films,

reformist themes persisted. For nearly two decades

the marriage

of pre-pubescent girls had been a widely discussed question, and the film Cuttp Marriace (1940) was a story set in the years immediately preceding the Sarada Act. It dealt with a child widowed at the age of seven and her father who defied orthodox opposition

and arranged for the girl to be married again when she came of age

(57). The

Sathyamurthy.

highlighted

the

shooting

of this

VimocHanam evils

of

bold

(1940)

alcoholic

film

and

drinks.

was

inaugurated

NeEELAMALAI

JayaKopr

by

KarrHi

(1939)

at-

tacked the practice of accepting dowry. K. Subrahmanyam’s BHAKTHA CETHA (1940) also created considerable stir. The film was based on an episode from the MAHABHARATHA in which

§F isis

step a er

The government encouraged ‘war effort’ films, such as BuRMA Rant (1944) which was set in Japanese-occupied Burma and glorified the Indian resistance and the role of the IAF, and KanNAMMA EN KaTHaLt (1941) which was also set in the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of Burma. The irrepressible K. Subrahmanyam however came out with a war effort film with a difference.

eecesr

due to rumours on the war situation put a severe strain on filmmaking. Hostilities with Japan led to the closure of markets for Tamil films in Burma and other eastern countries. From a total output of thirty six films in 1940, production of Tamil films dropped to a mere fifteen in 1943 (55). Nationalistic propaganda ceased to be an essential ingredient of Tamil films.

Lic. i.*

the wartime restrictions on import of raw stock. At the same time, the blackout precautions, petrol rationing and the general scare

?

a

2

&

t

F

124

MRSSAGE BEARERS

Cetha, the cobbler, won the favour of God, and God appeared to accept his offerings. Two orthodox sanatanists from Madurai appealed

grounds

to the Additional

Magistrate

to ban the film on the

that it was a mis-representation of the Hindu

and of the orthodox sanatana

movement,

dharma

and that it would

fluence the politics of temple entry in Madurai (58).

in-

By 1945 a popular government was once again established in Madras presidency. The wave of nationalistic films subsided as Independence came into view. The occasional, sentimentally patriotic films like Nam IrRuvar (1947) or Tuyact (1947) marked the last eddies of this wave. In the absence of a powerful motivating force such as the struggle for freedom, the Tamil cinema lapsed into a predominantly escapist form of entertainment. K. Subrahmanyam’s attempt to involve the Tamil cinema in nation-building

through

his

GEETHAGANDHI

(1949)

was

merely

an exception to the general trend. Meanwhile, with the death of Sathyamurthy in 1943, Tamil cinema lost its link with the higher echelons of political leadership. The signs of a meaningful interaction between the intelligentsia and the cinema did not develop further, but disappeared with Independence. The course of the Tamil cinema since 1947 merely throws into bold relief the. distinctive character of the patriotic cinema of the thirties and forties.

FILM CENSORSHIP AND POLITICAL CONTROL IN BRITISH INDIA

Within two decades of its appearance in 1896, the cinema had emerged as the single largest entertainment form in India, (1) encompassing within itself all existing entertainment and art forms. Where the traditional channels of communication are short and personal, as in India, the control of a new, powerful medium such as the cinema becomes dramatically important (2). In the face of clear signs of rising nationalism and new attitudes that appeared after World War I, the British Government grew aware of the potential of cinema. By legislative and extra-legislative methods, they built up a severely restrictive control over films, and this process left some lasting effects on the Indian cinema. The politically-inspired censorship policy of the British did not take into consideration the unique properties and opportunities of thé new cinematic medium, and consequently ignored the possibility that film could have a positive role to play in the life of the nation. The cinema was merely seen as a new and powerful challenge to the hold which

the British desired to have over Indian

public opinion and accordingly they tried to counter the challenge with all the machinery at their disposal. This machinery did: not evolve out of any well thought out plan, but out of the pressures of particular situations. In operation it was rigid and

peremptory.

A study of the films which became subjects of controversy, were banned or had portions deleted, provides a fairly clear indication

128

MESSAGE BEARERS

of the norms of censorship, though these varied from time to time

according to political exigencies. These norms reveal to the historian the identity of the ideas coming both from inside and outside the country, which were looked upon by the British as threats to the Raj and provide a better understanding of the character of the Raj. The foremost among these ideas were, of course, the nationalistic aspirations expressed in the political activities of the Congress, but they also included revolutionary ideas from Russia and democratic ideas from America. This enquiry also looks at the effect which the restrictive censorship policy the British had on Indian cinema, and reveals the extent of the Indian cinema’s involvement

in the struggle for independence.

The beginnings of control Although the cinematograph show had become a regular feature in a number of Indian cities by the 1910s, the government’s concern was initially restricted to ensuring the safety of the audience and did not extend to the content of the film. The police used the Place of Public Resort Act II of 1888 to regulate the

shows. When lime-lights gave place to electric lamps in the pro-

jection of films, the shows came under the Indian Electricity Act of 1910 which made the permission of the district authorities obligatory for all shows (3). Once touring cinemas began to hold shows in small towns, the government drew up the ‘Rules to Govern Cinematographic Exhibition in Moffussil’, aimed mainly at preventing the outbreak of fire. Governmental sensitivity to the content of public entertainments (other than drama, regulated by the Dramatic Performance Act of 1876) began rather innocuously in 1913 when Miss Maud Allen, an English danseuse of certain notoriety, announced her tour of India. Concerned about the British image in India, the Secretary of State tried to persuade her to cancel the trip, but the dancer was adamant (4). Alerting the provincial governments, the Government of India wrote: ‘the objections to performances in this country by a white woman of her dramatic reputation, with dances of the type that have become associated with her name, are obvious.’ To meet the situation the police in the provinces were armed with two new powers: the authority

FILM CENSORSHIP

129

to demand full information about performances seven days ahead,

and to prohibit any show which might lead to disorder (5). These

powers were used by the police to have a check on the content of entertainment shows up to the time when the Cinematograph Act came into force in 1918. Until then the government was indifferent to the potential of the cinema as a visual medium and had treated it on par with other shows. They were alerted to the differences and to the problems that. would have to be faced through a question in the House of Commons. Mr. Carr-Gomm drew the attention of. the government to a cinema show held in Madras in January 1914 which featured ‘European and American demi-monde.’ Though

the first Indian film PunDALix had been released in 1912, most of

the films screened in India were American. The British soon became worried that these films, predominantly ‘westerns’, might tarnish the image of the whiteman. After all, the average Indian audience might not distinguish English from American characters. The India Office grew concerned that ‘the audience may think that the secrets of English home life were being revealed’ and began to examine steps to control cinema shows in India (6).

It was time for pre-censorship.

On the model of the Cinematograph Act of 1909 in Britain, the Indian Cinematograph Act of 1918 provided for pre-censorship of films. According to the statement of objects and reasons, it was ‘designed to ensure proper control of cinematographic exhibitions and to prevent presentation to the public of improper or objectionable films.’ As most of the films screened in India were imported, Censor Boards were set up in 1920 in the three chief ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. But whereas the British

Board

was

a non-official

body,

the

Indian

Boards

were

in the hands of executive authority although they included a few non-official members (7). The Commissioners

of Police were the chairmen of the Boards.

To guide the inspectors who were to examine the films, the Bom-

bay Board which was handling most of the imported films drew up a list of general principles, patterned closely after the fortythree rules framed by T. P.O’ Connor as chairman of the British 9

130

MESSAGE BEARERS

Board of Film Censors. While’ most of the principles dealt with

violence and sex, three of them indicated the government's anticipation of the possible areas with which the new medium might

come

intd

contact—controversial

politics,

the relationship bet-

ween capital and labour, and subjects dealing with India which suggested disloyalty of native states or which damaged British prestige (8).

The pattern of censorship in each centre varied enough to require periodical directives from the Central Government. For example, Bombay employed inspectors to examine films, while Madras formed a sub-committee for this purpose. Jn the early years of cinema in India, the Boards were bothered only about foreign films as indigenous films were still so innocuous. Though a certi-

ficate from one of these Boards was valid throughout British India,

some films were uncertified locally and some of the films banned in one province were screened in others. During the first decade of Indian cinema, many silent films were made and screened without ever passing through the censors; the film-maker merely informed the Board of the production (9). As more Indian film companies came into being and the import of foreign films increased, London became less satisfied with the working of the Indian censorship machinery. Articles decrying the damage done to the British image in India by American films began to appear in the British press. In

1922

the Government

of India

invited

W.

Evans,

a cinema

expert from England, to examine the state of the cinema in India. He advised that ‘serious consequence may ensue through the perversion of what is now the most powerful weapon in the armoury

of the propagandist’ and recommended tighter government con-

trols. The Advisory Publicity Committee of the Government of India which examined the Evans report endorsed his views and sounded an alarm that the Indian cinema industry might soon produce, ‘films of a highly undesirable type’ (10). To meet that eventuality it suggested that the control of exhibition by precensorship should be supplemented by the regulation of the pro-

duction itself, but this idea never took a concrete shape.

While the Government of India was alerted to the possible use of Indian cinema for purposes of propaganda, the India Office

banned because it showed an Arab girl entering a mosque and the

government

India (15).

feared

this might

‘

annoy

the

Muslim

audience

in

Inside India there was growing turmoil. The Rowlatt Act and the subsequent Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements with Mahathma Gandhi as the pre-eminent leader were accelerating the process of mass politicisation. Increasingly the performing arts were acquiring overtones of political propaganda. In Bengal and later in Madras, popular theatre was being actively used in

this way (16) and the screen, being greatly influenced by the stage

in India, soon showed signs of similar development. Although most of the films produced in Bombay at this time were of the stunt and ‘mythological variety, the occasional appearance of a

film with political flavour disturbed the British. One of the earliest

was BHAKTHA VipurR (1921) from Kohinoor Films which told the story of Vidur’of MAHABHARATHA in an allegorical portrayal of Gandhi’s political activities (17). The film opened with a map of India from which emerged Bharatha Matha. Vidurji, as he was refer-

Aer

8

AAR

eer

OER

through customs and postal censorship and through tightening the control of films. The official element in the film censorship Board was increased. TristRaAM Sauipe (1921), an American Film set in India, was banned because it showed a priest inciting villagers to rise against authority and the mutiny of an Indian regiment (14), THz Vircin or Stamput (1920), also American, was

ORR

these external influences a cordon was thrown around the country

RPEINTUE IK NALLY

was bothered by the inflow of foreign films. In July 1921, the Secretary of State telegraphically enquired if film censorship was satisfactory in India (11). There were reasons for this fear about foreign films. World War I, particularly in the later stages, had introduced the world to organised international propaganda (12). Wartime controls and wartime economic dislocations had already led to labour unrest in India and the government feared that this would become fertile soil for the seeds of German and Russian revolutionary ideas. By 1919, Bolshevik documents were circulating in India. The examples of Italian and Japanese nationalists were already influencing Indian political thought and the ideas of international Islam threatened to stir up India’s Muslims over the issue of the Khilafat (13). To protect India from all

LhHIirs.

131

Liat

FILM CENSORSHIP

132

MEssAGE BEARERS

red to in the sub-titles, wore khaddar, sported a Gandhi-cap and spun on a charka, all already powerful symbols of the nationalist movement. There were scenes recalling recent political events in India — the refusal of villagers to pay tax in Kaira in 1918 and the evacuation of Chirala town in 1921 as a protest against the government. Loyal officers in the court of Dhirithirashtra, who represented the king-emperor in the film, were awarded ‘DonkeyBahadur’ titles, an obvious spoof on the Diwan-Bahadur titles given by the British. The Collector of Madurai, who initiated action to

get this film banned, recognised its force very clearly when he wrote: ‘The film has subtle appeal to the uneducated Hindu who knows the stories of his own mythology and has a vague understanding of present political events and cannot but do serious

harm’ (18).

Evolution of the censorship machinery With each directive from London the censorship system grew more and more elaborate, not through any well-considered measure but in a haphazard manner to meet specific situations. One typical instance was that of D.W. Griffith’s ORPHANS OF THE Storm (1922) (19). The film was banned in Bengal because it

included scenes of the French Revolution — the fall of the Bastille,

the guillotine and the birth of the Republic — but was screened in Punjab. The Government of Punjab subsequently drew the attention of the Government of India to this film and suggested that whenever a film was banned in one province, a copy of that order should be sent to all the other provinces to enable them to take action. This suggestion was accepted with alacrity (20).

Although a certificate from one of the Boards was valid throughout

the country, one particular Board might re-examine a film whenever there was local protest. But after the ORPHANS OF THE STORM

episode, films banned

in one province ‘were automatically un-

certified in the others also. In such cases the order was issued without even examining the synopsis of the film. The powers that Section 7 (3) of the Indian Cinematograph Act extended to district authorities further complicated the situation. While examin-

ing films

film ‘clean’

for certification, the Boards

by

prescribing

certain

often

excisions,

tried to

but

make

the

the district

FILM CENSORSHIP

133

authorities tended to ban the whole film at the slightest suspicion. Thus it was possible for a police inspector to get a film uncertified by simply making a report to the district magistrate, and once the provincial government upheld the order of the magistrate, the film was proscribed throughout the province. A police inspector in Dehra Dun, who happened to watch ImMorRTAL Gtory (1931) from Krishna Films, considered it objectionable and on his report the film was uncertified in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh and subsequently in the whole coun-

try (21). On top of this, if the Government of India considered

a film undesirable, it could instruct the provincial governments to ban it. There were even instances of British envoys in other countries alerting the India Office to films which were considered harmful to British interests in India. Such was the case of AFTER THE Storm (1927), on which the British Resident in Singapore reported to London that ‘a white woman is shown drinking in an asiatic saloon, surrounded by asiatics and very drunk’ and caused the film to be banned in India (22). Although the number of members on the Boards was increased periodically to accommodate different interests, the Commissioner of Police as the chairman retained complete control. Members were often nominated or jettisoned on his advice alone. The non-official members, of which Indians formed the majority, were generally satisfied with the status of a place on the Board and restricted their activity to observations on moral and religious issues in the films (23). Appeals to the government against the decisions of the Board were very few and were decided by the Commissioner himself. The District Magistrate of Tinnevelly, when called upon to comment on the censorship set-up, neatly described the position in his opinion that ‘the Madras Board which is practically the Commissioner of Police, may well go. A police officer is not a suitable censor’ (24).

The norms of film censorship and the emphasis on them varied

according

to the

issues

to

which

the

British

Government

was

sensitive at a given point in time at the international level and in

134

MESSAGE BEARERS

India. While to begin with their main concern was the British image in India, soon the problem grew.more complex.

The fear of Communist

propaganda

was an obvious reason for

censorship. The Bolshevik Revolution and the Comintern’s un-

equivocal opposition to the British presence in India greatly perturbed the India Office, particularly once M. N. Roy and others became active (25). The appearance in England of the alleged ‘Zinoviev letter’ addressed to the British Communist party on the eve of elections in 1924 sharpened Britain’s wariness about external propaganda (26). Meanwhile, Russia entered world cinema through the classics of Sergei Eisenstein in 1925, and Izvest1a declared that the Soviet cinema industry would be utilised to acquaint the peasants of India and Afghanistan with the achievements of the Russian Revolution. The Government of India warned the censors ‘to be on the watch for propaganda films’ that might conform to this description (27). The Bombay Commissioner of Police, in his capacity as chairman of the Censor Board, scrutinised BATTLESHIP: POTEMKIN

about

the mutiny

of sailors

(1925), Eisenstein’s film

on the Russian

cruiser

Potemkin

at Odessa in 1903 and their final escape into Rumanian waters,

and recorded without hesitation that ‘the film was obviously intended for propaganda, -justifying the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in particular and overthrow, of authority in general.’ It was banned, and Ivan THE Terrie, another Russian film by the same director, was also proscribed in 1930 (28). But the Russian Revolution was not-the. only international issue that complicated. and widened India’s film censorship. The Locarno Pact of 1925 marked a major change in international relations by bringing Britain new allies and new commitments to be respected. The possibility of causing offence to those allies by permitting certain films to be screened in India was another area of sensitivity. The German Consul stationed at Calcutta was very conscious of this after the pact. In 1926 he pointed out two films made by MGM which he considered were against the spirit

of Locarno. They were Mare

Nosrrum . (1926) and- Tue

Bic

Parave (1925) which depicted acts of cruelty perpetrated by German ‘U’ boats and other such battle scenes. His protests caused

FILM CENSORSHIP

135

the films to be uncertified (29). In 1928 two shorts screened in Calcutta—Sportine Lover with a sequence showing soldiers bombing hospitals, and Kickinc THE Germ

Germany

ridiculing

Field-Marshal

Von

German OvuT oF

Hindenburg — drew

protests from the Consul and were also banned Portuguese Consul. protested at Ska Horses

(30). When the (1928) because

this film portrayed officials in Portuguese East Africa as corrupt,

it was promptly proscribed but later released with many excisions (31). There was even a stage when Consuls began addressing the Censor Boards directly.

Before long the nascent Indian film industry also came to the

notice of the censor. The Indian cinema industry made a shaky start with pioneers like R. G. Torney (PuNDALIK 1912) and D.G. Phalke (Raja HaRIsHCHANDRA 1913) but it eventually established itself and a steady stream of films began arriving on the market.

By 1921, in addition to sporadic adventurers who produced a single film and disappeared from the scene, there were eight com-

panies in Bombay, three in Calcutta and two in Madras (32). Those of the Indian film-makers who were drawn towards the NonCooperation Movement began to give veiled support to the nationalist cause in their films. Since certificates were often issued simply on the basis of synopses, films which used nationalistic symbols visually were passed and were only noticed on reports from local authorities. An early warning of this tendency of Indian cinema towards political propaganda came from the electrical inspector to the Government of Madras, a provincial official who was a constant adviser to the government in the early years of cinema.

He recorded in a file in 1931: ‘I know—and it surprises me—

of a few cases where Boards have passed films dealing with such inflammatory matters as the Gandhi doctrines which were undesirable in any province in India.’ Among feature films BHAKTHA Viwur had set the pattern for such propaganda (33). In Britain, the press periodically raised its voice against American films screened in India and the damage they did to the honour of the British. Moreover, the government realised with uneasiness

that a number of films were smuggled into India and shown without the blessing of the censors.- Perturbed: by these develop-

136

MESSAGE BEARERS

ments, the Secretary of State addressed the Governor-General about ‘politically undesirable films’ (34). Once again the cry for stricter censorship resulted in more powers for the district authorities. On the grounds that six years had passed since Evans conducted his survey of the Indian cinema, the India Office suggested a fresh look into the whole question of film censorship and set up the Indian Cinematographic Committee in 1927 (35). On the model of the Press Committee of 1921, an Indian (B. Rangachari, a lawyer from Madras) was appointed as the chairman (36). The committee toured the country, watched thousands of feet of film, listened to 350 witnesses, pored through 300 statements and came up with a case for liberal censorship. It observed that the Censor Boards were unduly sensitive to racial, communal and political themes and were arbitrary in their decisions. The recommendations of the committee, however, were largely ignored and the voluminous report made little impact on censorship policy. In any case, with the arrival of ‘talkie’, the report soon became out of date except as a source of information. Censorship continued to be controlled by the police and grew in severity as political developments in the country moved inexorably towards Independence. The

Civil Disobedience Movement

Indian ‘talkie’

and the arrival of the

Civil Disobedience and the arrival of the ‘talkie’ combined to mean more films and more censorship. ALAM ARA (1931), Hindi was the first Indian ‘talkie’. The fact that ‘talking pictures’ were

in local languages

gave the Indian

cinema an inherent protec-

tion against foreign competition and this created a better economic atmosphere for the establishment of Indian companies (37).

Soon

Indian film-makers began probing social issues with this

new-fangled medium and gradually ventured into political propa-

ganda. During the Civil Disobedience Movement, a large number of Indian films, both feature and documentary, had trouble with the

British authorities for political reasons. Though only a small percentage of films screened in 1932-33 it was only 9.97%,—most of the films getting past the censors were Indian (38). This

Indian films formed India—in the year that had difficulty indicates both the

FILM CENSORSHIP

137

severity of censorship: and the extent of Indian film-makers’ involvement in the national movement. As a part of their all round efforts to control the media during Civil Disobedience, the government set out to revamp the censorship machinery. The Commissioner of Police was given more powers as chairman of the Censor Board and the district authorities were reminded of their powers over cinema shows. Censorship grew arbitrary. The non-official members no longer played any active role in the working of the Boards and district magistrates resorted to peremptory banning of films. In Salem, the magistrate suspended the screening of WratH (1931) from Imperial Film Company, Bombay, as it had political overtones; the government supported this decision and the Board agreed with the government (39). The general principles of censorship were totally forgotten and were not referred to at all, unless an appeal was filed. Because of the absence of any definite code, the working of the Boards became whimsical and irregular. One of the members of the Bengal Board, Mrs. F. Stanley, created a flutter when she told the press that the Board did not view most of the films and left the censoring to the inspectors. (40). In

1935

the president

of the

Motion

Picture

Society of India,

B. V. Jadhav, described the situation precisely when he said: ‘The central government will not take the trouble of laying down any standard for the guidance of the. provincial Boards. Consequently the inspectors have become autocrats and apply their scissors at their sweet will in cutting out portions which they consider as undesirable. An appeal to the Board of Censors is rarely of any use’ (41). However, in this confusing picture a pattern was discernible. The issues that really mattered in permitting a film to be screened were nationalistic

propaganda,

offence

to Muslim sentiments,

propa-

ganda against native rulers and issues concerning labour — almost in that order of priority.

The political activism of the Civil Disobedience Movement was expressed in a crop of films oriented towards propaganda. By allegorical references to political events and by advocating Gan-

138

MESSAGE

BEARERS

dhian social reforms in their films, many

Indian film-makers lent

weight to the Congress ideals. If it wasnot possible to delete portions of such

films,

and

make

them

‘harmless’,

they

were

banned.

Wratu (1931), a film on non-violence and untouchability with a Gandhi-like character as the main protagonist, was banned in most of the provinces even though a much truncated version _ under a different title was allowed to be screened in Bombay (42). Patriot (1930) from Ranjit Film Company, the story of a struggle between a regent and a patriot, was banned because of its very provocative sub-titles like: ‘I would prefer death in the cause of freedom of my country’ (43). MAHATHMA (1935, Marathi) produced by Prabhat studio, Poona, told the story of a sixteenthcentury Saint, Ekanath and his fight against untouchability and was uncertified ‘as it treats a sacred subject unreverently’; the film was later certified with many excisions as DHARMATHMA (44). The upsurge of political activity connected with the movement offered exciting subjects for the film-makers and brought on a significant development, cinematographically and politically, in

the production of a series of documentaries known as ‘topicals’.

Even earlier there had been attempts in this direction by certain film-makers who saw the immense power of documentary cinema and its potential as an instrument of propaganda in the cause of nationalism. It began with the coverage of annual sessions of the Congress. From Bombay came one of the early documentaries of this nature,

THe

Great

Concress

aT

AHMEDABAD,

in

1922.

The next year Hindustan & Co., Bombay, released THe 37TH Conoress, Gaya (45), and from Madras came THE INDIAN NATIONAL Conaress aT Coconana (1927). Meanwhile, a pioneering use of documentary film emerged from Punjab. ;The Akali Movement, which began as an organised effort to establish control over the Sikh religious centres (gurudwaras) in order to introduce certain reforms, soon took on a political colour when it gained the support of nationalistic forces. In turn, the Akali leaders, with the memory of Jallianwala Bagh still fresh in their minds, supported the Non-Cooperation Movement (46). Although this demand for gurudwara reforms was a local issue, it gained nationwide attention through the nationalist press. One of the methods adopted by the Akalis to exert pressure upon the authorities was

139

VILM CENSORSHIP

to organise marches (jathas) towards gurudwaras. This was drama-

tic in itself and was also in tune with the non-violent agitations of

the nationalists. The Shiromani Gurudwara Parondhak Committee decided to film one of these jathas and. to release it throughout

the country. The Shorey Studio at Lahore produced this film titled

Swarr JATHA in 1924, but the Government of Punjab was quick to ban it without even viewing the film, and alerted other provincial governments also (47). But it was only with the Civil Disobedience

that a large number of documentaries

Movement

aimed

at supporting the nationalist movement was produced. The British Government which had earlier tolerated shorts of this nature reacted with severe repression once it realised that such ,

films were furthering the cause of freedom.

One of the earliest ‘topicals’ of the Civil Disobedience Movement period was MAHATHMA GANDHI’s MARCH TO FREEDOM, produced

by

Sarada

the marchers

Film

the salt laws.

Company.

from

Two

The

Sabarmathi

more

film

ashram

Bombay

showed

Gandhi

to Dandi

companies,

leading

and defying

Krishna

Film

Company and Ranjit Film Company, also filmed this significant bit of history and produced two shorts, each two reel long. The

Commissioner

of Police, Bombay,

promptly banned

the films

without even waiting to consult the Board of Film Censors, stating: ‘As the breaking of the Salt Act is a criminal offence, I do not see how the Board can possibly certify these films’ (48). A series of

shorts were made on Gandhi’s political activities and all of these

remarkable records of a momentous period in the history of the nation were banned (49). But this did not deter the film-makers, and a virtual documentary movement began. Gandhi’s various political activities, Congress sessions and the funeral processions of leaders were all recorded

the propaganda

FUNERAL

on film. One short that brought

potential of such documentary

out

films was THE

Procession oF JATINDRANATH Das (1930), which showed

the vast concourse of people following the cortege of this young revolutionary through the streets of Calcutta. Shots of the crowd, close-ups of desolate faces, and the scene of the pyre in flames were described as ‘very effective’ by the government, and it was banned because ‘the picture is such that it is ‘sure to create among: the spectators a feeling of hatred against the present system: of’ govern-

cocoon oeeooe

we aeees oe

oe

: ;

:

140 MESSAGE BEARERS

ment which would appear to have caused the death of Jatindranath Das’ (50). Many documentaries produced by foreign news agencies and depicting incidents relating to the freedom struggle were also proscribed (51). Impressed by this novel use of the screen, some Congress leaders also began using the medium. In 1934S. Sathyamurthy produced a film appealing to the voters and had it screened in a number of cinema houses on the eve of civic elections in Madras (52). In Bombay, the Provincial Congress Committee produced NATIONAL Frac Hoistinc AND SALUTATION CEREMONY and another film featuring Rajendra Prasad making a speech, and both were banned. Another Congress short, Punprr JAWAHARLAL’s MESSAGE, featuring Nehru speaking about socialism and India’s march towards freedom was also refused a certificate (53). To counter the argument that such films were being permitted in England and therefore propaganda through the screen should be permitted in India, the Government of Bombay wrote to Delhi arguing that ‘It is possible that the value of propaganda of this kind may be greater in this country than in the West’ (54). The Government of India then categorically declared in 1937 that ‘the use of cinema for political propaganda should be forbidden for all ‘parties. If it is allowed to one, it must be allowed to all. And this will mean

putting too great a responsibility on the Board of Censors.’ When Sathyamurthy came up with his second propaganda film in Madras in the same year, on the eve of elections to the provincial: legislature, it was refused a certificate. He appealed to the government in his capacity as the chairman of the Tamilnadu Congress Parliamentary Board but the appeal was rejected (55). Muslims, princes, workers and democrats

Besides the comparatively obvious issue of nationalistic was a series of other matters that became grounds for In each case the sensitivity of the government resulted sion of the area of censorship. Sometimes it was an

that touched

the government’s

sensitive

spot,

and

ideas, there censorship. in an extenIndian film

sometimes

it was a foreign import. Just as the machinery of censorship seemed capable only of expansion, so did the catalogue of undesirable topics. The most important of these sensitive areas were

FILM OZNSORSHIP Muslim

sentiments,

the

Indian

American democratic liberalism.

princes,

factory

labour

141 and

The Khilafat agitation of 1919-22 and the communal riots of 1924 made the British Government very sensitive to issues that might offend the Muslims. Each Board of Film Censors had one or two

Muslim

members

whose

recommendations

relating

to

scenes

dealing with Muslims were scrupulously carried out. Even a remote possibility of offence to Muslim sentiments was sufficient provocation to ban a film. ForTieTH Door (1925), a story dealing with the conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East was proscribed first in Bombay and then in the other provinces because it depicted Egyptian officials in an ‘unsavoury light’ (56). Sumraz (1928) produced by the British Instructional Film Company narrated the story of a potter who designed the Taj Mahal as an expression of his love for the Empress Mumtaz, and had the design accepted by the Emperor Shahjahan. A

Muslim member of the legislature contended that the Empress

was held as the ideal of perfection by many Muslims and that they would be offended, and had the film banned (57). For similar reasons ANARKALI (1928) was banned in 1929 in Mangalore where there had been communal riots earlier in the year, and soon after, the film was proscribed throughout the country (58). It was the story of Prince Salim, son of Emperor Akbar, and his love for Anarkali,

a commoner.

tolerance,

BHAKTHA

Another ‘film that attracted wide

notice

on this Muslim question was Tue Lives or THE BENGAL LANCERS (1935, English), which had scenes that could offend both Muslims and Hindus (59). Even a film which sought to advocate religious Kasir

(1942,

Hindi),

had

to be

cleansed;

the discussion between the father and Kabir Das on the latter’s

religious belief was deleted (60).

Right from the days of the 1857 rising, the British had been aware of the importance of winning the loyalty of the princely states. Many rulers overtly supported the British against the nationalists and the government in turn did not tolerate any attack on the princes. One of the early instances which brought out the operation of this principle was the banning of THe TERROR oR CHALTA PurJA (1929). The film produced by Sarada Film Company of Bombay

142

MESSAGE BEARERS

had a story woven around an imaginary Maharaja of Kantipur and

the Resident.

The

Bombay

Board

which

censored

the film

made the policy very clear: ‘We think the whole plot is nothing but a parody on the ways and habits of native rulers...in view of the relations existing between the native rulers and the government, we are of an opinion that the film cannot be certified’ (61). The same Board proscribed SzarcuH Licut (1937, Hindi) produced by Imperial

Film Company,

Bombay

on the ground

that it tended

to bring the rulers of Indian princely states into disrepute (62). Zamindars and other big landlords who had been solidly behind the government in south India, particularly during the Civil Disobedience

Movement,

were

extended

the

same

cinematic

protection (63). Ryatu Bupa (1940, Telugu), which probed issues like the zamindari system and rural indebtedness, was banned by the magistrate of Nellore, and the Government of Madras upheld his orders and banned the film throughout the province. The Raja of Bobbili and the Raja of Venkatagiri threatened to sue the producers of the film on the grounds that some of the characters could be identified with themselves (64). As part of the national awakening, labour was getting organised

for the first time, and the ideas that emanated from the Bolshevik

Revolution of 1917 and the International Labour Conference held in Washington in 1919 penetrated the emerging leadership in India (65). The labour classes were. increasingly becoming conscious of their rights and prepared to seek them through strikes and agitations. In many such confrontations, the nationalists took some part and the government was.in no mood to permit anything that could further this development. Mitt (1934, Hindi), which took a sympathetic look at the problems of workers, was proscribed (66). Brack Fury (1935, English) from Warner Brothers was banned because it had scenes of industrial strikes and conflicts between workers and their employers (67). The declaration of self-determination contained Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points had created

in President some excite-

ment in India, and because the British were nervous about such

developments, American films that tended to speak of democratic ideas had trouble getting screened in India. THe PaTRIoT

FILM CENsoRsHIP

143

(1928, different from the Indian film of the same title), which depicted a popular rising and overthrow of authority, was first banned in the United Provinces and then in the other provinces (68). Howarps or Vircinia (1942, English) was the the story of a family’s role in the breaking away of the colony of Virginia. The scenes of the Civil War, the revolt against the confederate army and the ideas of freedom and liberty expressed in the film were considered harmful and the film was proscribed by the provincial governments without any reference to the Censor

Boards

(69).

The Congress interregnum and the war After the 1935 Government of India Act, the Congress contested in the elections in 1937, assumed office in six provinces and ruled for two and a quarter years. In this period Indian cinema enjoyed a respite from the restrictive control of the British Government’s censorship policy. Films that had been banned earlier for political reasons were now certified and released —all the documentaries on Gandhi for example were allowed for exhibition— and filmmakers were free to propagate nationalistic and reformist ideas

in their films. But the outbreak of World War II in 1939 complete-

ly changed this idyllic picture. The Congress took a firm stand against India’s participation in the war and resigned. from office. In the changed set-up, censorship was brought back in an intensi-

fied form and grew more severe-in the atmosphere of tension created by the war. It was during this period, the last few years of British rule in India, that film censorship was most stifling. With the ‘Quit-India’ Movement and imprisonment of leaders in 1942, the

tempo of propaganda in films increased. The government responded by intensifying censorship as a part of its organised effort to disrupt

the Congress’ contact with the mass audience.

Although

the num-

ber of Censor Boards was increased to match the increased output of the vernacular cinema, they remained practically inactive as most of the decisions were taken by the police chiefs. The provincial governments were strict in the enforcement of the. policy and would not tolerate even symbols like the portraits of national leaders. CHANDHNI (1942, Hindi) featured pictures of national leaders in the last scene where the heroine argued that

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144 MESSAGE BEARERS if girls were properly educated they would bring up patriots like Gandhi and Nehru; the film was permitted to be shown only after this portion was removed (70). New developments in the cinema meant new cogs in the machinery

_ Of censorship. By this time a number of Indian films were being exported to the Far East and Africa and the question of having control over these films, so that they might not project an ‘unfair and exaggerated’ picture of the conditions in India, engaged the attention of the government. A central government official who was to function independently of the provincial Censor Boards was appointed for this purpose (71). When war conditions also provided excuses for closer government surveillance, cinema houses were compelled to screen at least one war propaganda short produced by the government, and certain provincial officials were empowered to enter cinema houses and check whether these films were regularly screened (72). The Director of War Publicity was put on the Censor Board to ensure that the films contained nothing that would work against the war efforts (73). Britain’s changing relations with other nations, caused by the progress of war, also left their ripples in the operation of film censorship. Cxerniks (1943), a film about one of the anti-Nazi rebel groups operating in Yugoslavia, ‘was certified earlier and screened in many towns but when the British

Government began

supporting Tito’s activities during the war it was banned. The Government of India explained that ‘it was certified at a time when these chetnik activities were directed against the German army of occupation in the country (Yugoslavia) and chetnik troops were regarded as pro-allies. But the situation has since changed and the activities of chetnik guerillas are now largely directed against Marshall Tito’s forces which are recognised as the Yugoslav arm of the U.N. It is therefore considered undesirable to allow any publicity for the Yugoslav Chetnik Troops’ (74). In

1940

two

news

review

shorts

in the

‘March

of Time’

Tue Piturmes and Crisis In THE PaciFic were Bengal as being anti-Japanese, but the India Office out the change in Britain’s relation with Japan and Censor Boards that they no longer need worry

series,

uncertified in gently pointed informed the about hurting

FILM CENSORSHIP

145

Japanese feelings; indeed such anti-Japanese films could be useful propaganda material as they stressed Japan’s designs in the Far East (75). Many other films, both Indian and foreign, that had been released during the two-and-a-quarter year interregnum of the Congress were banned including Gunea Din (1939, English) and THYAGABHOOMI. Dunray (1942, Hindi) was banned in U.P. on the charge that it contained Congress propaganda in a sequence showing school children going in a procession, holding tri-colour flags and singing patriotic songs raising money for their teacher (76). Songs were a necessary ingredient of Indian filmic entertainment and could be deftly used by the committed film-makers. The Government of India alerted the provinces to this method while drawing their attention to a song in Prem SanczeTu (1943, Hindi) which had a line We have decided to drive away the foreigners (77). Bapatr Dunrya (1943, Hindi) had a sequence showing the hero and the heroine singing about alien rule while standing in front of a parrot cage (78). Hamara DesH (1939, Marathi) which depicted a no-rent campaign and political dacoity was also banned

as ‘seditious and propagating the cult of violence’ (79). SANGAM (1939, Marathi) which had been certified earlier was proscribed as it featured portraits of S. C. Bose and Gandhi (80). In Madras, the Commissioner of Police uncertified THyacaBHoom (1939,

Tamil) when the film was revived in the city in 1944. This film

also had scenes of Congress volunteers going in procession, holding portraits of Gandhi and tri-colour flags and singing nationalistic songs (81).

Hollywood’s India and the uses of diplomacy In the nineteen-thirties Indian themes began to interest certain American film-makers just as Middle-Eastern stories had engaged their attention for some years before. For one thing such themes offered ample scope to depict dramatic events in exotic locales and colourful costumes. But: the directors were totally indifferent to the incidental political repercussions of the content of these films. India was one of the biggest markets for Hollywood and such films drew protests both from the nationalists and the British authorities, for different reasons. The nationalists found some of

10

146

MESSAGE

BEARERS

these films insulting to Indian sentiments and the government disliked the portrayal of certain historical incidents like the 1857 rising, which the British would rather not recall and which engendered anti-British feeling among Indians. In particular, two films screened

in 1935, THe

Lives or THE.

BENGAL

Lancers and

Curve or Inp1A, came in for severe attack in the Indian press. The issue was then raised in the legislature and the Home member promised, after viewing these two films, that such material would be banned in future (82). In order to keep studios in America under surveillance and, if possible, to have a kind of unofficial control at the production stage itself, the British Government began to utilise the services of their diplomatic corps in the U.S. Initially this method was not very successful. When Paramount was making Drums or Oune, a story set in the background of the events of 1857, the British Charge d’ Affaires approached W. H. Hays of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America to get the story modified. Hays dourly refused to interfere in the production but offered not to send the film to ‘certain British oriental possessions’ (83). But efforts to influence the film companies continued. Warner Brothers were planning the production of THe Cuarcez or Licnr BricaveE (1936, English), the story of an Indian cavalry regiment, which contained an incident reminiscent of the Kanpur massacre of 1857. The British Consul in Los Angeles managed to get a copy of the script through one of the studio technicians and passed it ‘on to the Government of India who stated that the film would be objectionable in India. On authority from London, the Consul persuaded Warner Brothers to effect certain changes in the story— the Indian chieftain who fought the British was changed into an Afghan chieftam—but even so, when the film was released in India it created a lot of heat and for some months was banned in most of the provinces (84). ‘When Gunca Diy, based was proscribed in India that the scenes showing

-a temple and

on the poem by Rudyard Kipling, because the government considered British soldiers setting out to loot

killing a thug inside would adversely affect the

relationship between

the army and

the public in India, Holly-

FILM CENSORSHIP

147

wood film-makers began to.sit up and take notice (85). They. had a healthy respect for a market as wide as British India, and were prepared to climb down from the position taken by W. H. Hays. On behalf of the American film industry, John Weiner wrote to the India Office to find out what lay at the root of their attitude. Lord Beauchamp from the India Office replied: ‘It is because they (the films) portray Indians in a manner offensive to Indian sentiment and not because they put British policy in India in a bad light. Unfortunately films produced in England and U.S.A. about India often show Indians as a subject race engaged in.a

rebellion against the British which rebellion is frustrated by the

latter to the discomfiture of Indians’ (86). He also made it clear that films dealing with the events of 1857, ‘reviving painful memories’, were

not welcome.

It was much

easier for

the India

Office

to exercise such control over films under production in Britain. The making of the film Retr or Lucknow was prevented at the very beginning by the President of the British Board of Film Censors (87). The nationalists and Indian film-makers were also very unhappy about these films in which Indian characters were often depicted in dark light. The Motion Picture Society of India carried on an agitation against screening of such ‘anti-Indian’

films (88)...

All these maneuvers eventually. had their effect. American filmmakers began wooing the Indian audience, with. films like Darryl Zanuck’s Tue Rains CAME or THE JALAPRALAYA (1939, English) which was advertised. as ‘the first pro-Indian picture from Holly-

wood.’

As

Congress

leader and

President. of the South

Indian

Film Chamber of Commerce, §. Sathyamurthy presided over the premiere. of this film in Madras. (89).

Britain’s censorship policy and its effect on Indian cinema The characteristics and variations of a cinema are shaped by the pressures at work, particularly during its nascent period. The British Government all-along displayed a negative attitude towards the Indian cinema and ignored the economic implications of the policy that they so vigorously implemented. This attitude was net directed

towards-the

cinematic: form

as such,

but only

towards

the Indian cinema. This is clear from the- fact that the British

148

MESSAGE BEARERS

Film Institute and the National Film Archives of London were

established quite early in the history of the British cinema, but in India the cinema industry received little encouragement. The government expressed some concern about the American domination of the Indian market (the U.S.A. supplied 52.5% of the films screened in India in 1932-3), but their concern was mainly about the comparatively poor showing (32.9%) on the part of British films—euphemistically referred to in the official papers as ‘empire films’ (90). Unlike the stage, the cinema required a huge investment for each

production, and the negative policy inhibited many Indian filmmakers from venturing into anything that might prove controversial and provoke a ban. This resulted in the operation of an ‘anticipatory censorship’. When the National Theatres of Madras planned a film called Concress Girt, telling the story of a girl who supported her family by spinning on a charka, they approached the Board of Film Censors with the synopsis to find out if the film was likely to have any difficulty in getting certified. They were bluntly told that the film would not be passed for public exhibition and the project was abandoned (91). Certain completed films like Miss Sucuna (1937, Tamil) and Szarcu Licut (1937, Hindi) never saw the light of day. The Censor Boards controlled by the police did not hesitate to excise large portions from films. There were even instances of district magistrates ordering deletions. In 1935, the President of the Motion Picture Society of India pointed out that the gaps caused by excisions in the films had to be filled up with insipid material which brought down the quality of the film considerably

(92). And

in the same year a

member

of the Bombay Legislative Council urged that ‘the most immediate relief should be from the vagaries of censorship. How can the new industry attract financiers to back it if there is a growing sense of uncertainty?’ (93). For a medium in which it is extremely difficult to separate an economic problem from an artistic one, the government policy had repercussions on the creative side also. Periods of national stress and social turmoil have motivated purposeful film-making in Russia in the years following the Revolution and in Italy in the

FILM CENSORSHIP

Mythologicals were non-controversial and safe to handle.

ParinayaM (1936, Tamil).

149

BHAMA

post-war years. The impact of these two cinemas on the rest of the world is a story which film-historians know well (94). In India there was a bright beginning when the passions of the Civil Dis-

obedience

Movement

coincided

with

the birth of the

Indian

‘talkie’. Political and social themes were handled with startling boldness, and Gandhi’s programmes for social uplift provided Indian film-makers with several purposeful themes. Very frequently, a virile and purposeful cinema begins with such social criticism (95). But India’s serious and committed cinema was crippled at birth. Any film supporting a social cause like the eradication of untouchability was not permitted merely because these ideas formed part of the nationalists’ plan of action. In the

150 MESSAGE BEARER! absence of any scope to handle such issues;a socially conscious

cinema could not emerge.

Hemmed in on all sides by sensitive areas of endless variety, the Indian cinema lay cramped like a mummy. In this stultifying atmosphere it shaped into a predominantly escapist entertainment. The few films that differed in content formed a very small percentage of the total output. At a time when American and European directors were tackling social and political issues— like D.W. Griffith’s A Conner on Wueat (1908) or Victor Trivas’s Het on Eartu (1931, German), film-makers in India restricted their activity to stunt and mythologicals and fell back on, the traditional ‘song-drama’ variety of the popular stage. It was a-direction which they would find difficult to break away from.

APPENDIX

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unc uni préaCeu Sari uEpscre; seam Cur gyib

Biwi

aKinn

CfA

ShCHICaN

Yo fir

PINTS

THE

154

MESSAGE BEARERS

grdudrarcn usé Garko ul@ ugar:

2.

UML_45059OO

3.

pOsaIGAL,

4.

sry

5.

Yn

WLé5GSD@Oe

QOSsCor

Gey

5L_ésorQwer—u.

giEssE

shosyb,

Csussrt

Qarywgy

HL S50rQWERr

ApEHAefe

Gy.SaCer

qperefii—u.

GarQ@urwgs570

gurus sre

UG@ardv

Gar gyib—u.

Grew Wpsss5ru

CurrésserpsefiGeu Osu

6.

unfleie

uG@sra

1.

2uiiwrwe

u@@Qarra

uG@ardv

Oru ggi—u.

pb spyssrAser QurHupsa SpHupssgi Qectugsgiut 2 pibd—u.

uGGer&

uG@erdw S.S. devargrg

sired

NOTES

AND

REFERENCES

Introduction . See, for instance, K. Nambi Arooran, ‘The Beginnings of the Tamil

Icai

Movement,’

1975, pp.52-61.

JourNaAL

or

Tamit

Srupies,

June,

. See the Preface and Introduction of the Higginbotham republication (Madras, 1882) of H. H.Wilson, THe Mackenzie Cottrcrion (Calcutta, 1828); W. Taylor, A CaTaLocuz RAIsoNNEE OF ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPTS IN THE GOVERNMENT Lrrary, Vol III (Madras, 1862); W.C. Mackenzie, CotoneL ‘Corum =Mackenzre: Fmsr Surveyor-GENERAL oF INDIA (Edinburgh and London,

1852),

Ch: XXIV;

Tur Mackenzie Cotecrion (London, 1916).

C.O.

Blagden,

. E.F. Irschick, Potrrics AND SociaL ConFtict in Sous INp1a: tHE Non-BRAHMAN MOVEMENT AND TAMIL SEPARATISM, 1916-29

(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1969), p.281; K. Zvelebil, Tue Suite or MuruGan. On Tamit LITERATURE OF SouTH INDIA

(Leiden, 1973), p.268.

. Ibid., pp.248-57 5. See the accounts in K. Meenakshisundaram,

THE

ConTRIBU-

TION OF EUROPEAN SCHOLARS To TamiL (Madras, 1974).

156

MESSAGE BEARERS

6. A Grammar oF THE HicH DIALECT oF THE TamiL LANGUAGE TermED

SHEN-TaMIL,

to which

is added

an

introduction

to

Tamil poetry. By the Reverend Father C. J. Beschi. Translated from the original Latin by Benjamin Guy Babington (Madras, 1882), Introduction, p.vii. . See

the historical

notes

in the Introduction to G. U. Pope,

A HANDBOOK OFTHE TAMIL LANGUAGE

(2nd ed., Madras, 1859).

. In Babington’s own copy ofhis translation of Beschi (see note 6), now in Cambridge University Library, there is a loose insertion in Babington’s own hand, in which he makes this quite clear. C.J.

Beschi,

Cravis

HuMANiorUM

LITTERARUM

SUBLIMIORIS

Tamutta Ipiomatica (Tranquebar, 1876), and see note 6.

10. C. T. E. Rhenius, A GRAMMAR OF THE TAMIL LANGUAGE WITH AN APPENDIX (3rd ed., Madras, 1853), especially Introduction, p.vii. lL. See especially Pope’s HANDBOOK..., p.6. 12. Rhenius, GRAMMAR..., pp. iii and iv. 13. ANTAO DE Proznca’s Tamiu-Portucuese Dictionary A. D 1679, prepared for publication by Xavier §. Thani Nayagam (Kuala Lumpur, 1966), Preface, pp. 9-10. 14, A. H. Arden,

A ProcressivE GRAMMAR

(Madras, 1891), Preface, pp. 3-4.

OF

COMMON

TAMIL

15. See Meenakshisundaram, CoNTRIBUTION..., pp. 296-7, and the notices on the end-covers of Pope’s HANDBOOK. 16. (London, 1856). 17, See Irschick, Potrrics..., Chapter 8. New

Inp1a, 18.8.1916, quoted in Irschick, Porrrics..., p. 282.

19. See especially VELALR NAKARIKAM (2nd ed., Tirunelveli, 1957). 20. Tiru. Vi. Kaliyanasuntara Mutaliyar, VALKKAIK

(Madras, 1944).

KuRIPPUKAL

21. See the description of Jeevanandam’s meeting with Maraimalai Adigal in Ke. Palatandayutam, JIvA-VALKKAI VARALARU (Madras, 1966).

-

NOTES AND REFERENCES

157

22. By 1934 the weekly, ANANDA ViKATAN, had a circulation of 47,500, far beyond any other magazine or journal. See Home Political file 53/5 of 1935, National Archives of India. Popular

Theatre

and the Rise of Nationalism

1, Political theatre is defined as ‘a performance that is intentionally engaged in or consciously takes sides in politics.’ The important feature is ‘active intent’, whether it passes the message

on to the audience or not. Though it a theatre to change the opinion of emotional and intellectual support to with its position.’ Michael Kirby, Tue Drama Review,

may be difficult for such the people, it ‘can give those who already agree ‘On Political Theatre,’

XIX, 2, June 1975,

(USA). There have

been instances of such politicisation of popular theatre in Asia earlier and all these instances related to nationalism. In West Java in the 1890s the SanpiwaRa, anewform of popular theatre, began to stage anti-colonial plays. In Vietnam in 1930s, anti-colonial themes figured prominently in their Kicu drama

form, a theatre very much influenced by the French. About the

same time in Phillipines, the ZaARY ZARZUELA, a commercial theatre form that enacted dramas of light opera style began to reflect anti-American sentiments. A slightly reversed role of the popular theatre was used by the Japanese when

they occu-

pied countries in South East Asia during 1940-45. They pressed the popular theatre into service to explain the Japanese aim of Greater East Asia and to glorify Asian nationalism. James R. Brandon, THEATRE IN SoutH East Ast (Massachusets,

1967), p.285.

In the latter half of the 19th century

the Kabuki

theatre of

Japan put up plays which voiced people’s complaint against the ruling class. Kasuxi, pamphlet, (Tokyo,

1977).

2.. An inscription chiselled on the walls of Rajarajeswaram temple, Thanjavur (Tamilnadu), refers to a drama RajARAJESWARA Natakam which was enacted every Vaikasi festival. The leader of this troupe was awarded alump sum of money by the

158

MESSAGE BEARERS King Rajaraja I (AD 985-1016). The drama presumably told the story of Rajaraja’s career, culminating in the dedication of the great temple.

. John Russell (Ed.), THe Drama AND THE THEATRE (London,

1971), p.150.

. J. S. R. Goodlad, A Sociotocy oF Poputar Drama (London,

1971), pp.178-179.

. Surinder

Puri,

‘The ‘Media

Revolution,’

cyclostyled

read at a seminar on ‘Media and Politics? in May the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore. N. Subramanyam,

‘Paridhimal

paper

1974 at

Kalaignarum Nataka Tha ni-

zhum,’ PARIDHIMAL KALAIGNAR CENTENARY SOUVENIR(Madurai,

1955).

See also M. M. Napican Kurat,

Chidambaranathan, ‘Nadaga September, 1965, (Madras).

Periyargal,’

. T. K. Shanmugam, Nataxka Karat (Madras, 1958), p.37. . Narasimha Bharathi (drama and film actor), interview, 26.4.1975, Madras. ‘Special’ dramas are still staged, particularly in the southern part of Tamilnadu. . B.

S. Baliga,

MADRAS IN THE

(Madras, 1957), p.8.

STRUGGLE

FOR

INDEPENDENCE

10. S. Natarajan, A Century oF Socian Rerorms in Inpia (NEW Delhi, 1959), passim. ll. The earliest published political drama of this period is ARYA Sasua, written and published by K. Gopalachariar, a teacher in Madras Christian College, and billed as ‘a drama on one of the most stirring events of the day, the founding of the Indian National Congresss.’ It spoke about the benefits that Indians

were to get through this new organisation, like government

employment. The drama opened with a song recalling the promise of .Queen Victoria in 1857, extolled the virtues of her government and portrayed the Congress as loyal to the government. The play was set in typical Sanskrit drama format, with

NOTES AND REFERENCES

Suthradharan appearing in the opening scene the purport of the play. This 102-page book scrutiny of the Government of Madras which subversive’ in it. However, it is not known ever produced. G.O. No. 532, Public,

after referred to as TA).

13.5.1896,

159

and explaining came under the found ‘nothing if the play was

(Tamilnadu Archives, here

12. G.O.No. 1217, Public, 17.12.1925, (TA). 13. G.O.No. 4872, Home, 2.12.1937, (TA). 14, G.O.No. 28, Public, 26.1.1921, (TA). Earlier in 1913, consequent on protest in London about cinema

shows held in Madras which were harmful to the British image

in India, the Commissioner of Police, Madras city, had been empowered under section 39 of Madras City Police Act of 1888 to call for full information on any performance to be held and to prohibit that if it offended order or decency. Memo.

No. 2921-1, 15. 16. 17. 18.

G.O.No. G.O.No. G.O.No. G.O.No.

Judicial,

11.10.1913, (TA).

4872, Home, 2.12.1937, (TA). 360, Public, 9.2.1921, (TA). 131, Public, 9.3.1921, (TA). 28, Public, 26.1.1921, (TA).

19, B.N. Reddy

(film-maker),

interview,

18.11.1975,

Madras.

Reddy was associated with the Telugu patriotic theatre in his younger days.

20. S. Sathyamurthy, SarHYAMURTHY PzsuciRAR (Madras, 1945), pp. 156-174.

21. M. M. Chidambaranathan, ‘Viduthalai Porattathil Kalaignargal,’ Napican Kurat, August, 1957, Madras.

22. Suthanandha Bharathi (poet), interview, 7.1.1976, Madras. He took part in the freedom movement, beginning with the Non-Cooperation

Aurobindo.

23. Manvural Jira

of

1921,

THYAGIGAL

and

was

Matar

a

close

associate

of

(Madurai, 1948), p. 31.

160 MESSAGE BEARERS

24. PROCEEDINGS OF THE Mapras XVII (Madras, 1924), 231.

LecisLaTive

Counc,

Vol.

25. There is an inherent difficulty in the study of popular theatre which limits the scope of any research of this kind. The performances cannot be preserved for study, unlike films which can be safely put away in the archives. Therefore, I had to rely heavily on interviews with play-wrights and artistes who took a leading part in involving the stage in the struggle for freedom. The scripts of the dramas served only as a basic frame for improvisation during the performance and therefore, even if available, could not be relied upon. 26. M.M.

Kurat,

Chidambaranathan,

‘Nadaga

Periyargal,’

Napican

October, 1965.

27. T.K. Bhagavathi (drama actor), interview, 30.12.1974, Madras. Bhagavathi is one of the T.K.S. Brothers and has acted in all their dramas in lead roles. 28, Ku. Sa. Krishnamurthy (play-wright), interview, 20.12.1975, . Madras. Krishnamurthy, a well-known play-wright and songwriter of the nationalist days, was associated with S.S. Viswanatha Das, K.S. Ananthanarayanan and other nationalistic artistes. 29. G.O.No. 1050, Public (G), 10.10.1931, (TA). 30. Udumalai Narayana Kavi, interview, 4.6.1975, Poolavadi (Coimbatore). Narayana Kavi was a song-writer of the freedom struggle days. 31. M. M. Chidambaranathan,

‘Viduthalai......Kalaignargal.’

32. G.O.No. 958-959, Public (G), 11.7.1932, (TA). 33. Pammal

Sambanda

1933), p. 69.

Mudaliyar,

NapacA THAMIZH

(Madras,

34. In Bengal, reformist and political plays had appeared much earlier. Even from 1857, the popular theatre in Bengal was handling such themes beginning with Kutin Sarvasya (1857), a play, attacking polygamy among Hindus, and Dinabandhu Mitra’s Niz-Darpan (1872) portraying the atrocities of

NOTES AND REFERENCES

161

European indigo planters in Bengal. The National Theatres which began operating in Calcutta in 1872 became the main plank of patriotic theatre which opened with Nit-DaRPAN and staged a number of plays of similar vein. This trend slowly gathered momentum till Upendranath Das’ Surenpira Vinopuint (1876), which portrayed a European district magistrate as the villain and a Bengali revolutionary who assassinates him as the hero, provoked the British. The government banned the play, prosecuted the author, arrested the actors

and went

on to pass

the Dramatic

Performances

Act of 1876, the main weapon with which the government in Madras also tried to control the stage. Manju Chattopadhyaya, ‘The Patriotic Theatre in Bengal: National Awakening and Imperialist Reaction 1872-1876’ in THE PRocEEDINGS OF THE Inp1an History Coneress, 36TH Session, Aligarh, 1975.

35. Vengalathur Swaminatha 25.2.1975, Madras.

Sarma

(play-wright),

interview,

36. The story of Valli, consort of Murugan, was one of the most popular themes on the stage. M. P. Sivagnanam, VipuTHALAI Port,

p.193.

THamizH

VALARNDHA

37. M. M.Chidambaranathan,

VARALARU

(Madras,

1970),

‘Viduthalai...... Kalaignargal.’

38. Ibid. 39. Swaminatha Sarma, (Madras, 1924).

BANAPURATHU

VEERAN—ORU

NATAKAM

G.O.No. 420, Public, 5.5.1926, (TA). 41. G.O.No. 5850, Home, 6.12.1938, (TA). 42, G.O.No. 270, Public (G), 17.2. 1932, (TA). 43, T. K. Shanmugam, 1973), p.158.

Enatuu

Nataxa

NInarvucaL

(Madras,

. M. M. Chidambaranathan, ‘Madurai Mudhal Chennai Varai,’

Napican Kurat, September, 1965.

45. K.B. Sundarambal (drama and film actress), interview, 9.4.1975, Madras. She continued to compaign for the Congress during

11

UE BAG PENG ATG OD bedeuracnse ob

T

SINEV CAEL

THE

162

MESSAGE BEARERS elections upto 1967. In 1958 she was nominated a member of the Madras Legislative Council. . §. Ambujammal,

p. 158.

Naan

KanpA

BHARATHAM

(Madras,

1973),

47. Kunpust, November, 1952, (Madras). 48. Kovai A.Ayyamuthu, interview, 21.10.1974, Singarampalayam, (Coimbatore). . 49. Narasimha Bharathi, interview. 50. G.O.No. 250, Public (G), 1.2.1936, (TA). 51. G.O.No. 1992, Home, 25.5.1937, (TA). 52. G.O.No. 1225, Home, 7.3.1938, (TA). 53.

G.O.No. 4694, Home, 22.11.1937, (TA).

54. Tamizy Nataka Karat ABIviRUTHI MaHAnaDu 55. S. Y. Krishnaswamy,

(Erode, 1944).

‘The’ Drama in Three Tenses-A Survey

of the Tamil Stage,’ THe Hinpv,

31.1.1971.

56. Almost all the leading actors and many of the directors of the post-Independence Tamil cinema were from the drama companies. Popular Songs and the Civil Disobedience Movement

. G.O.No. 1378-79, Home, 2.5.1944, (TA).

/

. Itheil De Sola Pool, ‘Mass Media and Politics’ in Communica-

TIONS AND PotiTIGAL DEVELOPMENT, Ed. Lucian W. Pye, (Princeton, 1965).

. This was a music-dance form performed in the precincts of temples, under the aegis of kings and nobles, and was nat commercially organised. M. P. Somasundaram, ‘Folk Songs in Tamilnadu,’ or II Wortp Tami. Conrerence (Madras, 1968).

Souvenir

. These three publications and many more titles of this nature are in the private collection of Roja Muthaiya Chettiyar of ‘Kottaiyur, Ramanathapuram District.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

163

This and further references till the end of this paragraph are from

Sumit

Sarkar,

THE

SwaApEsH1

MovEMENT

1903-1908 (New Delhi, 1973), pp. 282-301.

IN BENGAL

P. Thooran, ‘Sudhandhira Sanganathathin Kavithaikural’ in SupHantura CHupar (Madras, 1957). Dictionary

(Calcutta,

oF NationaL

1972).

BiocrapHy,

Vol.I, Ed., S. P. Sen.

. R.A. Padmanabhan, ‘Nilakanta .Bramhachari,’

Review, February 1974, (Madras).

THE

INDIAN

10. G.O.No. 531, Public (G), 6.4.1932, (TA). ll. ‘Maovurat Jitta TuyacicaL Matar 12.

(Madurai,

1948).

R. Iavarasu, ‘Indhiya Viduthalai Iyakathil Bharathidasan,’

Buvanam, II, 1976, (Madras).

13. K. Diraviam, p.17. 14, Crvit

Destvam

Disopepience

VALARTHA

:

Movement

THaAMIzH

(Madras,

1974),

:

1930-31, (TA).

15. Manju Chattopadhyaya, ‘The Patriotic Theatre in Bengal...’ 16. See the last chapter of this book for more details on governmental control over cinema. 17, Dictionary or Nationat Biocrapuy, Vol.III. 18. Crviz DisoBeDIENcE MoveMENT, (TA). ° 19, B. S. Ramaiya, interview, 6.6.1975, Madras. Ramaiya,.a writer, was an active nationalist. He took part in the Vedaranyam March and was imprisoned. 20. M. M. Chidambaranathan, ‘Viduthalai....Kalaignargal.’ 21. K.S. Gopalakrishnan, interview, 8.1.1976, Madras. He was an active organizer in the Civil Disobedience Movement and suffered imprisonment. He was a member of the All India Congress Committee. He‘later won much acclaim as a film director and

as an actor.

22. G.O.No. 303, Public (G), 23.2.1932, (TA).

164

MESSAGE BEARERS

23, G.O.No. 531, Public (G), 6.4.1932, (TA). 24. Bhagat Singh was arrested when he lobbed a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly in April 1929. He was sentenced to be hanged, along with two other revolutionaries, Rajaguru and Sukh Dev. They were executed on 23rd March 1931 and

were

cremated

by the

police

banks of the Sutlej near Ferozepur.

the same

night,

on

the

25. G.O.No. 1324, Public (G), 15.10.1932, (TA). 26. B. S. Baliga, Mapras.... INDEPENDENCE. 27. Tue Hinov, 30.1.1931. 28. Tue Hinou, February, March and April, 1931. 29. Namakal. P. Ramalingam pp. 298-300.

Pillai, En Katuar (Madras,

1944),

30. G.O.No. 2414, Local and Municipal, 17.6.1930, (TA). 31. M. P. Sivagnanam, VipuTHatal.... p.143. 32. G.O.No. 340, Public (G), 24.2.1932, (TA). A statue of Kumaran

Tirupur

in

1957.

with the flag in hand

was

erected in

33. G.O.No. 897, Public (G), 2.9.1932, (TA). 34. M. M. Chidambaranathan,

op.cit.

35. G.O.No. 1050, Public (G), 10.10.1931, (TA). 36. K. B. Sundarambal, interview. 37. M. P. Sivagnanam, op. cit. p. 159. 38. Kunovust, February, 1949, (Madras). 39. G.O.No. 270, Public (G), 17.2.1932, (TA). 40. Daily programme published in THz Hinnv, 1930 and 1931. 41. CATALOGUE oF SouTHERN INDIA REcoRDS (The Gramophone Company Ltd., Bombay, 42, Private collection of records of V. Sundaram. 43. Tue Hinou, 22.9.1933. Tue Hinpv, 13.10.1933.

1933).

NOTES AND REFERENCES

165

45. G.O.No. 23, Public (G), 6.1.1934, (TA). 46. P. S. Vasan, TamizH TALKIE p.141,

PramucarGAL (Madras,

1937),

47. Ibid. p.143. 48, G.O.No. 1041, Public (G), 8.10.1931, (TA). 49, G.O.No. 1054, Public (G), 12.10.1931, (TA). Also THe Hinpvu,

28.1.1931.

50. Tue Hinnv, 30.1.1931. 51. Tue Hinov, 24.1.1931. 52. See the list of proscribed books at the end of this chapter. 53. One of the earliest of such ballads attributed to Beschi is KrrHeri AmmaL AmMANAI, printed in the first half of 18th century.

After 1900, a number of booklets of songs and ballads were published in Madras and these were called ‘Kujilikadai books’, named after the southern end of Devaraja Mudali Street of George Town in Madras where these books were sold.

‘Report on the Seminar on Ballads in Tamilnadu, 6.1.1974,’

Tue BULLETIN oF THE

January - June, K. Kandhaiya

INSTITUTE

1976,

Pillai,

(Madras), Ed.,

1922). See Introduction.

OF TRADITIONAL

pp.

SaNcEETHA

161-206.

Turratcat

CULTURE, (Madras,

55. Evidently there was a group in Ceylon which gave active support to the Civil Disobedience Movement in the mainland. J.P. Rodrigues of Tuticorin went to Ceylon to recruit volunteers for the movement and many came over and took part in the salt agitation at Vedaranyam. Tue Report or THE WorkING ComMITTEE oF TAMILNADU Coneress 1929-1931 (published in Taz Hinpv, 9.6.1931). 56. 57. 58.

G.O.No. 1105, Public (G), 19.8.1932, (TA). G.O.No. 1280, Public (G), 17.12.1931, (TA). G.O.No. 23, Public (G), 6.1.1934, (TA).

59. See the chapter on Patriotic Cinema for the later developments

in this direction.

Lidautics

WLAIGAN

UP

UNINC

bHe

~ 166

MESSAGE BEARERS

Birth of a New, Medium : Silent Cinema . 1. A researcher engaged in a handicapped by the lack of end product has necessarily cap is, of course, the virtual the films, to work with. Out

study. of silent cinema is’ severely original material and therefore the to be incomplete. The major handinon-existence of primary ‘material, of nearly 67 feature films and about

38 known documentary titles, only one film, MARTHANDAVARMAN (1931), has survived. There was no conscious effort at

preservation. After their initial one or two week run, films were handed over to the touring companies, who by the time they

were through with them, had totally destroyed the films‘ by bad and

constant handling.

When

film companies were liqui-

dated, the films were sold as junk to dealers who made a little money by extracting silver from the nitrate contents in the

film. Nitrate stock which was used often decomposed in hot weather. Even still photographs of the period are hard to come by. This study was done only on the basis of interviews with actors, actresses, cinematographers and other technicians who were involved in film-making in the silent era, newspaper files, back-numbers of magazines and governmental reports. I am particularly thankful to

T. K. Seetharaman,

who

was

closely associated with General Pictures Corporation, for the discussions I had with him and for the contacts he gave. But for his help, this chapter would have been still more incomplete. 2. Eric Barnouw

and S. Krishnaswami,

1963), p.3.

Inpian Fim

(Newyork,

3. Report oF THE INDIAN CINEMATOGRAPH CoMMITTEE 1927-1928

(hereafter referred as ICC), Vol. III, pp.359-374.

. 4. CG. B. (Flash)

Madras.

Devaraj

(film journalist),

interview,

28.9.1975,

5. Souvenmr oF VINCENT’S Laonr House (Coimbatore, 1946).

6. Inpran Firms DraMonp Jusitee (1919-1972), Special. Number of Fras,

7. Interview.

(Madras).

1972, (Madras). with

Nataraja

Mudaliar,’

Guurrmataya, 5.6. 1970,

NOTES AND REFERENCES

167

8. Marudappa

Moopanar, an enterprising photographer from Thanjavur journeyed to England to learn film techniques and there, made a short film covering the coronation of King

GeorgVe in 1911. Hescreened this film in a number of touring

talkies back in Madras. He could not raise money to make films and joined India Film Company when it was started by Nataraja Mudaliar. , T. B. Nataraja Pillai, Cmemavin THennatu VARALARU (Thanjavur, 1958), pp.3-4.

10. lL.

12.

. Tbid., p.6.

ICG, Vol. III, pp. 135-147. P. S. Vasan, THamizH T. R. Varadarajan,

TALKIE

PRAMUGARGAL,

p.27.

interview, 19.4.1976, Madras.

as an assistant to A.Narayanan in GPC.

He

worked

13. Narayanan also met Cecil B. Demille and was a guest at ‘Pickfair’, the Beverly Hills mansion of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. There he got to know John Barrymore who later paid a visit to Madras. Narayanan accompanied him to Palghat (Kerala) where Barrymore received: ayurvedic treatment for arthritis. When Robert J. Flaherty, the famous documentalist from America, came to India to make ELEPHANT

Boy it was Narayanan who accompanied him to Mysore and gave him the necessary contacts.

Dr. N. Kalavathy,

25.4. 1976, Madras.

(daughter

of A. Narayanan),

interview,

14. Tue Hinov, 23.5.1930. 15. Many directors who greatly contributed to the growth of talkies in different languages had had training in GPC, including C. Pullaiya (Telugu), Y. V. Rao (Kannada) and R: Prakasa (Tamil). 16. C. V. V. Nayagam, interview, 27.5.1975, Kothagiri. He played the role of Sri Padmanabhan Thambi, the villain in MARTHAN-

DAVARMAN,

17, ICG, Vol. III, pp.345-346.

168

MESSAGE BEARERS

18. ICG, Vol. III, pp.322-332. 19. ICC, Vol. III, p.141. 20. ICG, Vol. III, p.307. 21. Letter No.1237, Law (G), 12.5.1922, (TA). 22. ICC, Vol. III, p. 347. The film was 8000 feet long. 23. Tue Mapras Mat,

17.12.1921.

THE

UNIVE

KS

iit UP MICHIGAN Liddalucs

24.. G.O.No. 2329, Law (G), 27.7.1927, (TA). 25. T.S. Muthuswamy, interview, 25.4.1976, Madras. Secretary to A.Narayanan during the GPC days. 26. Frasu, special number,

He

was

1972.

27. This 8000 feet long film appears to be one of the earliest advertisement films made in south India. 28. The situation in Bombay was different. Even as early as 1923 artificial lights were used, beginning with the film SinHacaD

by Bolyrao Painter. Isak Mujawar,

MAHARASHTRA:

Inpustry (Bombay, 1965), p.22.

BrrtH PLace

oF INDIAN FILM

. Tue Hinnv, 28.11.1931.

30. M. P. Rathnam, interview, 2.7.1975, Madras. He was a film editor with R. Prakasa.

31. T. K. Rajaram, interview, 28.4.1976, Madras. He worked as a technician in GPC laboratory. 32. Mangudi Durairaju Aiyer, interview, 19.4.1976, Madras. He was an actor with Associated Films and played the lead role in NANDANAR OR THE ELEVATION OF THE DowNTRODDEN (1930). 33. Ellappan, an actor with Associated Films, worked as an assistant to the cinematographer and became

a cinematographer him-

self. Until 1973, he worked as a Director of Photography in Gemini Studios. P. V. Rao and Y. V. Rao both started as actors and became film directors. 34. J.Susheela Devi, interview, 9.5.1976, Madras. She was the lead artiste for many productions of GPC and Associated Films.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

169

There were similar beliefs in the 1920s against recording one’s voice for the gramophone. It was thought that one would lose

the quality of his voice. Even S. G. Kittappa refused to sing

for gramophone records at first but later he agreed. Akkur

Ananthachariar,

1934), p.50.

35. ‘Reminiscences 26.12. 1936.

Srman

of Nataraja

T. K. Seetharaman,

S.

G.

Mudaliar,’

interview,

Krrrappa

THe

27.4.1976,

(Madras,

Mapras

MAIL,

Madras.

37. P. S. Vasan, THAMIzH TALKIE...p.37. 38. ICC, Vol. III, p.338. 39, Tue Mapras Mat, 29.10.1921. Biographies of Holleywood stars like Edie Polo and Elmo Lincoln were published in Tamil like L. Anantharamaiyer’s Ep Potro (Madras, 1922). There were even fan clubs for these stars. . ICC, Vol. III, p.179. 41. ICC, Vol.IH, p.25. 42. C. B. (Flash) Devaraj, interview. 43. A.T.Krishnaswamy (film director), interview, 17.4.1976,

Madras.

This practice of engaging narrators was also in vogue in Japan where they were called ‘explainers’. They formed themselves intoa guild which

was powerful

enough to delay the appea-

rance of the talkie in Japan. Peter Wollen, SIGNS AND MEANING IN Cinema (London, 1969), p.119. . Rathna Bai and Kamala Bai (different from the Rathna Bai sisters of talkie days), Kunpust, May, 1963. 45. Tue Hino, 10.4.1931. 46. S. K. Vasagam, interview, 26.7.1976, Madras. He could recollect the year. 47, Tae Hinpu, 22.5,1931.

not

170

48. ‘Tue Hinpv,

16.5.1930.

49. ‘Chitti? P. G.

Sundararajan

28.4.1975, Madras.

(Tamil

writer),

interview,

50. ICG, Vol. III, p.35. 51. The tendency to resort to uncinematic practices in telling a story on the screen persisted long into the talkie era, assuming different forms in different periods. In the early talkies, a film often opened with lengthy titles, giving a long preamble to establish

LidsAnics

UP NUCRIGAN

THE GNIVGiSiLT

MESSAGE BEARERS

the background

for

the story. This could be seen

in Marupa Natrtu Itavarast (1950, Tamil). The persistence of this characteristics even now is revealed when characters in a film narrate certain sequences in lengthy monologues which normally should have been shown visually. 52. ICG, Vol. III, p. 470. 53.

There is a striking parallel to similar treatment by Britain of the cinema industry in anothér colony. In Australia a significant beginning was made in film-making and by the middle of the 1920s, nearly 250 feature films were made. But the infant

industry soon had to contend with American and British films that were imported in large numbers. A cry for the pro-

tection of indigenous films went up and a Royal Commission

was set-up to suggest measures to protect the industry. But nothing came out of this exercise and the silent cinema in

Australia was slowly strangled out of existence. ‘Interview: John Murray’, Cinema JournaL, 23.4.1976, (Bombay).

55.

G.O.No. 2366, Law (G), 10.6.1931, (TA).

Tue Hino, 3.5.1930. Patriotic Cinema; an Aspect of the Freedom Struggle . George A.

1965).

Huaco,

THe

Sociotocy

or Firm

Arr

(London,

. Most of the films made in Madras during the first two , decades

of the talkie era are lost. About five films are preserved at the National Film Archives in Pune. This study has been made

on the basis of these films at the archives, newspaper reports

NOTES. AND REFERENCES

171

and -reviews and reports from contemporary Tamil and _ English journals. To that extent, this study will remain necessarily incomplete. Siegfried Kracauer, From LocicaL History or THE p. 6. Francesco

Alberoni,

‘The

Sociological Research on Ixon, Vol. 12-40/1, 1962.

Caticart To Hirter: A PsycHoGzRMAN Fito (Princeton, 1947), : Powerless

the

‘elite’:

Phenomenon

Theory

of the

and

Stars,’

5. See chapter on Silent Cinema for more details. 6. T. S. Mahadeo, ‘With Alam Ara in the South: Tirumphal Tour of the First Talkie Party,’ INDIAN TALKIE 1931-56, Silver Jubilee Souvenir, (Bombay, 1956). . Murugadas Muthuswami, ‘Rise and Growth of Tamil Fiim— Some Reminiscences’ (unpublished). Murugadas was one of the founders of Vel Pictures and a well known director of the thirties. . C. A. Radha Bai, ‘An Economic Survey. of the Cinematographic Industry in Madras Presidency,’ Thesis for M. Litt, Madras University, 1940 (unpublished). . For more

details on the involvement

of stage

artistes in the

freedom movement see chapter on Popular Theatre.

10.

A. Narayanan, ‘Production of Quality Films in India,’ THe Hinvv, 18.12.1931.

1. Dr. N. Kalavathy, interview. 12. Tue Hinpv, 13.5.1932, for example. 13. Sunpay Despatcu, 19.7.1936, Madras . (TA). 14, E. F.

Irschick,

‘Nationalist

and

Newspaper

Anti-Nationalist

Reports, politics

in

Tamilnadu: the 1930s,’. Nehru Memorial Museum, New Delhi,

IS.

1971 (unpublished paper).

‘Sankaracharya of Puri Mutt,

AN

on Tempe Entry [(Tiruchi, 1934).

Exuaustive

Open

Epistle

172

MESSAGE

BEARERS

16, Inp1a, 30.10.1934, Madras Newspaper Reports, (TA). 17, Arya Duarmay, 8.11.1934, Madras Newspaper Reports, (TA). 18. G.O. No. 43, Legal, 3.2.1939, (TA). 19, Tue Hinov, 10.12.1937. 20. Cinema Uacay,

11.8,1935, (Madras).

21. Sriver Screen, Annual, 27.2.1937, (Madras). 22. Drinamant, Bharathi Malar, 1935, (Madras). 23.

Tue Hinov, 5.6.1935.

,

24. Tue Hinov, 8.1.1937. 25. Tue Hinov, 14.5.1937.

26. T. K. Shanmugam, Enapuu Nataxka VazHKal (Madras, 1972), p. 289. 27. Tue Hinpu, 24.1.1936. 28. M. K. Radha, interview, 23.2.1975, Madras. 29. Tue Hinnv, 20.11.1936. 30. Tue Hinpv, 29.12.1939. 31. Oozuryan, 28.6.1935, (Madras). 32,

Tue Hinpv, 11.9.1931.

33. Tue Hinpu, 28.12.1934. 34, Tue Hinov, 1.5.1936. 35. Tue Hinov, 1.5.1936 and 17.7.1936. 36. Tue Hino,

17.9.1937.

37. A. K.

Chettiar, interview, 2.3.1975, Madras. Portions of this documentary ManaTHMA GANDHI are preserved at the

National Film Archives, Pune.

The Government also produced a number of documentaries

to bolster up the war efforts. For this purpose, documentalists

from London, including Alexander Shaw, were sent to India. Barnouw and Krishnaswamy, INDIAN Fin, p. 120.

38. S.

Krishnaswamy

17.5.1975, Madras.

(son

of K.

Subrahmanyam),

interview,

NOTES AND REFERENCES

173

39. Tue Hinpv, 24.7.1936. The introduction of a child actress, Baby Saroja, also contri-

buted to the success of the film. At this time in America, child

actors like Freddie Bartholomeo and Shirley Temple were very popular and their films were drawing huge crowds in Madras. Subrahmanyam seems to have got the idea of a child actor through these films. P. R.

Narayanan,

‘Child

Annual, 1938.

Actors in Talkies,’ Sirver ScrEEN,

41. P. R. S. Gopal, ‘Porattangal’, Bommat, 9.4.1975, (Madras). 42, K. B. Sundarambal, interview. 43. K. S. Gopalakrishnan, interview. Also THE Hinpu, 24.4.1930

and 7.5.1930.

Dinamant

Kaprr,

9.2.1973, (Madras).

To counter this effort on the part of the Congress, the British

Government also engaged film actors to prop up war propa-

ganda. Sir Arthur Hope, Governor of Madras, requested M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar to stage plays and raise funds for the war efforts. Ignoring protests from Sathyamurthy, Bhagavathar agreed. He however declined to accept Diwan Bahadur title which was offered to him in return.for his help.

‘M. K. T. Bhagavathar Kathai,’ Dinamant Kani, 11.7.1969.

45. Inpian

Motion

PicrurE

Concress

(Bombay,

1939),

p.7.

. Dinamant, 7.8.1936.

47, Manikodi

K. Srinivasan, interview, 23.5.1975, Madras. Tlangovan scripted AmpikaPaTHy (1937) and THIRUNEELAKANTAR (1939). $.D.S. Yogi scripted and directed ARUNAGIRINATHAR

(1937).

B.S.

Ramaiya

scripted

and other films before he started directing.

MADANAKAMARAJAN

Manikodi K. Srinivasan was appointed the Regional Film

Censor Officer in independent India. Tue Hinov, 20.9.1935. 49, Tue Hino, 5.6.1936.

MESSAGE BEARERS

50. Tue Hinvu, 26.6.1936. 51. K. Santhanam. ‘Indian Films & Nationalism,’ THE Mapras

52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58.

Mat, 26.12.1936.

Frm Gazette, December 1939, (Madras). Tue unvu,

11.7.1936.

Tue Hinpv,

1.5.1936.

‘Film Industry in 1941,’ THe Hinpv, 6.2.1942. Barnouw & Krishnaswamy, INDIAN Fito, p.125.

Tue Hino, 21.6.1940. It was in 1939 during Rajaji’s Prime Ministership of Madras province that Meenakshi Temple at Madurai was thrown open to all castes and, from then on, the movement grew quite active

in south Tamilnadu.

See

Oe ee eee

174

Film Censorship and Political Control in British India

lO

NS

. The first cinematograph show in India was held in a hall in Watson Hotel, Bombay on 7.7.1896, by a Lumiere group. This was just six months after the Lumiere brothers held their first show in Paris and in the same year as the first shows in

—

Britain, Russia and America. The first show included famous

Lumiere shorts like ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN and LEAVING THE Factory. Regular theatre screenings in Bombay began on 14.7.1896 at the Novelty theatre.

.Barnouw and Krishnaswamy, INDIAN Fito, p.3. Wilbur

Schramm,

Development

DEVELOPMENT.

‘Communications

Process’

in

-

Development

ComMUNICATIONS

AND

and

the

POLITICAL

G.O. No. 1348, Judicial, 9.2.1911, (TA). However, in deference to the request of the Secretry of State Miss. Allen promised not to perform her favourite number— ‘the Salome dance.’

G.O.No. 2335, Judicial, 18.11.1913, (TA).

5. 6.

Ibid. G.O. No. 2424, Judicial, 9.11.1914, (TA).

NOTES AND REFERENCES Letter No. 1087, Home

(Political), Government of India dated

_ (Simla) 23.5.1918 in G.O. No, 2391, Home 28.10.1918, (TA).

. REPORT

OF

THE

ENQUIRY

(Khosla Committee),

175

CoMMITTEE

ON

(Judicial),

FiLM, CENSORSHIP

(New Delhi, 1969), p.8.

. ‘He founded the Motion Picture Industry in South India,’ Tue Mapras Matz, 26.12.1936.

lo. W. Evans, ‘Cinema Publicity in India 1921’ contained in Letter No. 1237, Law (G), 12.5.1922, (TA). ll. Letter No. Public 159 from Edwin S. Montague, Secretary of State, to the Governor-General, dated India Office, London,

23.8.1932 in G.O. No. 804, Law (G), 24.3.1922, (TA).

.

12. E. H. Carr, PROPAGANDA IN INTERNATIONAL PoLrtics, Oxford Pamphlets on World Affairs No. 16, (London, 1936). 13, G. Barrier, BANNED, pp. 67 and 92. 14, G.O. No. 93, Law (G), 12.4.1921, (TA). 15. This film was produced by Universal in USA and was directed by

Tod

Browning.

Wheeler Oakman.

The

cast

included

Priscilla

Dean

and

16. Sumit Sarkar, SwapEsH1 MoveMENT, pp.282-301. 17. The year of the release of the film, where available, is furnished

along with the title. If no language is indicated within parenthesis, it means the film was a

silent one.

Information on the silent era of Indian cinema has to be culled from references to the films in government records and contemporary magazines. Films of this period have been almost totally lost and therefore cannot be viewed by the researcher. Out of 1300 films produced during the silent era in India, not even six have survived. Some of them are preserved in the National Film Archives of Britain in London and the .

Cinematheque Francaise in Paris. See

Bhargava

D.

Garga,

‘Lost

Treasurers of the t

Courir, September, 1974, (Paris).

Cinema,’..

LidanliLo

UP WILHIGAN

EsaGE BEARERS The National Film Archives of India, Pune,

established

in

1964, has salvaged a few thousand feet of silent film, including

some Phalke material. 18.

G.O. No. 2260, Law (G), 19.12.1921, (TA).

19. This film was produced by United Artistes, USA, and directed

by the famous pioneer D.W. Griffith. The cast included Lilian

and Dorothy Gish and Frank Puglia.

G.O.No. 1718, Law (G), 2.6.1924, (TA). 21. G.O.No. 573-574, Law (G), 9.2.1931, (TA). . G.O.No. 3871, Law (G), 15.11.1928, (TA). 23. G.O.No. 2986, Law (G), 23.9.1927, (TA). 24. Letter 162, Law (G), 10.1.1929, (TA). 25. G. Barrier, BANNED, p.92. 26. This was a letter, purportedly written to the British Communist party by Zinoviev, the President of the Communist International, and urging it to rebellion. This letter was communicated

to the

Foreign

Office

which

released

it for

publication. It was one of the reasons for the fall of Britain’s

first Labour Party ministry in 1924.

E. H. Carr, PROPAGANDA... POLITICS.

27. Government of India letter No. D. 991 Home (Political) addressed to Chief Secretaries of provincial governments in

G.O.No. 1555, Law (G), 11.5.1925, (TA).

Towards films from Russia, Britain followed the same policy

at home also. Eisenstein’s BATTLESHIP PoTEMKIN was refused

a certificate in England in 1925 and was not passed till 1954. Pudovkin’s Storm Over Asta was also rejected by the Censors.

WE

UNiveiiow)

176

Derek Hill, ‘The Habit 1.7.1960, London.

28.

of

Censorship,’

ENcouNnTER,

XV,

G.O.No. 1760, Law (G), 18.4.1929and G.O.No. 2098, Law(G), 12.5.1930, (TA).

29, G.O.No. 918, Law (G), 20.3.1926, (TA). Alice Terry and Antonio Mareno acted in Marg

Nostrum.

NOTES AND REFERENCES King Vidor directed THe Renee Adoree.

Bic

Parape.

32.

G.O. No. 1185, Law (G), 8.4.1927, (TA). G.O. No. 528, Law (G), 14.2.1928, (TA). G.O. No. 804, Law (G), 24.83.1922, (TA).

33.

G.O. No. 2260, Law (G), 19.12.1921, (TA).

30. 31.

The

177

cast included

But Gandhi himself was not much in favour of the cinema and did not recognise the work done by Indian film-makers

at this stage. In reply to a questionnaire sent to him by the Indian

Cinematograph Committee, he wrote

on

12.11.1927,

‘Even if I was so minded, I should be unfit to answer your questionnaire, as I have never been to a cinema. But even to an outsider, the evil that it has done and is doing is patent. The good, if it has done any at all, remains to be proved.’

ICG, Vol, IV, p.56.

34, Despatch from the Secretary of State, India Office, London to the Governor General.

No. 90 (Public) dated 11.10.1923 in G.O. No. 582, Law (G), 20.2.1924, (TA).

35. Letter No. 3/307/27 of Government of India, Home (Political)

dated 1.8.1927 addressed to all the Chief Secretaries, in Letter

No. 2359, Law (G), 20.2.1924, (TA).

36. Tej Bahadur Sapru was the Chairman of the Press Committee of 1921.

37. Barnouw and Krishnaswamy, InpIAN Fim, p.65. 38. Out of a total of 943 films screened in the country in 1932-33, 52.49%

4.67%

39. 41. 42.

12

was American,

from

other

32.87% British, 9.97%

countries.

Indian and

G.O. No.2749, Law (G),

25.7.1983, (TA). G.O. No. 582-83, Law (G), 17.2.1933, (TA). Tur Hmov, 29.6.1934. ‘Tae Hinpv, 26.7.1935. G.O. No. 582-83, Law (G), 17.2.1933, (TA).

LidsuuLd

43. 44,

MEssAGE BEARERS

G.O.No. 3651, Law (G), 30.8.1930, (TA). G.O. No. 3681, Law (G), 20.11.1935, (TA).

45. Firoze Rangoonwalla, SEVENTYFIVE YEARS oF INDIAN CINEMA, (New Delhi, 1975), p.54.

46. Mohinder Singh, ‘The Akali Agitation Over the Keys Affair’, Tue ProceEepincs oF INDIAN History Concress, 36TH

SESSION.

47. G.O. No. 1505, Law (G), 5.5.1924, (TA). 48. G.O. No, 2925, Law (G), 14.7.1930, (TA). 49. The

documentaries

on

Gandhi

produced

by

Indian

MauatuMa

GANDHI’s

Marcu

1930, Sarada Film Co. MauatuMa

Ganpu1’s

MauatuMa Ganpui’s Ranjit Film Co.

Historic Marcu,

To

FREEDOM,

Marcu—Krishna

12TH

MARCH

Film

ManatuMa

GANDHI

GANDHI To LoNDON— Lonpon—Krishna

FROM

ManatuMa GaANDHI’s RETURN FROM Peace—Saraswathi Film Laboratory. MauatomMa

Krishnatone.

GaANDHI’s

SPEECH

IN

Co.

AHEMEDABAD—

Bompay WELCOMES MaHaTHMA GanpHI—M.B. Billimoria RerurN or Film Co.

FRoM

Marcu,

Ul

EpocH-MAKING VoYAGE OF MAHATHMA Saraswathi Film Co. Ganput’s RETURN

12TH

MauatuMa Co.

BOO

film-

makers included the following:

UNIVE!

NULTIGAN

178

THE

Film

R.T.C.—Imperial

THE

PILGRIMAGE

PuBLiC

OF

MEETING—

TopicaL oN MAHATHMA AND OtHERS—Indian Topical Co. Manpvi Kuapr Exuirrion AND Mr. GANDHI AT JUHU.

Manatuma Ganput AFTER His RELEASE—Naujawan Film Co. ManatuMa GANDHI AFTER THE TRUCE—Imperial Film Co. Mauatuma Ganpuyi’s PUNARAGAMAN—Krishna Film Co.

NOTES AND REFERENCES Notification of the Government of Bombay, Home

No. 4583, dated 14.1,1933, (TA). The

other

following:

13.12.1932,

nationalist

in G.O.

documentaries

No.

107,

banned

179

(Political)

Law

(G),

included

the

Sen Gupta’s FunerRAL Processton—Pioneer Film Co. PaTEL’s

Procession—Pioneer Film Co.

Tue FUNERAL Procession OF JATINDRANATH Das. 45TH

NationaL

Concress

G.O. No. 5034, Law (G), Law (G), 3.10.1930, (TA). 50.

AT

Karacui—Eastern

29.11.1930

and

G.O.

Film

Co.

No. 4202, .

G.O. No. 5033, Law (G), 29.11.1930, (TA).

Jatindranath Das (1904-1929) was a revolutionary nationalist accused in the Supplementary Lahore Conspiracy case. He died in Lahore Jail and his cortege from Lahore to Calcutta was witnessed by thousands of mourners. Dicrionary

oF NATIONAL

BrocrapnHy,

Vol. 1.

51. The documentaries by foreign news agencies banned in India included the following: Ganpul IN ENGLAND—British Screen News Co.

Manatuma Ganpul In Lonpon—British Screen News Co. Ganpur’s Vistr To LANCASHIRE—British Screen News Co.

ARRIVAL OF MaHATHMA News Co.

°

GANDHI IN Lonpon—British Screen

GanDHI WITH CHARLIE—British Screen News Co.

Ganput Sggs Kinc—British Screen News Co. Ganput’s Activities In ENGLAND—British Screen News Co. Taxinc Ganput News—Paramount. ManatuMa GANDHI’s ARRIVAL IN BomBAY—Pathe.

Ganput Greets Kinc—Cinematograph Sound News. G.O. No. 107,Law (G), 14.1.1933, (TA).

Viv uuiy

MIU

Us

Villviilolis

BOL

180

MESsAGE BEARERS The ban on these and other documentaries relating to Gandhi was lifted in many provinces when the Congress came to power in 1937.

52. 53.

Letter No. 451, Home, 3.2.1937, (TA). G.O. No. 2131, Home, 5.9.1936, (TA).

. G.O. No. 2665, Home, 10.10.1936, (TA). 55. Letter No. 451, Home, 3.2.1937, (TA). 56. G.O. No. 2314-14A, Law (G), 17.7.1926, (TA). 57. G.O. No. 4031-32, Law (G), 7.10.1929, (TA). 58. G.O. No. 2454, Law (G), 15.6.1929, (TA). 59. G.O. No. 1911, Law (G), 5.6.1935, (TA). 60. G.O. No, 5188-89, Home, 29.1.1935, (TA). 61. G.O. No. 4947, Law (G), 19.12.1929, (TA). 62. G.O. No. 4210, Home (G), 20.10.1937, (TA). 63. Crviz Disopeprence Movement, passim, (TA). 64. G.O. No. 1009, Home, 29.2.1940, (TA). 65. Ganeshi Lal Varma, ‘Emergence of Labour Movement in the Party Politics in U.P. During the First Two Decades of 20th Century,’

the

36TH SESSION.

PRroceepincs

or

InpiAN

History

CoNnGREss,

. Tae Hinpu, 22.6.1935. 67. G.O. No. 2784, Home, 28.6.1940, (TA). . G.O. No, 1830-31, Law (G), 23.4.1931, (TA).

The film was produced by Paramount and had Emil Jennings

in the lead role.

69. G.O. No. 5307-8, Home, 18.8.1943, (TA). 70. Tue Hinov, 10.10.1943. 71. Government of India, Home, No. 80/5/39 Pol (I), 16.8.1940

in letter 2695, Home, 24.6.1940, (TA).

72. G.O. No. 4250, Home, 26.11.1945, (TA). 73. Government of India D.O. No. 1972/D/4 Political (I), Home, dated 26.11.1940 in G.O, No. 5075, Home, 13.12.1940, (TA).

NOTES

AND

REFERENCES

181

74, G.O. No. 1798, Home, 8.6.1944, (TA). 75. Government of India D.O. No. 1972 D/4 Political (I) Home,

dated 26.11.1940 in G.O. No. 5075, Home, 13.12.1940, (TA).

76. 77.

G.O. No. 1380, Home, 2.5.1944, (TA). G.O.No. 528, Home, 19.8.1944, (TA).

78. G.O. No. 3276-77, Home, 14.12.1943, (TA). 79. G.O. No. 1273, Home, 14.6.1943, (TA).

G.O. No. 1955-56, Home, 14.8.1943, (TA). 81. G.O. No. 1378-79, Home, 2.5.1944, (TA). Madras Newspaper Reports, September, 1935, (TA). 83. G.O. No. 216, Law (G), 15.1.1929, (TA). G.O. No. 1543, Home, 29.7.1936, (TA). Directed by Michael Curtiz, the story was set in India; Flynn was the leading actor in the film. 85.

Errol

G.O. No. 1398, Home, 13.3.1939, (TA). Tue

Hinov, 4.8.1939.

87. G.O. No. 2182, Home, 19.4.1939, (TA). 88. Presidential Address by Mr. S. Motion PicrurE Concress, 7TH (pamphlet).

Sathyamurthy, INDIAN May, 1939, Bomsay,

89. Tue Hino, 2.2.1940. The film, set in British India, was based on a novel by Louis Bromfield. The cast included Myrna Loy and Tyrone Power. 91. 92. 93.

G.O. No. 2749, Law (G), 25.7.1933, (TA). G.O. No. 2366, Law (G), 10.6.1931, (TA). Tue Hinpu, 26.7.1935. Tue Hmov, 29.11.1935.

94. Penelope Houston, ConTEMPoRARY p. 170. 95.

Ibid., p. 160.

CiNEMA

(London,

1963),

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ambujammal. S., Nan Kanda Bharatham Tamil, Madras, 1973. Ananthachariar, Akkur., Sriman S.G. Kittappa, Tamil, Madras, 1934. Arden, A. H., A Progressive Grammar of Common Tamil, Madras 1891.

Baker, C. J., Washbrook, D. A., South India: Political Institutions and Political Change: 1880-1940, Delhi, 1975. Balathandayutham. K., Jiva-Valkai Varalaru, Tamil, Madras, 1966. Baliga, B.S., Madras in the Struggle for Independence, Madras, 1957. Barnouw.

E. and Krishnaswamy, S., Indian Film, Newyork,

Barrier,

G.

Banned:

. guage

Termed Shen

Controversial

Literature

and

Political

1963.

Control

in

British India 1907-1947, Newyork, 1974. Beschi, C.J. Rev., A Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil LanTamil:

to which is added an

Tamil Poetry. Translated from Guy Babington, Madras, 1882.

original

Latin

introduction to

by Benjamin

Brandon. J. R., Theatre in South East Asia, New York, 1967. Brownlow, Kevin., The War, The West and the Wilderness, Newyork,

1979.

Carr. E. H., Propaganda in International Politics, London, 1939. : Diraviam. K., Desiyam Valartha Thamizh, Tamil, Madras, 1974. Duraikannan, Narana., Thamizhil Nadagam, Tamil, Madras, 1976.

Huaco. G.A., The Sociology of Film Art, Newyork, 1965. Houseton, P. Contemporary Cinema, London, 1963.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

183

Indian Talkie 1931-56, Silver Jubilee Souvenir, Bombay, 1956.

Irschick,

E.F., Nationalist

nadu in the 1930s,

New Delhi, 1971.

Nehru

and Anti-Nationalist Politics in TamilMemorial

Museum,

(unpublished),

Irschick, E.F., Politics and Social Conflict in South India: the NonBrahman Movement and Tamil Separatism. 1916-29, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1969. Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar, Tiru. Vi, Ka. Valkai Kurippukal, Tamil,

Madras, 1944, Kandhaiya Pillai. K., Sangeetha Thiratcht, Tamil, Madras,

1922.

Kracauer, Siegfried., From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film, Princeton, 1947.

Lerner, Daniel., The Passing of Traditional Society, Newyork, 1958. Mackenzie., Colonel Colin Mackenzie: First Surveyor-General of India, Edinburg and London, 1852.

Madurai Filla

Thyagigal Malar,

Tamil,

Madurai, 1951.

Marai Malai Adigal., Velalar Nakarikam, Tamil, 2nd ed. Tirunelveli, 1957.

.

Mcquail, Denis, Sociology of Mass Communications, Middlesex, 1972. Meenakshisundaram K., The Contribution of European Scholars to

Tamil, Madras, 1974.

Mujawar, Isak., Maharashtra : Birth Place of Indian Film Industry, Bom-

bay, 1965. Natarajan. S., A Century of Social Reforms in India, New Delhi, 1959.

Nataraja Pillai, T. B., Cinemavin Thennattu Varalaru, Tamil, Thanjavur, 1958. Pye, L.W., Ed. Communications and Political Development, Newyork, 1963. Radha Bai, C.A. An Economic Survey of the Cinematographic Industry

in Madras Presidency, M. Litt. thesis, Madras University, (unpub-

lished), 1940.

Report of the Indian

Delhi.

Cinematograph Committee

1927-28.

3 volumes.

Rangoonwalla, F., Seventy five Years of IndianCinema, New Delhi, 1975. Rasamanikkanar. M., Thamizhaga Kalaigal, Tamil, Madras, 1959.

Report of the Enquiry Committee on Film Censorship (The Khosla Com-

mittee), New Delhi, 1969.

Rhenius.

C.T.E., A Grammar

pendix, Madras, 1853.

of the Tamil Language with An Ap-

184

MESSAGE BEARERS

Russel, John., Ed. The Drama and The Theatre, London, 1971.

Sankaracharya of Puri Mutt., An Exhaustive Open Epistle on Temple Entry, Trichy, 1934. Sarkar, Sumit., The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal

Delhi, 1973.

1903-1908,

New

Sarma, Swaminatha. V., Banapurathu Veeran—Oru Natakam, Tamil, Madras,

1924.

Sathyamurthy. S., Sathyamurthy Pesugirar, Tamil, Madras, 1945.

Shanmugam. T.K., Enadhu Nataka Ninaivugal, Tamil, Madras, 1973. Shanmugam. T.K., Nadaga Kalai, Tamil, Madras, 1956. Sivagnanam. M. P., Viduhalai Poril Thamizh Valarndha Varalaru, Tamil, Madras, 1970. Smith, Paul., Ed. The Historian and the Film, Cambridge, 1979.

Subramanyam. N., Paridhimal Kalaignarum Nadaga Thamizhum Paridhimal Kalaignar Centenary Souvenir, Tamil, Madurai, (year not given). Sudandhira Chudar, Souvenir marking the centenary of freedom struggle, Tamil, Madras, 1957. Thamizh Nadaka Erode, 1944.

Kalai

Abiviruthi

Mahanadu,

Souvenir,

Tamil,

Venkataswamy, Mayilai Seeni., Thamizhar Valartha Azhagu Kalaigal, Tamil, Madras, 1956. Vasan. P.S., Thamizh Talkie Pramugargal, Tamil, Madras, 1937. Wollen, Peter., Signs and Meanings in Cinema, London, 1969.

Zvelebil. K.,

The Smile of Murugan.

India, Leiden, 1973.

On

Tamil Literature of South

GLOSSARY

Bhajan Bharatha Matha Charka

Cheri Dhivasam|Sirardham

Diwan Bahadur Gurudwara Harikatha Jatha Jathra

Kalakchepam

Khaddar

: Group singing of devotional hymns : Mother

India,

conceived

goddess. This symbol

in the form of a

was widely used by

writers, artistes and film-makers.

: A traditional, manual device to spin yarn. With one hand a wheel is rotated and with the other a strand of cotton is manipulated. This was a powerful symbol of nationalism and resurgence ofrural economy. : An enclave of harijans, usually removed from the main village : Hindu annual ceremonies in memory of dead elders : Atitle conferred upon loyalists by the British : Place of worship of Sikhs : Musical narrations of episodes from Vaishnavite mythology : Organised marches, with a view to draw public attention to a particular issue : A folk theatre of Bengal : Musical narration of mythological subjects : Hand-spun and hand-woven cloth. A symbol of nationalism

Geb hE Es BERS

SESEMIE SENET

NPR

Shai s oe

SUE

Baddm

186

MESSAGE BEARERS

Kirthanai Lathi

: Religious hymns

: A short club wielded by the police to disperse crowds. It was used very much during

the Civil Disobedience Movement to beat

Nadhaswaram Padayathra

up and terrorize picketeers.

: A wind instrument, on the model of clarinet

Pin-pattu

: Literally, pilgrimage by foot, organised marches, like jathas : Vaishnavite religious hymns : Back-stage singing. Often this became the

Sathyagraha

: Non-violent

Pasuram

Satyagrahi Swaraj

Swadeshi Takli Tarai

Thappattai

main attraction in dramas.

political

protest.

Takes

the

form of peaceful agitations like picketing and

demonstrations : One who takes part in satyagraha : Self-rule : Indigenous, as opposed to videshi (foreign)

: A small hand-held instrument to spin yarn : A long brass pipe, played during ceremonial occasions

Therukoothu

: A percussion instrument : Folk theatre of Tamilnadu, which has song,

Toddy

: Fermented

Vathiyar Vilasam Villupattu

dance and spoken word

palm juice, both from

coconut

and palmyrah palm, an alchoholic drink : Literally teacher, refers to the song-writer and music teacher in drama companies, often the key figure in such companies

: Aform of drama in which songs predominate : A musical narration of episodes. A large bow (villu) with small bells attached to the string is used to keep up the beat

INDEX

Contractions used: comp compared with infg influencing

infd influenced by irt in relation to

Number refers to the page. Number following n refers to the footnote number

in the page.

A

ANANDASHRAMAM 114

Actors see specific kinds. e.g.Cinema ac-

ANANDMaT 28 Ananthachari, Akkur 60, 169n. 34

Acharya, K.V. 74 Acting, emphasis in social plays 33,41-42 tors

Advisory Publicity Committee of Govt of Akali Movement 138-139

GRAPHY 4

Anti colonial sentiment theme in Tamil drama 39-40 Anti Indian American films 145-6, 147 British films 147 Antidrinking see Temperance Apostle Delegate of India, Newsreel 75

Au Bapusna 31, 34

Ali Brothers 25

Allen, Maud 19, 128, 174n. 4 Auu Arjuna 119

AMBIKAPATHY 173n. 47

Ambujammal, S. 162n. 46

American films

affecting British image 129, 130 145-146

of

129,

130,

131,

ANARKALI 72, 141

Anglo-Indian actresses in Indian cinema Annuat Reports oF SoutH INDIAN Ept-

Alberoni, Francesco 171n. 4

banning

Ananthanarayanan, K.S. 119

Annadurai, C.N. 42

*

Axam Ara 99, 136

15, 157n. 22

Anantharamaiyer, L. 169n.39

Adoree, Renee 177n. 29 Advertisement films, silent 77

India 76, 130 Aelikot 79

ANANDA ViKaTAN

134-135,

domination over Indian films 80-81 on Indian themes, banning 145-146 Amusement WEEKLY 83 ANADHAI Penn 84, 85-86, 116

Arden, A.H. 12, 156n.14

ARRIVAL oF A TRAIN 174n.1

ARRIVAL OF MAHATHMA GANDHI IN Lon-

Don 179n. 51 Artistes see specific kinds. e.g. Cinema actors

Arumuga Navalar 12

ARUNAGIRINATHAR 173n, 47

188

MESSAGE BEARERS

Arundale, George S: 34, 122 -Rukmini 122 rae Sydney

Buaxtua Gowrr 150 Buaxtua Kasi 141

Arya Gana Sabha 32, 59

Buama Parinayam 149 BHANDAR 47 Bharatha Matha character in cinema 131

Arya Duarmam

172n. 17

Buaxtua Vinour 131,135

Arya Sasua 158n.11 Arya Samaj 2

Associate Films 72, 74, 84

Audience participation in cinema 98 Audio visual techniques irt indigenous art 17-18

AVATARAPARIVARTANAM 28 Ayyamuthu,

Kovai A. 39, 110, 162.n 48

B

Babington, B.G. 10, 156n.6, 8 Bapauti Duntya 145

Bairava Sundaram Pillai, M.G. 31 Baker Motion Pictures Studio, 71

BAKTHAVATHSALA 74 Bala Manogara Boys Company 35 BALAMBAL 35

Bala Shanmugananda Sabha 37 Balasundaram, Madurai M.S. 59, 61,102 Bata Yoort 110, 116, 121 Baliga, B.S. 158n. 9, 164n. 26 BANAPURATHU VEERAN 36, 37, 161n. 39

Banpe MATHARAM 47

175n.13; 176n. 25

Banning see Censorship

Barnouw, Eric 166n. 2; 172n. 37; 174n. 56, 1; 177n. 37 Barrier, G. 175n.13; 176n. 25 Barrymore, John 167n.13 Bartholomeo, Freddie 173n.40 Baskara Das 31, 37, 57, 58-59, 61,102 Bartiesuip PoTeMKIN 134, 176n.27

Battling Mani 79

Benefit performances by stage artistes 38, Bengal folk songs 46-47

used for political

message

Renaissance 1-2

Bhave 84 Brosuma PratigNa 71

Biographies of Hollywood stars in Tamil

169n. 39

Brack Fury 142 Board of Film Censors see Censor Boards Bolshevik Revolution irt film censorship 134, 142 Bombay cinema irt

South Indian cinema 83-84

Bombay Film Distributors 72 Bompay Mar 110 Bomspay WELCoMEs MaHATHMA GANDHI

178n.49

Bommai 173n. 41 Booklets for silent cinema 81 Bose, Sailen 84

Boycott of British goods as theme of Patriotic songs 49

Boys Companies 23-24

Brandon, James R. 157n.1 Brecht 21 British allies, offence caused to irt film censorhip 134-135

films on Indian themes, banning 147 government irt Australian films 170n.53

cultural regeneration 16-17 Indian cinema 89-90

Besant, Annie 34

Beschi, C. Joseph 8-9, 156n.6, 9; 165n.53 errors and vulgarism in his works 11

Bhagat Singh 164n.24 his episode as theme of

patriotic songs 54, 59

Tamil drama 37

Buscar SincH KgerRTHANAMRUDHAM 59 Bhagavathi, T.K.

Bharathiar see Subramanya Bharathi, C Bharathidasan 42, 48, 58 Bhattacharya, Kamin Kumar 47 Bhumi Balagadas 31, 59, 102 Bia Parave 134, 177n. 29

Baby Saroja 173n. 40

Bannep

drama 26-27, 28

Braratut 35

160n.27

Indian history 3

image, damage caused by American films 129, 130, 135-136 irt film censorship 19, 129, 130, 135-136, 159n.1

Instructional Films Company 141

social life irt

films and press 19

titles of honour,

108, 132

ridiculed

Buacya Cuakra 90 Buaaya Lezzta 107

Broomfield, Louis 181n.89

Buaxtua Cetna 123-124

Bruce, Robert 36

Bhajans of patriotic songs 54

Browning, Tod 175n.15

in cinema

inpExX Bursut 75

BuLLeTin of THE INstiTUTE oF TRADITIONAL CuLTure 165n.53 Burgess, James 4

Burnell, A.C. 10

Burma Oil Company, accident 77

Newsreel on fire

Burma Rant 122, 123

Buvanum 163n.12

c Caldwell, Robert 13-14

Carnatic music exponents’ cinema 121-122

entry

into

Carr, E.H. 175n.12; 176.26 Carr-Gomm

129

Carson circus 99 Carvines or MAHABALIPURAM 75 CaTALoGuE 164n.41

or SoutH

INDIAN REcoRDS,

CaTALocuE RAIGONNEE OF ORIENTAL Manuscripts IN THE GOVERNMENT Lrprary,

155n.2

Carecuist of Kittarney 76 Censor Boards

see also Censorship; Film censorship

functions 129-130

membership to Muslims 141

non-official members 133 re-organization 114 working of 132-133, 137

Censorshij

see also 1 Boards; Film censorship activities during Civil Disobedience Movement 50

drama 35-37

ed 57

gramophone records

patriotic songs and song books 57-58,

60-63

Tamil plays 37

Chattopadhyaya, Manju 161n.34; 168n. 1 Chemicals in farming, documentary 77

CHENNAPATTINA PUKAIVANDI ELAPPATTU

46, 162n.5

Cuetnis 144

Chettiar, A.K. 114, 172n.37 Chidambaram Pillai, V.O. 24,48 Chidambaranathan, M.M. 29, 32,52-53, 158n.6; 159n.21; 160n.26, 31; 161n.37, 44; 163n.20; 164n.34

Child actresses in Tamil talkie 173n.40 Crip MarriacE 123 Child marriages, prevention of 105

as theme of Tamil talkies 123

Chinna Krishna Rao, Kopali 28

Chitra Art Productions, Nagercoil 74 Currrataya 166n.7 Chokkalingam, Raya

Cinema

120

see also Silent cinema; Talkie; Documentary films; Newsreels

actors

entry into active politics 119-120 entry into Congress 120

role in silent film making 79 stage artistes 80

training 70, 77-79 used

by

British

government

irt election campaign 140 - elitist class 88-89

- entertainment of the mass 67 hand colouring of films 77

houses

in Tamil

Nadu

see also Touring cinema

68-69

irt intelligentsia 118-121

Ceylon residents’ support to Civil Disobedience Movement 165n.55 Cuaxrapnart 119-120 CHAKRAVARDHINI 47

irt Nationalist Movement 118-121

Chandavarkar, N.G. 25

CHanpunt 143 CHanpra Kantua 34 Cranpra Monanor Samuca THonpu 109 CHANDRODHAYAM 42 Cuarce or Licht Bricave 146, 181n.84

Charka in

cinema 108-109, 115, 132, 148

drama 35,39

patriotic songs 49 Chattopadhyaya, Bankim Chandra 47

for

raising war funds 173n.44 actresses’ wrong belief about exposure to camera 79-80 artistes’ rolein Nationalist Movement98 censorship see Film censorship

Century or Soctat Rerorss In INDIA

158n.10

189

magazines see Film journals

+ popular culture 68 processing in south India 70, 77

infg public opinion 67

shows, government control 128-132 infd social and political issues 97 South Indian infd

Bombay cinema 83-84

Hollywood cinema 83

studios

in Bombay in 1920s 168n.28

origin and development in South India 70-74, 77, 99-101

theatre see Cinema houses use in election campaign 140

190

MESSAGE BEARERS

Cinema Journat 170n.53 Cinematheque Francaise, Paris Cinematic vocabulary

Tamil talkies 114-116

session at

175n.17

Amritsar, scene in drama 27 Belgaum 25 Bombay, newsreel on 113

in American cinema 86-87 in South Indian silent cinema

Coconada 138

infd mythological themes 87-88

+ title card technique87-88, 170n.51

Cinematograph Act (1918) 50 Cinematographic Industry in Presidency:

an

1710.8

Economic

Madras

Survey

Cinema Uxacam 172n.20 CINEMAVIN THENNATTU VARALARU 167n.

8,9 Civil Disabilities Act 105-106

Civil Disobedience Movement 104-105

irt Ceylon residents 165n.55

- film censorship 134-140 - mass communication 49-56

Civ Disoseprence Movement 163n.14,

18; 180n.63 Classical

181n.94, 95

Lars TO Tami

155n.5; 156n.15

Corner on WuEaT 150 Corruption as theme of Tamil drama 34 Courrer 175n.17 Crusis In THE Paciric 144-145 Crono-megaphone 69 Crown 70

British rule 16-17 Curtiz, Michael 181n.84

Dances in silent cinema shows 81-82 Danceuses’

drama 58

cinema 121-122

patriotic songs 58 Ciavis Humaniorum Lrrrgrarum Susumtoris TamiLia Ipromatica 156n.9 Cuive oF INDIA 146 35

Coconut palm, Cohen 68

documentary on

Cotonex Couin Mackenzie;

First Sur-

veyYor GENERAL OF INDIA 155n. 2

Communal amity as theme of Tamil tal-

kies 112 ComMuNICATION AND PottTIcaL DeveLopMENT 162n.2; 174n.2 Communist propaganda irt

film censorship 134

grammar

10

South Indian history 13-14

Conference

depicted in drama 35 leaders irt cinema 107 tule ist drama companies 40

Dandapani Desigar, M.M. 112, 121-122

Dasavatar 72 Dast Penn 33 Das, Upendranath 161n.34

David, Joseph A. 75

Dean, Priscilla 175n.15

Demille, Cecil B. 167n.13 Democratic liberalism irt

film censorship 140-143

de Nobili 8-9 Depressed Classes Mission Society 25 de Proenca, Anto 8-9, 12, 156n.13

Desasanpuu 36

DesaBruMANIKAL DuIvYAMUDHA THANAM 48 Desa MunnetraM 119

KEER-

Desai, H.R. 74, 90

Desincu Rayan 30, 35, 122 Destya GEETHANGAL 48

of drama actors, Madurai 38 on drama, Erode 41

flag scene in Tamil drama 34 confrontation with Justice

entry into cinema 79-80, 81-

Desa Bhaktha Samajam 48 Desa BHAKTHI 37, 38, 39, 114

Comparative GRAMMAR OF DRAVIDIAN oR Soutn INDIAN Famity oF LANGUAGES

film

Contemporary Cinema

ConTRIBUTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN SCHO-

D

drama 21 music irt

irt

Conoress Girt 148

Cultural regeneration irt

- themes of Tamil talkies 109

Comparative

Gauhati 76 Gaya 138

party

ip 143-145, 1800.51

Destya Katyana Patru 48 Desrva Kop1 35 Destya Kovaran 31 DestyaM VALARTHA THAMIZH 163n.13 Destya THatatru Patru 48

Desmond, William 80-81

Devaraj, C.B. 166n.4; 169n.42 Devashankar Ayyer 74 Devasikhamani, S.K. 14

Devi Bala Vinodha Sangitha Sabha 39

mnvex Devudu Ayyer, S.103

Dey, Diren 84 Dharmalingam Mudaliar, S.M. 70 DHARMAPATHINI 72, 85

DuarmaTuma 138 Duiray 145

Dialogue, emphasis in social plays 41-42 Dictionary or NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY 163n. 8, 17; 179n.50 Dinamant 120, 172n.22; 173n.46

Dinamant Kanir 173n. 44

Diraviam, K. 163n.13

Distribution concerns for silent cinema72

District authorities role in film censorship

132-133, 135, 137

Drwan Banavur 108

Documentary films, silent see also Newsreels, silent

advertisement purpose, used for 77 commissioned by British government 76,77 - Christian missionary 76

for Nationalist Movement 76, 138-140 banning of 139-140, 179n.49, 51 on Gandhi 139, 178n. 49; 179n.51 :

on Indian subjects screened in U.S. 75 on plants and animals 75 on temples 75 production, origin of 74

produced by foreign agencies banned in India 179n:51

Documentary playsseedocumentary plays in specific languages. e.g. Telugu documentary plays. Documentary talkie 112-114

on Nationalist Movement 139-140

produced by the Government 172n.37

Doveton, H. 76 Dowry system’s evil as theme of Tamil drama 33-34 Tamil talkie 110, 123

Drama see also specific kinds. e.g. Classical drama actors see Stage artistes

companies

history 21-22

patronised by zamindars 29

and silent cinema shows 82 DRaMA AND THE THEATRE 158n.3 Drama Review 159n.1 Dramatic Performance Act (1876) 26, 50 161n.34

circumvention of 40 DraupaTH! VASTHIRABAHARANAM 70, 79 Drums or Ouve 146 Dumpacuarr 33, 36, 109 Dupont Touring Cinema 68-69

191

Durairaju Aiyer, Mangudi 168n.32 E

Epr Poto 169n.39 Edison’s cinematograph 69 -Grand Cinematograph 69 Edward 68 Eisenstein, S. 134, 176n.27

Ekai Sivashanmugam 24 ExanaTH 111

Electric Theatre 68-69 ELEPHANT Boy 167n.13 Elitist class irt cinema 88-89

Ellappan 168n.33

Ellis, F.W. 3,10 ExMo THE Micuty 81 Elphinstone Talkies 90 Emancipation of women theme in silent cinema 85-86 Tamil drama 33 Tamil talkie 110 Enapuu Nataka Ninarvuaat 161n.43 Enapuu Nataka VazHkat 172n.26 ENcOuUNTER 176n.27

English story adapted for Tamil patriotic 'y

EN KATHAY 164n.29 Enquiry CoMMITTEE ON Firm CENsoRsup, Report 175n.8 EpigRAPHICA CARNATICA (1894) 4 EpicRaPuica Inpica (1892) 4

EPocH-MAKING VOYAGE OF MAHATHMA Ganput To Lonpon 178n.49 European actresses in Indian cinema 79 classical languages infg Tamil 8 oriental scholars irt Bengal Renaissance 1 works in Tamil 12

Evans, W. 76, 130, 175n.10

Evangelistic work, silent documentary 76 ExuaustivE Open Epistle oN TEMPLE Entry 171n.15

Exhibitor Film Services 72

Export of Indian films 144 Extraneous entertainment in silent cinema shows 81-82

F

Fairbanks, Douglas 167n. 13 Female artistes in silent cinema 79-80 Film see also Cinema; Documentary; Newsreel

Appraisal Committee, Madras 121 censorship

192

wRssAGE BEARERS irt allies

Bolshevik Revolution 134, 142 British image, damage caused to

19, 130 135-136 Civil Disobedience Movement 1819 134-140

Communist propaganda 134 Democratic liberalism 140-143 District authorities 132-133, 136, 1

during Congress rule 143-145, 180n. evolution 132-136 irt French Revolution 132 in British India 18-19, 125-149 infg Indian cinema 147-149

bile

MLS

UF

UNIV CNOE

BIL

to Britain, offence caused

to 134-135, 144-145

137,

Nationalistic

131-

police officials’ role 133, 136, 137

policy criticised 127-128 irt revolutionary ideas 131-132,134 rules, principles of 129-130

irt talkie, emergence of 134-140 - world war conditions 144 Journal 82-83

laboratories see Cinema processing making see the specific kind e.g. Silent cinema production Film Critics’ League 121

Frum Gazette 174n.52 Flag salutation ceremonies with patriotic songs 54

Flaherty, RobertJ 167n.13 Fash 166n. 6; 168n.26 Flynn, Errol 181n.84

Folk in in irt

songs gramophone record 57 printed form 46, 60 political message in Bengal and

Tamil Nadu 45-47

publication 46, 60 Tamil 46

Foreign cloth boycott scene in drama 27,

35 Forrtetu Door 141 Forty rirru NATIONAL ConGREss Karacut 179n.49 Forty, ninth Congress Session, newsreel on

11

17in.3

FUNERAL Procession or GOKHALE 74 FUNERAL

Procession

Das 139, 1790.49

OF JATINDRANATH

G

as theme of documentaries & newsreels

Muslim sentiments 131-132,

132, 135-136, 137-140, 145

entry into cinema 102-103, 119-121

French Revolution irt film censorship 132 From Cauicarr To Hirier: A PsycnoLocicat History or German Fitus

Gandhi

137, 140-143 Indian sentiments 146 Labour problems 131-132, 140-143 Locarno pact (1925) 134 propaganda

Freedom Fighters

Gaiety 69-70

irt Indian Princes, offence caused to

140-143

Fox Newsreel Corporation 75

139, 178n.49, 51

cap in cinema 108-109, 132

--drama 35 his leadership as theme of drama songs his views on patriotic cinema 177n. Trwin pact as theme of patriotic songs

b

Cannas Activites In ENGLAND 179n. Ganpm’s Vistr To Lancasnire 179n.51 Gano Greets Kine 179n.51 Ganpit In ENGLAND 1790.51 Ganput JAYANTHI

Ganput Ganput Ganput Gano Ganput

114

Manopayam 27-28 Mauixar 59 News 179n.15 Szzs THe Kino 179n.51 wirH CHarur 179n.51

Ganesan, Sa. 114

Garga, Bhargava, D. 175n.17 GreTHAGANDHI 124

General Pictures Corporation 72, 84, 99,

166n.1; 167.15

Gish, Dorathy 176n.19

Gish, Lilian 176n.19 Globe 70

Godard, Jean Luc 98 Gokte, E.G. 84

Gopal, P.R.S. 173n.41 Gopalachariar, K. 158n.11

Gopalakrishna Bharathi 85, 111

Gopalakrishnan, K.S. 53, 119-120, 163n. 1; 173n.43

Government control over cinema shows

in the early period 128-132

Government of India Act (1935) 106 Governor’s Cup 35 Govindaswamy, P.V. 32 Govindaswamy Rao, T.R. 22, 23

INDEX GRAMMAR OF THE HicH DiALEcT oF THE Tamm, Lancuacg Tsrmep SHENTama 156n.6

Grammar OF THE Tami. Lanouace 156n. 10, 12 Grasmatica DAMULICA (1716) 9

Gramophone belie against recording of voice 169n. record of folk songs 57 of patriotic songs 54, 57 banning 57

of Sundarambal’s songs 56

193

Hyder Ali 35

Hypocrisy of priests as theme of drama 1

Ibsen 21

Tangovan 120-121, van 1) ’ 1782.47 in.4: I

Tlavarasu, R. 163n.12 Tmorrar Grory 133

Imperial Films Company, Bombay 72,

137, 142 INAUGURATION OF WELLINGDON BRingE 76

Great Congress at Ahmedabad, 138

InBASAGARAN 39, 110 Independence of India infg Tamil cinema 124

Growrs oF Pza Piant 75

InpHu DzsABIMANIKAL JEEVIYA CHENTHA-

with song books 60

Griffith D.W. 132, 150, 176n. 19

Guarantee Picture Corporation 72 Gunaa Din 19, 145, 146-147 Guntur drama companies 26, 36

Gurudwara reforms 138-139 H

Hamara Desx 145

Hanp Book or THE Tama LANGuAGE

156n. 7 Hand colouring of films 77 HariscHanpra 35

Hays, W.H. 146

Heart oF THE RAJAN 74

HeEtt on Earru 149

Hill, Derek 176n.27 Hill, Marien 79

Hrpu 103, 113, 162n.55; 164n.27-28, 40,

Tamil drama 42

waizH THILAGAM 48 Inp1a 172n. 16 India Films Company, Madras 70 Indian Broadcasting Company 56 cinema affected by censorship 147-149 cinema, survey of 76 Cinematographic

Committee,

89, 136° 166n.3; 167n. 10, is

(1927

168n.18-20, 22; 169n.38, 40-41;

»

170n.50, 52; 1770.33

comments on Indian silent films 86

Electricity Act (1910) 128

History and British rulers 3

Motion Picture Congress, Bombay, 120 National Congress see Cot Pets series of documentry 75

43-44; 165n.49, 51, 55; 1670.14; 168n. 45, 47; 170n.48, 55; 171n.10, 12; 172n.

Press (Emergency Powers) Act (1931)

48-49; 174n. 50, 53-55,57; 177n. 40-41;

themes in American films 145-146 - -British films 147

19, 23-25, 27, 29-30, 32-36; 173n.39,43,

180n.66, 70; 181n.86, 89, 92-93

Hindu Social Reforms Association 25 Hindustan Films, Calcutta 84

:

Sevak Dal 119 & Co, Bombay 138

BEEnace istori

lays in Telugu

Historiography 2 Hollywood cinema infg South Indian cinema 83

stars’ biography in Tamil 169n.39

Horse-racing, condemned in drama 35 House of Lords, mock session in drama 39 Houston, Penelope 181n.94-95

Howarp or Viromia 143 Huaco, je A. 97

Huffton, T.H.

71,74

Hunter Committee Report 26

13

sentiments irt film censorship 146

Inpian Fit 166n.23 172n.37; 174n.56,.1; 177.37 Inp1AN Fits Diamonp Juarez 1660.6 Inpian History Conoress, 36TH. SzssIoN, ALIGARH, 1975, ProceEpinas 161n.34; 168n.15; 178n.46; 180n.65 InpiaN Motion Picture Concress, 77H

May (1939) 173n.45; 1810.88

Inpian SoctaL REFORMER 25 Inpian TALK

Si.ver Jusices Sou-

ventr 171n. 6 Inraya SAMACHARAM 35,

Indians in South Africa, song on 81. Intellectual

activity irt politics in Tamil Nadu6 Intellectuals irt

cinema 118-121

194 smssace BEARERS Lee Tee a. Conference,1919 ist film censorship 142

ular sup)

Kuappaam Vata 35, 37 Kasappar Ratina Parru 48 Khilafat Movement in

Irschick, E.F. 155n.3; 156n.17; 1710.14

Khosla Committee Report, 175n.8

International Newsreel Corporation 75 IRANYAN OR INATYATRA VEERAN 42 Inu SAKOTHARARKAL 107 Isak, Mujawar 1682.28

IVAN THE TERRIBLE 134 Izvestia 134

36-37

Javaya 119 Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre theme in

drama 25-27, 49

songs 30, 31 Jamsuiincam 37 JaATINDRANATH Das 179.50 Javaxonr 110

JEEVABALAN 34 JEEVAN 42

Jeevanandam, P, 156n. 21

ings

180n.70

Jtva Vacxar Varataau 156n.2 oe 26 Jorut Ramaruvcaswamsaar 110-111 Justice Party and Congress confrontation depicted in drama 27, $5

K

Kasuxi 157n. 1 Kalavathy, N. 1670.14; 171.11 Kauipas 99

Kalki see Shee thy R.

Kalyana Sastri,

.

Kalyanasundaram, V. 14-15, 25,48-49 1560.20

Kamala Bai 169n.44 Kamalam M.V. 56

Kamalaveni, M.R. 56, 103

Kamaraj, K. 38

Kamatchi

Natarajan 25

Kanagasabbai Pillai, v.5

Kandaswamy Mudaliar 33 Kandhaiya Pillai, K. 165n. 54 Kannan ax Karaatr 123 Kannammal, K. 57

Karupaiya Achari 48

Kattabomman 40

KaviraTHNA KALAMEGAM 122 Kavryin Kanavu 42 KeecuaKavaTuam 70 Kuapuar Buaxtut 37

Khaddar dress in cinema 132 drama 39

drama 27 songs 32

Kich drama of Vietnam 157n.1 Kacaino THe Germ Our or Germany 134

Kipling, Rudyard 19, 145, 146-147 Kirby, Michael 1570.1

Krrnert Ammar Ammanar 165.53 Kittappa, S.G. 38, 169n.34 Kohinoor, Bombay 84 Kooruravu Natakam 33 Koratut Sones AND DaNcE 99 Kothainayaki 114 Kracauer, Siegfried 98, 171n.3 Krishnadas Dwarakanath brothers 72 Krishna Film Company 139 Krishnamurthy, Ku. Sa. 160n.28 Krishnamurthy, R. 118 Krishnamurthy, Sripada 28

Krishnaswamy, A.T. 169n.43 Krishnaswamy, S. 162n.2;

174n.56, 1; Ta. 37

172n.37, 38

Krishnaswamy, S.Y. 162n.55

Krishnaswamy Ayyer, C.S. 116

Krishnaswamy Tyengar, S.K.6

Krishnaswamy Pavalar, T.P. 35, 49 Krishnatone, Bombay 99 Kujilikadai books 165n.53

Kuuin Sarvasya 160n.34 Kumaraswamy, O.K.S. 55 his statue at ‘irupur 164n.32 Kumaraswamy, Tha. Na. 114 Kounpusi 162n.47; 164n.38; 169.044, L

Labour problems irt

film censorship 131-132, 140-143 Tamil talkies 109

Laemmle, Carl 72

Lakshmi Ammal 40 Laxsrai on Hanyan Grex 110 Lalitya Natya Mandali, Guntur 40 Language used in drama, emphasized Leavine THE Factory 174n.1 Lire or Jesus Curist 69

Lincoln, Elmo 80-81, 169n.39 Lasr

or ANTIQUARIAN

REMAINS

Prasmpency or Mapras 4

IN THE

Literary

quality of patriotic songs, Tamil 58-59

revival in Tamil Nadu 2 Tamil see Tamil, Lives or BENGAL LANGESS 41, 146

INDEX Loan words in modern Tamil prose 15-16 Locarno Pact of 1925 irt film censorship 134

Losr Cump 74

Loy, Myrna 181n.89

Mauatuma Ganpu!’s RETURN FROM Pirormace or Peace 178n.49 Mauatuma Ganput’s SpegoH IN THE Pusuic Mzetine 178n.49 Mauatuma Ganput Arrer Hi RE.ease

178n.49 Manatuma Ganput AFTER THE TRUCE 178n.49

Lucite Love 80

Lumiere brothers 68, 174n.1

Lure oF THE Circus 80-81

Maunatuma GANDHI ARRESTTUPATTU

Lyric, 68

M MGM

195

32-33

Manatuma Ganput tn Lonpon

134-135

179n.51

Manatuma GANDHIjI’s PUNARAGAMAN

178n.49

Macuavatar 71 Mackenzie, Colin 4

Mackenzie, W.C. 155n.2

Mackxenziz Cottection (Calcutta 1882) 155n.2

Mauntravana 70 MANASAMRAKSHANAM 123 Manpv1 Kuap1 Exuiprtion AND Mr. Ganpu at Junu 178n.49

Mackenzie Cotuection (London, 1916)

Manicka Naicker, Choolai 32-33

MapanakAMARAJAN 173n.47 Madhava Rao 2 Madras City Police Act (1888) 159n. 14 Madras Film League 121

Mani, M.V. 103

Maraimalai Adigal 6, 156n.21 his Tamil prose 14-15

inGs 160n.24 Madras Literary Society 4

Marxanpeyva 70

155n.2

Maoras IN THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 158n.9, 164n.26 Mapras LeorsLative Councit, PROCEED-

Mapras Mat. 121, 168n. 23; 169n.35,39; 174n.51; 175n.9

Madras United Artistes’ Corporation 110 Manura Country 4 Madurai as centre for Tamil drama 38

Madurai Bala Meena Sangitha Sabha 33 Maourat Jicia THyAcicaL Mazar 159n.

23; 163n.11

Madurai Original Boys Company 33, 39 Madurai Tamil Sangam 5, 14

Manrixonr 103, 120

Mani, R.B.S. 59

Marathi Drama companies 22 infg music in Tamil drama 58 Mareno, Antonio, 134, 176n. 29 Mare Nosrrum 134, 1760.29

MARTHANDAVARMAN

167n.16

78, 82, 166n.1;

Marupa Natru Ivavarast 170n.51 Marudappa Moopanar 167n.8 Marudu Pandiyan 40

Mass communication during Civil Disobedience Movement

49-06

irt popular culture 17

\‘TERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE 77

Maara or Pappy 75

Maya Mayavan

Mahadeo, T.S. 171n.6 Mahalingam, T.V. 6

Meenakshisundram Pillai 5 Meenakshi Temple, Madurai, entry to

Mauasyaratua

123,131

Manarasutra: Birto Piace or INDIAN Fru Inpustry 168n.28

Manatuma 138

Mauaruma Ganput 114, 115, 172n. 37

Maunatuma GaNnput’s ARRIVAL IN BomBAY 179n.51

Manatuma Ganput’s Historic Marci 178n.49 Manatima GanpHl’s MarcH To FREEDom 12th marou, (1930) 139, 1780.49 Mauatima Ganput’s Marcu 12TH Marcu, AHMEDABAD

Manatuma

Ganpur’s

Lonpon 178n.49

13-a

110, 111

Meenakshisundaram, K. 155n.5, 156n.15

178n.49

RETURN

FROM

all 174n.58

Meena Narayanan 104 Menaxa 109

Muu 142 Minakshi Cinetone 100, 116

Mos sucuna 148

Mitra, Dinabandhu 160n.34

Modern Theatres 113-114

Mohana Nataka Company 22, 23

Mohinder Singh 178n.46 Moncoose 75 Monkeys 75

Montague, Edwin S. 175n.11 Moplah Rebellion (1921-1922), silent documentary 76

196

MESSAGE BEARERS

Motion

Picture

Producers and

Distri-

butors Association, U.S. 146 Motion Picture Society of India 147

Nataraja Pillai, N.G. 102

Muragadas, Muthuswamy 171n.7 Music

see also Carnatic music; Classical music in Tamil Drama infd

Chettiyar, Kottaiyur 162n.5

Muthuswamy, T.S. 168n. 25 Mysore

Kavirayar, Sarabam

Picture

Cinematic

32,

Corporation, Bangalore

Mythological films infg

vocabulary, silent

cinema

N

Nadaga Thamizh 1600.33 Napaaavivat 23

NapicaNn Kurat

158n.6; 159n.21; 160n.

26,31; 161n. 37, 44; 163m. 20; 164n. 34

Nagaiya, V. 120 Nagpur flag agitation depicted in drama Nalayutham

121

Nallaswami Pillai, J.M. 6

NaiaTHANGAL 102 Nambi

Arooran, K. 155n.1

Nam Inuvar 124 Nanpanar

106, 111, 119, 121-122

NANDANAR OR THE ELEVATION OF THE Downtroppen 85, 168n.32

NanDANAR CHARITHRAM 36 NANDAN CuariTHIRA KEERTHANANGAL 1

Nanpan Cuarrruman 85 Nann Kanna BuaraTHam 1620.46 Nannut 10 Napo.zon 35

Narasimha Bharathi 158n.8; 162n.49 Narayanan, Anantha Narayanan 71-73,

76-77, 83-85, 99, 103, 104, 113-114

167n,13; 1710.10

Narayanan, P.R. 178n.40

-Moti 72 -Swami Achari 70

-Swamy Chetty, G. 88-89

Narrator for silent cinema

in Japan 169.43 in South India 81

169n.35

Nataraja Pillai, Mannargudi 38 Nataraja Pillai, N. 56

Murray, John 170n.53

Muthuswamy

Nataraja Mudaliar, R. 70-71, 79, 166n.7 Natarajan, S. 158n.10

Moviz Mirror 83

Muthaiya

Nataga Katar 1580.7

Nataraja Pillai, T.B. 1172.8 Nataraja Pillai, V. 59

Natesa Aiyer, Madhirimangalam 122

National Film Archives, Pune 172n.37; 1760.17 National Film Archives of

170n.2;

Britain,

London 175n.17 Nationat Frac Hortine anv SaLutaTon Ceremony 140 Nationalist and Anti-nationalist Politics

in Tamil Nadu; 1930s 171n.14

Nationalistic plays see Nationalistic plays in specific language. e.g. Tamil Nationalistic Plays

song books see Patriotic Song Books

see Patriotic Songs Nationalist leaders’ lives as theme of songs 49

- -relation with stage artistes 38 Nationalist Movement

irt cinema 101, 118-121

-documentary films 138-139

infg silent cinema in south India 85-86 through cinema 51, 131, 132, 143-145

irt_ censorship 135-136, 137-140, 145 -symbols

in cinema 108-116, 131, 148

in drama 34-35, 39 National Theatre, Calcutta 161n.34

National Theatre Company 74 Natural history themes insilent documentary films 75-77

NAVAYUGARAMBAM 27-28

NAvEENA SARANGADHARA 109-110 Nayagam,

C.V.V. 1670.16

Negvamatar Karri 123 Neg ian Sruar Kataca Campi 49 Nehru, Jawaharlal 38, 105

Neurv Visrrs Sacem 113 Neill statue agitation 30, 49 Nelson, J.H. 4

New Inpra 156n.18

Newsreels, silent 74-77 on Gandhi 139, 1780.49

scpomored by government 76 on Congress happenings 112-113

mnpex on Gandhi 139, 178n.49 Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. 6 Nil-Darpan 160n.34

Non-co-operation Movement irt

drama 24, 26-29 songs 30, 48

No tax campaign irt Tamil drama 39

oO

Oakman, Wheeler 175n.15

Odeon Company 57

OD

bea 129-130 26-27 Oomar Tuurar 40

Oozityan 172n.31 Openine or Royat Batu in Mapras 76 Orenine or SALEM SWADESHI AND KHADI Exurrion By V.V. Grrr 114 Oradi Muthuveerappa Pillai 31 Orchestra in sillent cinema shows 82 Orpuans oF THE Storm 132, 176n. 19 Out door shootings 77

Pp Papa

Jorut 113, 114

Padmanabhan, R. 72, 84

Padmanabhan, R.A. 163n.9 Painter, Bolyrao 168n. 28 Pal, Bipin Chandra, 47

PANCHALANKURICHI BATTLE 40 PAaNCHALA PRABHAVAMU 26 PANDAVA AGNADHAVASAM 84 Panpavas 84 Pantulu, Veeresalingam 25

Papanasam Sivan 118 Papers on Mrrast Ricut 3 PARIDHTMAL KALAIGNAR CENTENARY

Souvenir 158n. 6

see also Suryanarayana Sastri, V.K. Parsi drama companies

in Madras 22

infg music in Tamil drama 58

Parex’s Procession 179n.49

Pathe Exchange 75 Pathe Studio, France 71 Pathi, P.V. 114 PATHI BHAKTHI 35, 109 Patrior 142, 180n.68

Patriotic drama

in Tamil 30 infg talkie 102 in Telugu 27-29

-song books anonymous release 61 banning of 59-63

bibliography of proscribed items 62-63

197

origin and development $2, 47-49

printed in Ceylon 60-61

infg talkie song books 61

-songs

anning of 57-58

in Bengal, origin of

47

in cinema 51, 108-116

irt Civil Disobedience Movement 49-50 irt classical music 58 in drama 30-32, 39

in flag salutation ceremonies 54 in gramophone records 54, 57 banning of 57

with song books 60 independent concerts 55 in mass campaign of civil disobedience

51, 52, 54

in picketing and demonstrations 49 in prison 55 religious flavour 58

in Salt Satyagraha 52

in schools under Congress rule 54 in Tamil 47-49 writers 58-59

commissioned by publishers 59 entry into talkie 61 - -theatre movement 26-29,30

Patriotism as a religion 47, 58 Pattabi Sitaramayya 40

Pattammal, D.K. 114

Pavaakonr 113

Peer Mohammad,

P. 59

Peninsula Company 71

Performing art irt 7 itical message Periyar, E.V.R. see Ramaswami Naicker, Vi

Peyum Pannum 74

Phalke, D.G. 70, 135

Puiuurpines 144-145 Puoroptay 82-83 Pickford, Mary 167n. 13

Pillai, K.K. 6

Pin Fatt artistes and. itical campaign pp Puble Resort Act II (1888) 128 Priacug Cunpuu 46, 162n.5 Plate songs, book of 60

Police officials

membership in Censor Boards 129,133

role in film censorship 133, 136-137 Political education through drama 35 -events in cinema 132

-issues infg cinema 97 -message irt forming art 17

popular art 18-20

198

MESSAGE

BEARERS

Tamil language 17 -plays in Bengal 160n.34 -propaganda see also Nationalistic propaganda in cinema 108-116 -situation in Tamil Nadu in 1930s

Punyas Papukotal Cunpu 49

-theatre definition 157n.1 in Jay 157n.1

Radha Bai, C.A. 171n.8

104-106

Puri, Surinder 158n.5

Pye, Lucian W.162n.2 R Radha, M.K.

172n.28

Radio comp gramophone as means of music 56

in J:ava 1 57n.1

in Phillipines 157n.1 Potrtics AND Socta Conrict in Sour Inp1a: Tue Non BRAHMAN MOVEMENT anp Tamit Szparatism, (1916-29)

155n. 3, 156n.17 Polo, Edie 80-81, 169n.39

Raghavachari, Bellary 29 Rains

CaME OR THE JALAPRALAYA 147,

181n.89 Rajagopalachari, C. 38, 40, 50, 52, 105, 107-8, 114

Rajahmundry Hindu Theatrical Co.29

Rajalakshmi, T.P. 80, 99

Pool, Itheil De Sola 162n.2 Pope, G.U. 5, 12, 156n.7, 11 Popular art irt

Rajamanikkam, Nawab T.S. 39

RajamBa 34

Raja of Bobbili 142 Raja of Venkatagiri 142

British rule 18-19

RayarajeswaRa NatakaM 157n.2

censorship 18-19

political message 18-20 Popular culture irt

Rajaram, T.K. 168n.31 Rajarathinam Pillai, T.N. 122

Raja Sandow, P.J. 74, 84, 116

ritish rule 2

cinema 68 mass communications 17

Rajenpra 33

Ramachandra Chettiar, C.M. 6

Ramaiya, B.S. 120-121, 163n.19; 173n.47

-stage

see Popular Theatre “support to intellectuals and

Pure Tamil Movement 14-16

politicians

Popular theatre research on 160n.25

Ramalingam

Pillai, Namakkal V.48, 52,

58, 164n.29 Ramaswamy Naicker, E.V. 25, 48, 59 Ram Piyari 79 Rangachari, B. 136

south Indian 22-30

Power, Tyrone 181n.89

Prakasa, R. 71-72, 75-76, 77, 83, 167n.15 Prem SanoeeTHa 145 Prive or Hinpustruan 74

Prince of Wales’ Visit to India, newsreel

on 74 Processing of film see Cinema Processing Procressive GRAMMAR OF COMMON Tami 156n.14 Proutsrtion 105 PROPAGANDA IN INTERNATIONAL Potrrics 175n.12; 176n.26 Propagandist talkie 114-118 Proscription see Censorship

Public health themes in silent documen-

tary films 76,77

Public opinion infd by cinema 67

Pudovkin 176n.27

Rangacharya, V. 4-5 Rangacharyalu, T. 36

Rangaraju, J.R. 33

Ranga Vadivelu 70 Rangoonwalla, Firoze 178n. 45 Ranjit Film Company 84, 139 Rao, P.V. 168n.33 Rao. Y.V. 84, 167n.15; 168n.33

Rasaputra Viyayamu 36-37

Rasika Ranjani Sabha of Trichi 23 Rathinam, S. 48

Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar, C.S. 121

Rathna Bai 169n.44 Rathna Bai sisters 82

Rathnam, M.P. 168n.30 Reddy, B.N. 159n.19 Reformist plays in Bengal 1601n.34 Tamil see Tamil Social Plays

Puglia, Frank 176n.19

Return

Punpauik 129

Revolutionary ideas irt film censorship 131-132, 134

Pullaiya, C. 167n.15

Pundarikakshudu 26

Punpit JAWAHARLAL’s MessacE

RTC

140

or MAHATHMA

178n.49

GanpHt

FRom

Rhenius, C.T.E. 10, 11, 156n. 10,12

INDEX Rodrigues, J.P. 165n.55 RosHANARA 36 Rowlatt Act

as theme of Tamil drama songs 49 ++ -songs 30

irt Patriotic Theatre Movement 26

Roy, M.N.

134

Royal Theatres 35, 39 Rukmani, K.T. 80 -Lakshmipathy 107

Rukmini Bai, C.D. 56

Rupavatui 23

Rural upliftment as theme of Tamil talkie 109 Russel, John 158n.3 Russian films, banni. 134

Sati Savrrier 35

Sathyamurthy, S. 29, 50, 55-56, 106-108,

119, 121, 123, 140, 159n.20; 173n.44

Saruyamurtuy Pesuorrar 159n.20 Schramm, Wilbur 174n.2

Sea Horses 135

Szarcu Licur 142, 148 Seetharaman, T.K. 166n.1; 169n.36

Select Touring Talkies 99

Self Respect Movement impact on Tamil drama 42 ~~ -talkie 105

Self rule as theme of Tamil drama 39 Sen, Rajini Kantha 47

Sen Gupta’s FUNERAL Procession 179n. 49

Ryatu Bopa 142

Sen Taso

s

Seventyrive Years

Sacririce 34

Sadashiva Rao, A.S. 48

Sagar Movietone 99 SaHopHARA Duronam 39 Saints’ biography, films 110-111

Sakthi Nataka Sabha 42 Salisbury, S. 99 Salt Satyagraha irt

patriotic songs 52, 53 Samarasa Sanmarka Nataka Sabha 23

Sambamurthy, Bulusu 39, 110 Sambanda Mudaliar, Pammal 23, 33, 121 160n.33 Sami Nayudu Nataka Company 22-23

Sanprwara 157n.1 Sanoam 145 SANGEETHA Trrratcut 165n.54 Sanjivi Rao, Kuppalur 29

Sankaracharyaof Puri Mutt 171n.15 Sankaradas Swamigal 23, 24

Sankaran Nair 25, 48

Sanskrit words in Tamil 11, 12, 14-15

Santhanakrishna Nayudu, K.S. 32, 59,61, 102 Santhanalakshmi, M.R. 38

Santhanam, K. 107, 121, 174n.51 Sarada Act 123

Amendment 105

Sarada Film Company 139-141 SARANGADHARA 107 Sarangan, B. 38

Sarasa Vinodhini Sangam 28

14

Serukalathur Sama

114

178n.45 Sewell, Robert 4 Suan Jarua 139 Shanmugam, T. K. 172n.26 Shaukat Ali 27

or INDIAN

CINEMA

158n.7;

161n.93;

Srraz 141 Shiromani Gurudwara Parondhak Com-

mittee 139

Shorey Studio 139

Sureematui Parinayam 122

Shri Bharatha Vilasa Sabha 30

Stons AND MEaninG IN Cinema 169n.43 Silent cinema see also Documentary Film, Silent distribution concerns 72

on Indian subjects shown abroad 72

preservation of Indian films 166n.1; 175n. 17 production in India_175n.17 research 166n.1; 175n.17

shows early period 80-82

origin 68-69, 174n.1

with

booklets 81

with extraneous entertainment 81-82 with narrators 81 with synchronised gramophone 69

south Indian 67-94

quality 86

production

Saraswathi Stores, 57 Sarkar, Jogindranath 47

constraints 86 in cities and towns 74 list of films made 91-94

Satu Axatya

infd

Sarkar, Sumit 163n.6; 175n.16 101, 113

Satut Anusuya 108

Satur Leetavatnt 109, 119

199

origin 70

social and political climate

85-86

training abroad 71, 167n.8

200

MESSAGE BEARERS training at Madras 72, 84

Suiver Screen

Singers

172n.21; 173n.40

see also Stage artistes

carnatic music exponents’ entry into Nationalist Movement 56 Smvmacap 168n.28 Sivabagyam, P.S. 57 Sivagnanam, M.P. 161n.36;

164n.31,37

Srvajr 30 Suz or Murucan. On Tami LrreraTure oF Soutu Inp1a 155n. 3

Smith, Stewart 70

Social and political issues in Tamil Nadu during 1930s 104-106 Social films infd mythological films 90 _ in Tamil 84, 85

issues

as theme of silent cinema 84-86 infg cinema 97

infg silent cinema in South India 85-86 -reforms depicted in Tamil drama 30-32 =-movement 25 Soctar Pirates 85 Socto.ocy or THE Fitm Art 97, 170n.1 Somasundara Bharathi, S. 14 Somasundaram, M.P. 162n.4 Somayajulu, N. 30 Song books for gramophone records 60

of patriotic songs, banning 60

Songs see also Folk songs; Patriotic songs

domination in plays 41

for political education 30-31 in commercial drama 30

in Tamil drama 30-32

Song Writers

entry into talkie 101-102

role in drama 30 South Indian Cinema See the specific kinds e.g. Silent Cinema + -Film Chamber of Commerce 116 Special drama 24, 158n.8 Spirit oF AGRICULTURE 77, 168n.27

Sprortine Lover 135 Sroaan S.G. Krrrappa 169n.34 Sri Nammalvar Films 119

Srinivasa Varadan, R. 30 Stage 21

-artistes benefit performances 38

irt Congress activities 28-29

entry into nationalist movement 38,56

--Tamil talkie 61,101-102; 1620.56 role in mythological Comp social plays

plays 41

social status 25-26, 29-30

Stace Girt 72 Star of the East Film Company 71 Star oF MANGRELIA 77

Storm Over Asia 176n.27 Stunt films, silent 77, 78, 79

Subba 61 ’ ubbaiya BI hagavathar, vat + S.V. S.V. 56,57, 56, 102, 119

SuBHADRAHARAN 119

Subrahmanyam, K. 72-74, 110, 116-118, 123-124

-N. 156n.6

Subramanya Bharathi,C. 15,30,47-48,52,

53, 56, 58 Subramanya Siva 24, 30, 48

Sudarsana Sabha 23 SupHanTHtra Cxupar 163n.7 Suguna Vilas Sabha 23 Sundaram, V. 164n.42

Sundarambal, K.B. 38, 49, 54-55, 57, 59,

61, 119, 161n.45; 164n.36; 1730.42 Sundaram, S.D. 42 Sundaramurthy Odhuvar 103

Sundararajan, P.G. 170n.49 Sunpay Despatcu 171n.13 Surenpra Vinopnint 1610.34 Surya Film Company 74 Surya Kumari 114 Suryanarayana Rao, Idavalli 29

-Sastri, V.K. 23 Susheela Devi, J. 168n.34 Suthananda Bharathi 30, 159n.22 SWADESAMITRAN

13, 47

Swapesa GEETHANGAL 47 Swadeshi Movement irt drama 35

Srinivasa Cinetone 99, 113-114 Srinivasa Iyengar, M. 6, 14

Tamil talkie 109 SwabEsHt MovEMENT IN BENGAL 1908) 163n.6, 175n.16

Srintvasa KacyanaM 99

-Sarma,

--P.T. 6

Srinivsasan, K. 120, 173n.47 Srinivasan, Kothamangalam 121 Srinivasa Sastri, V.S. 107

,

Subbaiya Pillai 38 Subbulakshmi, M.S. 121

Swaminatha Aiyar, U. 5 Vengalathur

35, 39

SwarajyA SwAPNAM 27

1n(1903-

34, 36, 37,

SwaTHANDHIRA NapHam 59

161n.

201 Tamil talkie

T T.K.S. Brothers 37-38, 40

child actresses 173n.40

see also Shanmugam, T.K.; Bhaga-

vathi, T.K.

‘Tagore, Rabindranath 34, 47 Talkie

classical music, entry 121-122 during Congress rule in Madras 114-116 infg drama 40-41, 42

see also Tamil talkie

infd drama 101-102

production

-nationalist movement 100-101 -patriotic drama 102 on saint’s life 110-111 108-116

arrival inf film censorship 136-140

in India in (1932-33) 136, 177n.38 training in Madras 167n.15

shows

in India in (1932-33) 186, 1770.38

in Madras in 1930s 99 song books

infd by patriotic song books 61 TAMIL ANDSansarr Inscrirtions 4 Tamil Cinema

during nationalist movement 97-98 in terms of Huaco’s model 97 -Civilization irt Aryans 6 - Brahmins 6

- British rule 6

Tamm. Crassics AnD TAMILAGAM 14 Tamil dictionaries 10 -drama banning 35-36, 37

companies 58

and Parsi drama

irt Nationalist movement 29-32 political theme 30-32 social reforms theme 30-32

songs, use 30-32

infg Tamil talkie 101-102 infd Tamil talkie 40-41, 42 12, 15

-language 5, 7-9

irt politics and politicians 15-16, 17 -folk songs used for political message 45,46

Tamm

Napu_

Worxinc

Conoress

Committze

Report 165n.55 Tamil novels 143

production in 1930s 99-101

socials 109-112 song writers entry 101-102 si artistes entry 101-102 infd World War II 122-124 Tamizh Nadu Nadigar Sangam 38

Tamizu Nataka KALAt ABIVIRUTHI

Mananavu, Erope (1944) 162n.54 TasazH TALK PramuGargat 165n.46;

167n.11; 169n.37

Tata Publicity Corporation 76 Taylor, William 4, 155n.2

Telugu

documentary plays 36 drama infg artistes 40 irt Non-Co-operation Movement

26-29

historical plays 36

‘Temperance

propaganda 105 theme in

patriotic songs 49, 53

‘Tamas EicoTzzn Hunprep Yzars Aco 5

Tamil journalism

irt political propaganda preservation of early films 170n.2

banning 26, 36-37

during World War II 41

music infd Marathi

independence 124

ComMrrrze,

(1929-31)

adapted for stage 33-34 infg Tamil social plays 33

silent cinema 85 Tamil plays 35

Tamil talkie 109, 123

Temple, Shirley 173n.40

Temple entry 174n.58 il passed by Madras legislature in

(1933) 105

‘Terror or CHacta Pura

Terry, Alice 134, 176.29

Tax.

141

Sona 57

-social plays 33-34, 35

‘THAKSHAYAGNAM 119 Tuauikorra YuppHamu 36 Thani Nayagam, Xavier S. 156n.13 Thapa Venkatachala Bhagavathar 23 ‘THAYUMANAVAR 112 Theatre see Drama Tueatre In Sours East Asta 157n.1

‘Tamits AND THER LanauacE 14

Themes of drama

-newspapers and periodicals 13 ‘Tasat Portuauese Dictionary AD6179

12, 156n.13

Tamil reformist plays

infg Tamil theatre 41

Tasau Stupms 14

Theatrical family 23-24

anti colonial sentiments 39-40

202

MESSAGE BEARERS

Bhagat Singh episode 37 corruption of official life 34 dowry system evils 33-34 emancipation of women 33 historical events 36 hypocrisy of priests 34 nationalism 34-42 no tax campaign 39 self rule 39

temperance 35

- -patriotic songs

Bhagat Singh episode 54 boycott of British goods 49 charka 49 Gandhi-Irwin pact 53 local political events 49 nationalist leaders lives 49 salt satyagraha events 53 temperance 49, 53

- -patriotic songs in drama Gandhi’s leadership 49

Jallianwalla Bagh massacre 49 Rowlatt Act 49

----in gramaphone records

Gandhi's participation in RTC, 1931

--silent cinema contemporary social problems 84-86 emancipation of women 85-86 temperance 85

untouchability 85

- -silent documentary films chemicals in farming 77

evangelistic work 76 Moplah rebellion 76 natural history 75-77

public health 76,77

- -Tamil talkie child marriage evils 123 civil disobedience 109 communal amity 112

dowry system evils 110,123

emancipation of women 110 labour problems 109 rural upliftment 109 swadeshi principle 109 temperance 109, 123

untouchability 110, 111, 123

Theosophical society 34 Therukoothu 162n.3 its features in Tamil drama 49 THIRUNEELAKANTAR 173n.47

Thiru Vi Ka see Kalyanasundaram, V.

THonpar Papar Patru 48 Thooran,

P. 163n.7

Thulasiram, L.K. 56

Tuyacasuoomt 45, 51, 74, 116-118, 145,

173n.40

Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, M.K. 173n.44 Tuyaar 124

Tilak, B.G.L. 27

his life in plays 28 Twak Manaray NatakaM 28 Tilak Nataka Samajam 27

Tinnevelly District Women’s Conference,

(1934) 105

sedition case, 24

Tirumalai Kozhundu, T.S. 56 Tiruppur O.K.S.

Kumaran

ses Kumaraswamy,

Title card technique in cinema infg cinematic vocabulary in

Indian cinema 87-88, 170n.51

south

Tito, J. 144

ToxkaprryaM 10 Toricats ON MAHATHMA

178n, 49

TopocrapuicaL

AND

OTHERS

List or INscRIPTIONS OF

Manras PresiDency 4-5

Torney, R.G. 70, 135

Touring silent cinema in south India in

1920s 81 -talkies in Tamil Nadu in 1930s 99

Training of cinema artistes 70, 77-79

Trey ‘O’ Hearts 80 Tristram San

Triva, Victor 150

131

U

Udumalai Narayana Kavi 32, 160n.30

Unauthorised News Sheets and News paper Ordinance (1930) 50 Unrur ine oF THE NaTIoNnat Frac 113 United Artistes Corporation 116 Universal City Studio, Hollywood 72 -Company, U.S. 80

Untouchability as theme of silent cinema 85

Tamil talkie 110, 111

Untuar VerKal ALLADHU NATTUPPADAL 4

Vv

Va. Ra. 103, 120

Vauiar Sanoam 114 Vaixat Kurippuca 156n. 20 Vatu THIRUMANAM 38 Varadarajan, T.R. 167n.12

Varadarajulu, P. 25 Varma, Gandhi Lal 180n. 65 Vasagam, S.K. 82-83, 84, 169n.46 Vasan, P.S. 165n.46; 167n.11; 169n.37 Vasudevan Nair, S.V. 32

INDEX Vathiyar’s role, in drama 30

Veeranatnu Err Uparppu VELLATHAL Mapinpua VieargeTHa Cuinpu 46, 162n.5

Veer Bunsen 84

Veerian, R. 36

Vezeru Petru Nitiapa 30

Vellaisamy Thevar see Baskara Das

Vevacar Nakarikam 156n. 19 Vel Pictures Studios 100 Veluswamy Kavirayar, N.S. 48

‘VEnEREAL Diseases 77 Venkataramayya, N. 6

Venkiah, R. 69-70, 71

Venucanam 119 Vidor, King 134, 177n. 29

ViputTHatal Port THAMIZH VALARNDHA Varataru

161n.36; 164n.31, 37

Viva BuusHant 35 Virasam 49 Vilochana 79

VimocHanam 123

Vincent, Swamikannu, 68-69

Vincents Licht House Souvenir 166n.5

Ww War conditions irt film censorship 144 -effort films 123 Warner Brothers 146

War propaganda films 144 Warwick, 68 Weiner, John 147 Wilks 3, 4

Wilson, H.N. 4, 155n.2 Wilson, Woodrow

Winslow, Miron 13

142

Wollen, Peter 169n.43

Works on Mysore 3 Wortp Tamit Conrerence, 2np,

Mapras, 1968 Souvenir 162n.4 World War IT

infg Tamil Cinema 122-124

Waratu 137, 138

Y Yogi, S.D.S. 120-121, 173n.47 Zz

Virow oF StampBut 131,175n. 15 ‘ViswAMITHRA 87

Zamindars as patrons of drama 40 Zanuck, Darryl 147

Viswanatha Iyer, Maharajapuram 106

Ziegenbalg 8-9, 10 Zinoviev’s letter 134, 1760.26

Viswantha Das, S.S. 31, 49, 55, 57 Viswanatha Mudaliar, Kasi 33

Viswanathan, S. 36

Zary Zarzuela 157n.1

Zvelebil, K. 155n.3, 4

203

THE

UNIVERSITY

OF MICHIGAN

10 NCUON 3 9015

00924 3109