Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum

<p>, a -based dancer, is abducted by the tyrant Sher Khan, commander of the notorious king , to his palace. She is rescued by , a woodcutter who fights with Sher Khan and vanquishes him. Marziana and her sidekick Dowlath find refuge in Alibaba’s house who lives with his sister Ayisha and servant Bulbul. Marziana learns that they are the siblings of Kasim, who had driven them out at the instigation of his cruel wife Salima. Marziana and Alibaba later fall in love. When Alibaba goes to cut wood, he chances upon the cavernous hideout of Abu Hussain, the leader of forty , and overhears the secret code to enter and exit the cave. After the dacoits leave, Alibaba uses the code word, enters the hideout, and takes some of the cave’s wealth which he uses to help poor people nearby. Both Alibaba and Marziana become wealthy overnight. Kasim becomes jealous when he hears about his brother’s fortune, and wants to know the secret behind this. Under Salima’s guidance, he invites Alibaba and his household for a feast. After cunningly obtaining the secret of the dacoits’ cave, Kasim sentences Alibaba to death, falsely accusing him of attempted murder. Marziana pretends to heed Kasim’s order. She declares that Alibaba has been unfaithful to her and he deserves this retribution. Taking a knife, Marziana acts as though she means to kill Alibaba, but instead cuts the ropes that bind his hands. A fight ensues between Alibaba and Kasim’s thugs, during which Salima is accidentally killed, but Alibaba subdues them and escapes with his allies. Kasim enters the cave and greedily starts collecting many treasures. He soon forgets the code word, and is left trapped. The dacoits arrive and kill him for entering their secret cave. Alibaba later visits the cave and is shocked to see his brother dead; he takes away the corpse. After Kasim’s death is announced publicly, Alibaba is declared the new king of Baghdad and everyone rejoices. Meanwhile, the dacoits return to their cave and find that Kasim’s corpse is missing. Realising that someone else has entered their cave, they start searching for the mystery person. From the cobbler Ghulam’s assertion that the woodcutter Alibaba had become wealthy overnight, Abu Hussain realises that it is Alibaba who discovered the secret of his cave, but kills Ghulam afterwards. He then plans to kill Alibaba. Having his men hide inside barrels, Abu Hussain comes to Alibaba’s house disguised as an oil merchant seeking shelter for the night. However, Marziana overhears him whispering to his men, and realises his true identity. While she dances at a banquet Alibaba hosts in honour of the guest, Dowlath and Bulbul roll the barrels one by one into the waterfall as per the plan. After Marziana tries unsuccessfully to stab the “oil merchant”, she exposes him as Abu Hussain; Alibaba is shocked. This leads to a fight between the two men, which results in Abu Hussain kidnapping Marziana and fleeing to the cave. Alibaba chases him and reaches the cave where he kills Abu Hussain after an intense battle. After Alibaba rescues Marziana, they marry and continue to perform social work. After the success of the Hindi film (1954), based on the story from , bought the rights to remake the film in Tamil as . The film’s story is credited to the Modern Theatres’ Story Department. became the second major Tamil film adaptation of the story of Ali Baba; the first was the . While that version was a , this one was more -oriented. In addition to producing, Modern Theatres founder also directed the film. A. J. Dominic was signed as the film’s art director, while W. R. Subba Rao, L. Balu, and were in charge of the cinematography, editing, and dialogues respectively. A. K. Chopra and were in charge of the choreography. was cast as , this being the final of his three-film contract with Modern Theatres, following (1950) and (1951). He was paid (equivalent to 1.4 million or US$17,000 in 2023) for acting in the film. The screenplay was written in a way that would suit his then ” ” image, as opposed to the original story where the character was a “gullible simpleton”. was initially cast as , but she was eventually replaced by . Bhanumathi liked the film, one of her earliest in Tamil, because she found her character a “go-getter”. In her autobiography, Bhanumathi noted that after she heard the story, she considered her role to be much better than that in (1955), from which she was fired after filming only four reels, adding that after she accepted to work on this film, she got more acting offers from Tamil film producers. Ramachandran’s elder brother was cast in the role of Alibaba’s elder brother . ‘s aunt Ambujavalli appeared as Kassim’s wife Salima, using the screen name Vidhyavathi. , who later became a leading actress in Hindi cinema, appeared as a dancer in the number “Salaam Babu”, while the dancer duo appeared in the song “Naama Aaduvadhum”. was shot entirely on indoor sets, with the exception of a few horse riding sequences. For changes of scenes, and were used which, according to by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, added a “sense of ” to the film. It was also the first full-length Tamil colour film, shot in . Rajadhyaksha and Willemen claim it to be the first South Indian film in Gevacolor, despite the fact that the 1955 Tamil film had a few sequences in Gevacolor. The scenes involving horses, which belonged to the Mysore Reserve Police, were shot at over ten days. The thieves’ cave, designed by Dominic, was created at two locations – the exterior cave scenes with the horses were shot at Mysore, while the interior scenes were shot at near . Sundaram brought twenty horses from Mysore for the shoot at Yercaud. The jewels and gold coins featured in the film were actually clay painted in gold. One of the horses rode by Ramachandran was Sundaram’s own. In one particular scene, Ramachandran objected to the dialogue where he had to swear in the name of , as he was then associated with the rationalist . He suggested that the dialogue be changed to swearing in the name of his mother, but was finally asked by the director to use the original dialogue. For the scene where Bulbul ( ) and Dowlath ( ) roll the barrels containing the hiding dacoits one by one into the waterfall, Sundaram finalised as the shooting spot. Shooting also took place on an identical set designed by Dominique. The scenes taken on set were combined with the outdoor scenes seamlessly. When only a song and a fight sequence were left to be finished, Ramachandran could not appear for the shoot, since he had to shoot for (1956). As Sundaram was unwilling to wait for Ramachandran’s return, those portions were eventually shot with Karadimuthu, who acted as a for Ramachandran. was processed at the Film Centre, Bombay (now ). The final length of the film was 16,789 feet (5,117 m). is based on the story of Ali Baba from . Although the tale and costumes are middle eastern, Marziana, a , often refers to , the god of death. Historian noted that various Ramachandran films reflect the 1950s trend of films being “costume dramas” that focus on princes and folk heroes, citing as an example. Ramachandran was an avid fan of like , , and . Throughout the 1950s, he acted in films that justified his status as an action hero. portrayed him as a swashbuckling action hero who also has a -like agenda of serving the poor and the downtrodden with the treasure he finds in the cave. Udhav Naig of noted that through and several other films, Ramachandran “posited a cleverly-crafted image of being one among the working classes and poorer sections, raising a fist against injustice.” Rajadhyaksha and Willemen, in , compare it to Ramachandran’s other films like (1954) and (1956) as they are also Robin Hood-inspired, and because Bhanumathi plays a in them. The French website compared it to because both films feature Ramachandran as a Flynn-inspired hero. The film’s original soundtrack and score were composed by , while the lyrics were written by . T. R. Sundaram decided to use the same tunes set from . was offered to write the lyrics. He declined, saying that he would only write lyrics for fresh tunes and recommended Maruthakasi. The song “Azhagaana Ponnu Naan” is based on “Dekho Ji Shanti Nikla”, “Masila Unmai Kathale” is based on “Ae Saba Unse Kah Jara”, “Chinnanjiru Chitte” is based on “Chalo Chalo Chale Hum Babul Ke Tale”, and “En Aattamellaam” is based on “Sharmake Lajake”; all from . The in the songs were played by Shanmugham. “Azhagaana Ponnu Naan” is set in the . The opening line of “Azhagaana Ponnu Naan” was later used in a song titled “Azhagana Ponnu Thaan” from (2006). “Ullasa Ulagam” was later remixed by and in (2008). “Chinnanchiru Chitte” was remixed in (2007). Elements from the song were also used in “Andangkaka” from (2005). The songs received positive reviews with “Azhagaana Ponnu Naan”, “Masila Unmai Kathale”, and “Ullaasa Ulagam” becoming popular among the masses. was released on 14 January 1956, during the festive occasion of , delayed from a 12 January release. Historian believes it was the first Tamil film to take advantage of block colour advertising. The film was a commercial success and ran for over 100 days in theatres. Tamil film historian wrote in his 1996 book , “The film’s cast of M.G. Ramachandran as the swash-buckling Alibaba, Bhanumathi as the singing-heroine … and Thangavelu as the comedian was the main factor contributing to its huge success.” He said another factor attributed to the film’s success that it was the first full-length South Indian colour film. Sachi Sri Kantha felt that the Gevacolor looked somewhat “washed out” and “inferior” to other colouring processes like and versions of . He said the film succeeded with the Tamil masses because “it was a first time experience they could enjoy the [colour] in totality. This is because illiterate Tamil masses would have watched Hollywood movies produced in [colour] for entertainment. But, being illiterate, [the] majority wouldn’t have comprehended the dialogues and songs in English.” It won the Film Fans’ Association Award for Best Tamil Film. The film was later dubbed in as . had a on 14 April 2011, during the festive occasion of (Tamil New Year) in Chennai. The film was released on home video by in June 2010, and by in April 2012. became a “landmark” in Ramachandran’s acting career, and set a “precedent for many -style characters” he would portray in his later films. In , Rajadhyaksha and Willemen said the film was one of Ramachandran’s “most characteristic 50s genre films”. has been referenced in many films. ‘s character Sethupathi in (1989) sings a portion of “Ullasa Ulagam”, before meeting with a fate similar to that of Ghulam in . and ‘s characters imitate the song “Maasila Unmai Kadhale” in (1992). Vellaisamy ( ) and Pazhanisamy ( ) sing the beginning portion of “Ullasa Ulagam” in (1997). In (2002), the title character ( ) and his friends see the clip where Alibaba closes the cave using the phrase “close sesame” after entering it using the words ” “. Actor has stated that his 2015 film was named after the dialogue of the same name spoken by Ramachandran in . In (2015), the orders police inspector Kuzhanthaisamy to find a stolen film reel box; the film is .</p>