Missiamma

<p>The Zamindar runs a school in the village . He wants to replace the existing teacher with someone with higher qualification. He decides to appoint a husband and wife couple as head master and wife. When he advertised in the papers, a Hindu young man who is looking for a job wants to apply for it. But he is not married. By circumstances he meets an unmarried young girl who is looking for a way to earn some money to set off a loan taken by her father. But she is a Christian. However, the young man and young woman come to an understanding and present themselves as husband and wife to the Zamindar. He appoints them as headmaster and teacher. The young woman also teaches music to the Zamindar’s daughter. Zamindar and his wife lost their elder daughter 15 years ago in a temple festival. In fact, he named the school after the lost child, Mahalakshmi. Now the young woman teacher reminds them of their elder daughter and they shower love on her. A nephew of the Zamindar who is a self-styled detective, takes it upon himself to search and find the missing child. After some confusion and much banter, it comes to light that the young woman teacher is actually the lost child of the Zamindar. The family re-unites. The young man and the young woman who came pretending as husband and wife marry each other and become real couple at the end. and signed to direct a bilingual film for . The film’s script, by Chakrapani, was based on Rabindranath Maitra’s Bengali play . Prasad’s relationship with Khan, a Muslim tailor near Kohinoor Studios in Bombay (now ), was the basis of the film’s friendship between two men of different religions. The film was titled in and in Tamil. wrote the dialogues for . was signed as , and C. P. Jambulingam and G. Kalyanasundaram edited the film. Madhavapeddi Gokhale and Kaladhar were its art directors. The film was processed at Vijaya Laboratory and recorded by Western Electric. M. S. Chalapathi Rao and Jagannadham were its executive producers. Although (1951) and (1952) were the first bilingual films shot in Telugu and Tamil, the same actors were used in both versions. was the first bilingual film from Vijaya Vauhini Studios with different male actors. was cast as the female lead, and (then known as R. Ganesh) was cast as the male lead in , while played the same role in . and and Doraswamy and Meenakshi were cast as the title character’s biological and foster parents, respectively, in both versions. Although all the actors in both versions used the same range of costumes, Ranga Rao wore a for the Tamil version in accordance with Tamil custom. Prasad had completed four reels of film with Bhanumathi. She wrote to the producers, informing them that she would shoot only in the afternoon because was being held at her home. The letter went astray and Chakrapani, a strict disciplinarian, chastised her for arriving late on set. When Bhanumathi refused to apologise, Chakrapani burnt the four reels in front of her and she quit the film. Although Nagi Reddy learned about the letter and tried to mediate, Chakrapani and Bhanumathi refused to reconcile. Chakrapani ordered Prasad to replace Bhanumathi with , who was initially cast as Sita. was signed later for Sita’s role, upon Savitri’s recommendation. Savitri benefited the Tamil version by improving the on-screen chemistry with Ganesan; they had secretly married in 1952, before filming began. and reprise the roles that and played in Telugu. was cast as the antagonist. Principal photography began in early 1954, with both versions (with different casts) filmed simultaneously. Photographs of Nagi Reddy’s younger brother and cinematographer B. N. Konda Reddy’s daughter (the latter as Gopalam’s missing daughter) were used in the film. The scene where Ganesan’s character persuades Savitri’s character to pose as his wife was filmed at My Lady’s Garden in Madras. For one sequence in his character jumps from a balcony, Ganesan refused a and performed the scene himself. He repeated this in , serving as Rama Rao’s double. Filming was delayed because of Bhanumathi’s exit and the difficulty of managing two casts simultaneously. Lasting for a year, it by the end of December 1954. After they saw the final edited version, Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani gave automobiles to the film’s principal cast. deals with themes like unemployment and . In her 2002 book , Lalitha Gopalan wrote that male protagonists in Indian films use the to express desire and cited Gemini Ganesan in as an example. Pa Dheenadhayalan of described Mary as the antithesis of Savitri’s role in (1953). The music was composed by . The lyrics were penned by . Raaga Sudharasa, a Thyagarajah Krithi in Andolika Raga, was also included in the film. The are , and . Piano is by Pianist Ramachandran Diwakar(Pianist Diwakar). “Ariya Paruvamada” was Susheela’s first song for Rajeswara Rao. The song “Ennai Aalum Mary Maatha”, picturised on Savitri’s character, is an appeal to . The song “Ariya Paruvamada” is set in the known as , while “Brindavanamum Nandakumaranum” is set primarily in , with parts of it in and . Songs like “Vaarayo Vennilaave”, “Brindavanamum Nandakumaranum”, “Ennai Aalum Mary Maatha” and “Pazhaga Theriyavenum” became popular with the . The songs “Saami Dharmam Thalaikakkum” and “Sitaram Jai Sitaram” were performed by onscreen; however, neither feature on the soundtrack. was released in theatres on 14 January 1955, during , and two days after . It was a commercially success, completing a 100-day theatrical run. According to Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai’s 2015 book , speculation about Savitri’s real-life romance with Ganesan played a key role in the success of the film. A postage stamp commemorating Ganesan was introduced in Chennai in February 2006 by (the-then ) and was shown for the occasion. The February 1955 issue of called “an interesting film with quality humor”: “In the beginning one is uneasy as to how the love affair of a Christian heroine and a Hindu hero is going to be retooled for a comedy”, but Prasad “has used every difficult situation as an opportunity for boundless humor”. It praised the “moonlit sequence” and Bartley’s cinematography, and the magazine described Savitiri’s acting as “the best so far”. In (1993), film historian wrote: “lf cinema was to be considered a tool to forget our worries — here indeed was entertainment: answered that definition.” In March 2005, film historian commented on Ganesan’s career best performances and found the one in a “delightful” one; he added that the film was a “charming” one which provided breakthrough to Ganesan and Savitri in Tamil cinema. Gemini Ganesan reprised his role in ‘ remake of the film, , which marked his Bollywood debut. According to film historian , success inspired filmmakers to cast different actors for different versions of their films. On 23 January 1955, a 19-year-old woman gave birth to a baby in the Roxy Theatre in Madras while watching . Mother and daughter were rushed to Egmore Maternity Hospital, where the baby was named Missiamma. success made Ganesan adopt the screen name Gemini Ganesan to avoid confusion with , another popular actor in Tamil cinema. According to film historian , the success of and other such romantic films earned Ganesan the tag “Kadhal Mannan” (King of Love). The film was a breakthrough in the careers of Savitri and Jamuna. Scenes from were later featured in , a documentary on the life of Gemini Ganesan.</p>