Underplayed Gems

Sri Valli (1945)

Sri Valli poster
Original title
ஸ்ரீ வள்ளி
Directed by
A. V. Meiyappan
Genre
drama
Country
British Raj
Runtime
1h 54m
Rating
10.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This is a historic Tamil film from 1945 that introduced playback singing to Indian cinema. It tells a love story and was a big success with audiences and critics.

pioneeringromanticmusicallight-heartedhistoricclassicjoyfulold-fashioned

What happens

Sri Valli is a 1945 Indian Tamil-language film co-directed by A. V. Meiyappan and produced by him under Pragathi Studios. It was co-directed by A. T. Krishnaswamy who also wrote the script. The film stars T. R. Mahalingam and Kumari Rukmani. Sri Valli was the first Tamil film to introduce playback singing for the first time through lip synchronization, and the first film in which the dialogues were released in Gramaphone records. T. M. Rajagopal Sharma and R. Sudarsanam respectively composed the film's music and P. V. Krishna Iyer served as the cinematographer. The film was edited by the duo M. V. Raman, while V. M. Vatturkar and S. Ammaiyappan were the film's art directors. Sri Valli was released on 13 April 1945 with a final reel length of 3,325 metres (10,909 ft). Upon release, Sri Valli received critical acclaim and went on to become a commercially successful venture at box office. It is considered to be a breakthrough film for both T. R. Mahalingam and Kumari Rukmini. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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