Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1959)

Original title

வீரபாண்டிய கட்டபொம்மன்

Directed by

B. R. Panthulu

Genre

biographical film

Country

India

Runtime

3h 21m

Rated

U

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 5 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is a historical war film about an 18th-century Indian king who leads a rebellion against the British East India Company. It focuses on his fight for independence and his eventual downfall.

epicpatrioticdramatichistoricalgrandstirringtragicheroic

What happens

Veerapandiya Kattabomman (transl. Kattabomman, the Brave Warrior) is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language historical war film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, S. Varalakshmi, and Ragini, with V. K. Ramasamy and Javar Seetharaman in supporting roles. Its soundtrack and score were composed by G. Ramanathan. The film is loosely based on the story of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, an 18th-century king who rebelled against the East India Company. It was an adaptation of the play of the same name by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy which featured Sivaji Ganesan as the title character, and premiered in August 1957. Principal photography began in October the same year, and took place mainly in Jaipur and Madras (now Chennai) until late 1958. This was the first full-length Tamil film released in Technicolor. Veerapandiya Kattabomman premiered in London on 10 May 1959, and was released in Tamil Nadu six days later. It was critically acclaimed; Sivaji Ganesan's performance as Kattabomman received widespread praise, although some film scholars considered elements in the film, particularly the portrayal of the title character, to be historically inaccurate. It was a commercial success, running for over 25 weeks in theatres and becoming a silver jubilee film. Veerapandiya Kattabomman was the first in Tamil cinema to receive international awards for Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Music Director at the 1960 Afro-Asian Film Festival in Cairo, and received a Certificate of Merit as part of the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. Veerapandiya Kattabomman was re-released in 1984, and a digitally-restored version was released on 21 August 2015; both were commercially successful. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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