Underplayed Gems

Keechaka Vadham (1918)

Keechaka Vadham poster
Original title
கீச்சக வதம்
Directed by
R. Nataraja Mudaliar
Genre
silent film, historical film
Country
India
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This is a silent film from 1918 based on an episode from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It tells the story of Keechaka trying to win the affections of Draupadi. It was the first film made in South India and is considered a lost film.

early cinemamythologicalstatelytheatricallosthistoricalsilent

What happens

Keechaka Vadham (transl. The Extermination of Keechaka) is an Indian silent film produced, directed, filmed and edited by R. Nataraja Mudaliar. The first film to have been made in South India, it was shot in five weeks at Nataraja Mudaliar's production house, India Film Company. As the members of the cast were Tamils, Keechaka Vadham is considered to be the first Tamil film. No print of it is known to have survived, making it a lost film. The screenplay, written by C. Rangavadivelu, is based on an episode from the Virata Parva segment of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, focusing on Keechaka's attempts to woo Draupadi. The film stars Raju Mudaliar and Jeevarathnam as the central characters. Released in the late 1910s, Keechaka Vadham was commercially successful and received positive critical feedback. The film's success prompted Nataraja Mudaliar to make a series of similar films based on Hindu mythology, which laid the foundation for the South Indian cinema industry and led to him being recognised as "the father of Tamil cinema." Nataraja Mudaliar's works were an inspiration to other filmmakers including Raghupathi Surya Prakasa and J. C. Daniel. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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