Commemorating the drama on the life of the freedom fighter, who was the inspiration for the classic film, Kapalottiya Tamizan, ahead of the 150th birth anniversary of VO Chidambaram Pillai.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu recently announced that the 150th birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter VO Chidambaram Pillai, popularly known as ‘Kappalottiya Tamijan’, will be celebrated in a grand manner. Born on September 5, 1872, Pillai is best remembered for his venture against formidable odds, the indigenous Steam Navigation Company, to challenge the British monopoly in maritime trade.
Chidambaram Pillai’s life and struggles were immortalized by actor Sivaji Ganesan, who played the title role in the film. Kapplottiya Tamezan, Released in 1961. However, this was not the first time that the life of a freedom fighter was made a subject of tribute. A stage play was earlier performed by theater legend TK Shanmugam.
An article published in 1964 accounts of the making of the play written by Shanmugam beautifulSouvenir of the Delhi Tamil Sangam, makes for interesting reading. According to Ansh, the idea for the play came in 1952, when he staged it.Deshabhaktanam Angileyanum’, a fictional conversation between the VOC and the Collector of Tirunelveli, LM Vinch, written by Subramaniam Bharathi during the Bharathi visa that year.
This was done on a small platform set up outside the Kachaleeswarar temple in George Town. Kalki Krishnamurthy presided over the ceremony, which was also attended by many of Chidambaram Pillai’s contemporaries. Shanmugam says that the resounding success of the play inspired him to work on a full-length script on the freedom fighter. However, putting this idea into practice proved difficult. Shanmugam states that some writers were hesitant to write the script because many of Chidambaram Pillai’s contemporaries were still alive, which meant that there was little scope to introduce dramatic elements through fictional scenes.
rewrite the script
The search for a screenplay ended in 1955, when Shanmugam found a play titled Thalapathy Chidambaranari Based on the book, by the author M. Sitarasu Kapplottiya Thamizhan by Ma.Po. Sivaganam. An excited Shanmugam immediately wrote to Sitarasu expressing his interest and requested him to rewrite some parts.
Statue of VO Chidambaram.
Nothing further happened, until 1958, when on 14 April, Shanmugam and his troupe performed a skit for All India Radio, Madras, based on the above script. It was a huge success, appreciated by the audience, one of whom was Shanmugam’s friend, V.O.C. Subramaniam, V.O. Chidambaram’s son.
With Subramaniam’s encouragement, Shanmugam renewed his efforts for a full-length play. He hosted Sitarasu for over a month as the writer rewrote the screenplay, helped by Shanmugam’s brother TK Bhagwati and poet Puthaneri Subramaniam.
Many of Subramaniam Bharati’s poems were used in verse form in the play, as were Chidambaram Pillai’s ideas from his works such as mayarivu, agame puram And Manam Pola Wazu.
The songs composed by Puthaneri Subramaniam (who incidentally came from Tirunelveli district, where a significant part of Chidambaram Pillai’s life unfolded) added an authentic flavour. A designation from Thiruppavai was also used. Shanmugam says that M.P. Sivagnanam’s suggestions on reading the script also took on great importance.
play, title Deshbhaktar Chidambaranar, It was inaugurated on July 1, 1960 at Tirunelveli Municipal Exhibition Hall and was a huge success. TK Bhagwati played the roles of Chidambaram Pillai and Shanmugam, his close friend and confidante, Subramaniam Siva. When this was done three weeks later at the RR Sabha in Mylapore, a review in this newspaper praised the brothers’ performance and called it a welcome production, ‘at a time when the public has forgotten many of the architects of our freedom’ ‘.
The play was remade the following year by director BR Panthulu with Sivaji Ganesan and TK Shanmugam as Subramaniam Siva. The film’s dialogues were penned by Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winning playwright, SD Sundaram, whose birth centenary coincides with this year. Although the film won the National Award for Best Tamil Feature Film that year, it was a commercial failure.
The writer is an avid and amateur Tamil theater artist of heritage.
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