1958 film by T. Prakash Rao
Uthama Puthiran (transl. Virtuous Son) is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language historical action film directed by T. Prakash Rao. Co-produced by C. V. Sridhar, who also wrote the screenplay, the film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini, with M. K. Radha, M. N. Nambiar, K. A. Thangavelu, Ragini and Kannamba in supporting roles. It revolves around twins who are separated at birth; one grows up as a kind and honest man, while the other grows up as a greedy and arrogant man.
Uthama Puthiran is a remake of the 1940 Tamil film of the same name, itself based on The Man in the Iron Mask, the third part of the 1847–1850 novel The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas. It is the first film to feature Ganesan in two distinct roles, and the first Indian film to have the shots with zoom technique. Cinematography was handled by A. Vincent, and editing by N. M. Shankar.
Uthama Puthiran was released on 7 February 1958, and distributed by Ganesan's company Sivaji Films. The film became a major commercial success, with a theatrical run of over 100 days, and established Ganesan as one of the most bankable stars in Tamil cinema.
Plot
The queen of Malarpuri delivers a male child. Her brother Naganathan replaces it with a dead child, and informs king Varaguna Pandiyan that the newborn is dead. To Naganathan's surprise, the queen gives birth to another boy soon after. Minister Gunaseelar arrives by then, and the king is informed of the birth of two children, one dead and one alive. Everyone is happy that at least one is alive. Naganathan decides to kill the first infant and hands it over to his servant Somappa. However, Somappa and his wife raise the prince in a forest.
The crown prince is Vikraman, and his identical twin in the forest is Parthiban. On his deathbed, the king appoints Naganathan as the guardian of crown prince Vikraman, and gives the order that Naganathan would be solely responsible for Vikraman's safety. To achieve his objective of ruling the country, Naganathan brings up Vikraman with all vices and does not allow him to bond with his mother. On the other hand, Parthiban grows up to become a valiant warrior under the guidance of Somappa and fights for the public.
After the king's death, Vikraman ascends the throne and hands over administrative controls to Naganathan, who indulges in all kind of looting by levying more taxes. Parthiban comes out of the forest and saves the minister's daughter Amuthavalli, when her chariot goes out of control. They fall in love, and he starts visiting her palace late in the night. Amutha encounters Vikraman, who looks similar to Parthiban, but does not disclose this to anyone. Vikraman likes her and tells Naganathan to fix his marriage with her. Amutha does not accept when Vikraman's mother comes with the proposal.
One night, the soldiers notice Parthiban getting into the palace, and they reach Amutha's room. She makes him escape by making him wear Vikraman's costume. While leaving, he meets his mother, but pretends to be Vikraman. When he is talking to her, Vikraman arrives, and they scuffle. Parthiban escapes, but when he comes again to meet Amutha, he is thrown into prison.
Through the maidservant, the queen learns that Parthiban is also her son. She goes to the prison and orders his release. By then, Vikraman arrives with Naganathan, who confirms they are brothers, but states that the kingdom cannot afford to have two brothers fighting for power. Vikraman does not wish to share the kingdom and to avoid anyone recognising him, orders that Parthiban be masked and imprisoned. Parthiban has an iron mask locked on his face; its key is with Vikraman.
Amutha and Parthiban's friend Ponnan hatch a plan to rescue Parthiban. Amutha makes Vikraman insensibly drunk after a dance and takes the key. Parthiban's associates reach the prison, set him free, put the same on Vikraman's face and dump him in prison. Parthiban assumes charge of the kingdom and introduces citizen friendly policies which are welcomed by the people.
Naganathan suspects foul play. By then, Vikraman sends a message to Naganathan by writing on his dinner plate about Parthiban impersonating him. Naganathan releases Vikraman, brings him to the assembly and stops the coronation of Parthiban as the king. In the fight that ensues between Naganathan's army and Parthiban's people, Naganathan dies. Parthiban and Vikraman fight despite a plea from their mother. When Vikraman loses, he escapes in a chariot wearing his mask. Parthiban tries to stop him, but he rushes away. Vikraman dies when his chariot falls off a cliff. Parthiban rules Malarpuri as a virtuous son along with Amutha and his mother.
Production
Development
After the success of Amara Deepam (1956), director T. Prakash Rao and co-writer C. V. Sridhar wanted their next film to be on a grander scale. Rao decided on the folk tale of Valli, and he and Sridhar approached Sivaji Ganesan to star. Ganesan refused, saying another producer was adapting the story (as Sri Valli) and paid him an advance to star in it. Rao and Sridhar then considered adapting The Man in the Iron Mask, the third part of the 1847–1850 novel The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas. Though it had already been adapted in Tamil as Uthama Puthiran (1940), an unfazed Sridhar decided to remake the film as it had been more than 15 years since release. Ganesan accepted to star in the project.[2][3] The remake's screenplay was written by Sridhar, who co-produced the film with his partners S. Krishnamoorthy and T. Govindarajan under the banner Venus Pictures.[4] It is the first film to feature Ganesan in dual roles. Sridhar initially wanted K. Ramnoth to direct this film but however he said he agreed to direct the same subject with M. G. Ramachandran in lead role, he was replaced by Prakash Rao.[6] When Venus Pictures announced Uthama Puthiran in a newspaper, the same day Ramachandran announced a film with the same title in the same paper. Ramachandran eventually scrapped his film, but persisted with his plans to make a dual role film and finally made Nadodi Mannan, and released it several months after Uthama Puthiran.[7][8] Cinematography was handled by A. Vincent,[9] and the editing by N. M. Shankar.[1]
Filming
In those days, it was technically very difficult to film movies which call for double roles. Though computer technology was non-existent those days, filming was very well executed. There was nothing much to my dance performance in Utthama Puthiran. I had already mentioned I was a good dancer, having been trained in the art of traditional Indian dance. The dance performance for Utthama Puthiran was different. The credit goes to the dance master, Heera Lal, who conceived the dance and choreographed it with fast steps and claps.
—Sivaji Ganesan in his autobiography.
The song "Kaathiruppan Kamalakannan", is picturised on Padmini and her sister Ragini's characters performing a Bharatham dance.[10] Yaaradi Nee Mohini", the first rock ‘n’ roll dance song in Tamil cinema, is picturised on Bollywood dancer Helen.[11] Vincent recalled shooting a song sequence at Brindavan Gardens, Mysore:[12]
Padmini was standing on the first floor of the hotel and Sivaji Ganesan was at a waterfall in the garden below. To show them in the same frame I had placed the camera at a distance but in that long shot the images were not visible properly. Then I saw a French lady tourist taking snaps. I borrowed her camera, took out its lens and fitted it to the Paillard Bolex 16 mm camera that I had with me. The lens gave a zoom effect. I could now film the actors in one shot and, without cutting the shot, I also took the close-up of Padmini. Since I had taken this particular block of the song in 16 mm colour film, we sent it to the Kodak lab in London for processing and blew it to 35 mm. The technicians there were surprised at the result and asked me how I had taken the shot. We had no zoom lens in India then.
Thus, Uthama Puthiran became the first Indian film to have the shots with zoom technique.[13][14] The final length of the film measured 116,044 feet (35,370 m).[4]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was composed by G. Ramanathan.[1] The song "Mullai Malar Mele" is set in the Carnatic raga known as Darbari Kanada,[15] while "Kaathiruppan Kamalakannan" is a ragamalika, i.e. set to multiple ragas. These include Saramati, Jaunpuri and Natabhairavi.[18]
Release and reception
Uthama Puthiran was released on 7 February 1958,[4] and was distributed by Ganesan's own company Sivaji Films in Madras.[19] In a review dated 16 February 1958, the magazine Ananda Vikatan praised the acting by Ganesan, the grand making, songs and the fight scenes.[20] Kanthan of Kalki lauded the cinematography but criticised the action choreography, comparing it unfavourably to Apoorva Sagodharargal (1949). He also appreciated Sridhar's screenplay and dialogues, as well as many characters being able to act without relying on spoken words but visuals.[21] The film became a major commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres. Its Telugu-dubbed version, Veera Pratap, also performed well, having grossed over ₹4 lakh (equivalent to ₹3.8 crore or US$480,000 in 2023).[23] It was also dubbed in Hindi as Sitamgar.[24] The success of Uthama Puthiran established Ganesan as a bankable star in Tamil cinema.
