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Gulebakavali (1955 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Gulebakavali' is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film produced and directed by T. R. Ramanna, and written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, T. R. Rajakumari, Rajasulochana and G. Varalakshmi. Based on the story of the same name from the Arabic folklore collection, 'One Thousand and One Nights', it tells the story of a young prince who sets out to the kingdom of Bakavali to find a mysterious flower which is believed to have the power to restore his father's eyesight. The film was released on 29 July 1955.
Plot
Dasan, a prince, sets out to the kingdom of Bakavali to find a mysterious flower which is believed to have the power to restore his father's eyesight.
As for the story of Gulebakavali a king has two wives. He banishes his first wife (SDS) as an astrologer told him that he would lose his vision because of her son (MGR). The mother and son live in the woods and when he meets his father without knowing his identity, the king loses his sight. When the son gets to know about the sad tale from his mother, he sets out to bring a rare flower from Bakavali, which would restore the king's sight.
To achieve it, he undergoes many adventures enters into a debate with a queen (Varalakshmi) and wins the battle of wits, challenges a woman (Rajakumari) held captive by a crook (Thangavelu) in a fake dice contest, and rescues a slave dancer (Rajasulochana) of a tribal chief. The hero wins them all and succeeds in getting the flower along with the three women who turn out to be princesses and siblings! Meanwhile, his stepbrothers try to steal the flower, but are exposed. Besides Rajakumari, Varalakshmi and Rajasulochana dance and so do E.V. Saroja and Chandra Babu. Thangavelu as the dice manipulator provides moments of fun.
Remembered for the excellent onscreen narration by Ramanna, tuneful music and impressive song and dance numbers.
Cast
* M. G. Ramachandran as Prince Dasan
* T. R. Rajakumari as Princess Lakbesha
* Rajasulochana as Princess Mehmoodha
* G. Varalakshmi as Queen Bakavali
* K. A. Thangavelu as Sukur
* Chandrababu as Gulam
* E. R. Sahadevan
* A. Karunanidhi as Prince
* E. V. Saroja as Gulzar
* S. D. Subbulakshmi
Production
'Gulebakavali' is the second Tamil film to be based on the story of the same name from the Arabic folklore collection 'One Thousand and One Nights', following a 1935 film. The film also involved a fight sequence between lead actor M. G. Ramachandran and a tiger. Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass, who wrote the screenplay, also wrote the songs' lyrics.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by the duo ViswanathanRamamoorthy and all Lyrics written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. The song "Mayakkum Maalai" is one of the earliest film songs to be set in the Carnatic raga named 'Bageshri'. It was originally composed by K. V. Mahadevan for Ramanna's previous film 'Koondukkili' (1954). As that film was getting delayed and the song was yet to be filmed, Ramanna instead used it in 'Gulebakavali'. ViswanathanRamamoorthy were credited as the composers instead of Mahadevan.
Release
'Gulebakavali' was released on 29 July 1955, and was distributed by K. S. Pictures in Madras.
Namesake
The 2018 film 'Gulaebaghavali' was named after this film, but with a different spelling. To connect these two films, director Kalyaan devised a "special flashback sequence".
References
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