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Jalaja (1938 film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Jalaja
| image = Advertisement for Jalaja (1938 film).png
| caption = Promotional poster
| native_name =
| director = R. R. Gautam
G. K. Seshagiri
| producer = G. K. Seshagiri
| screenplay = Manjeri S. Isvaran
Dr. V. Raghavan
G. K. Seshagiri
| story = Manjeri S. Isvaran
Dr. V. Raghavan
G. K. Seshagiri
| starring = Bhanumathi
Lakshmi
G. K. Seshagiri
K. S. Gopalakrishan
| music = A. N. Kalyanasundaram
| cinematography = Rajnikant Pandya
Minoo Billimoria
| editing = Fakir Mohammad
| studio = Sagar Renaissance Theatre
| distributor = General Film Distributing Co.
| released =
| runtime =
| country = India
| language = Tamil
}}
'Jalaja or Natya Mahimai' is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language dance film written by Manjeri S. Isvaran, Dr. V. Raghavan and G. K. Seshagiri. The film was directed by R. R. Gautam and G. K. Seshagiri and produced by Sagar Renaissance Theatre. It stars Bhanumathi, Lakshmi, G. K. Seshagiri and K. S. Gopalakrishan in lead roles. The film is marked as India's first dance film. It is also dedicated to Bhanumathis cousin, 'Bharatanatya Art Expert' Srimathi Varalakshmi, who died early on in the films production. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Plot
Cast
Cast according to the song book
* Bhanumathi as Jalaja
* G. K. Seshagiri as Rajagopalan
* Lakshmi as Lalitha
* K. S. Gopalakrishan as Mudaliar
* Janaki as Duraikannu
* V. Ganesa Iyer as Priest
* Rukmini as Rukmini
* M. K. Venkatapathy as Azhagappan
* R. Venkatachalamaiah as Sivarama Iyer
* S. R. Krishna Iyengar as Kittu
* R. Ramanujachari as Agent Iyengar
* Bhudo Advani, Vaithi, Sadasivan as Mudaliars Servants
* Pankajam as Pankajam
* Kokilam as Singer
* K. S. Ramamurthi as Station Master
* S. Rajagopalan as Sundaram
* Sripada Shankar as Police Deputy Commissioner
* M. Viswanathan as Police Inspector
* G. Kalyanasundaram as Police Inspector
* A. Sundaram as Police Inspectors
Production
The film was produced by Sagar Renaissance Theatre, and directed by R. R. Gautam and G. K. Seshagiri. Manjeri S. Isvaran and R. S. Murthi were assistant directors. The story and dialogues were written by Manjeri S. Isvaran, Dr. V. Raghavan and G. K. Seshagiri. The photography was handled by Rajnikant Pandya and Minoo Billimoria. The audiography was done by V. M. Desai, Dinshaw Billimoria and Reuben Moses. Roora Mistry took care of the films settings while Fakir Mohammad handled the editing. The film was processed by Gangadhar Narvekar and Pranchavan Shukla. While the song book only credits S. Shanmugam as the Nattuvanar in the orchestra, Film News Anandan credits him as just the dance choreographer. Hari Krishnan believes that S. Shanmugam is actually Shanmugasundara Nattuvanar of Thiruppanandal, who was an associate of Vadivelu Pilai, the duos choreographer before he died in 1937. G. K. Seshagiri played the hero, Rajagopalan, while Varalakshmi of the Varalakshmi-Bhanumathi duo was hired to play the heroine, Jalaja. Production began in 1937 in Bombay and on 3 November, Varalakshmi died suddenly. Her cousin Bhanumathi, also known as Kumbakonam Bhanumathi, was asked to replace her role, which she accepted. The film had a second title, 'Natya Mahimai', meaning the glory of dance. K. S. Gopalakrishnan, a congress party worker turned film director played the Mudaliar. He is often confused with another film director, K. S. Gopalakrishnan. Bhudo Advani, a Bengali actor played one of the Mudaliars servants. Kumari Rukmani played Rukmini, Jalajas younger sister. Lakshmi, who played Rajagopalans wife, Lalitha, was introduced in this film.
Soundtrack
The music was directed by A. N. Kalyanasundaram, who also composed most of the songs. However, two classical songs in the film were composed by Ramalinga Swamigal and Muthu Thandavar respectively. The song, "Aduvum Seivar", is an altered version of the padam, "Aduvum Solluval" composed by Subbarama Iyer.
;'A. N. K's Orchestra
* Parur S. Anantharaman (Conductor) Fiddle
* V. Natarajan Fiddle
* M. R. Jayarama Sarma Flute, Harmonium
* M. Balusami Dikshithar Veenai
* Ponnusami Mudaliar Gottuvadhyam
* S. Radhakrishnan Organ, Piano, Xylophone
* M. K. Venkatapathy Mridangam
* C. V. Mani Mridangam, Tabla, Dholak
* S. Shanmugam as Nattuvanar
Reception
The film was distributed by the General Film Distributing Co., which was based in Madras. According to Hari Krishnan, "there is no information about how Jalaja fared at the box office. Regardless, the success of the film provides us with new perspectives on thinking about the ways in which Bharatanatyam was circulating in the period [during the 1930s] immediately following the work of the [Madras] Music Academy and [Rukmini Devi] Arundale." In an August 1938 Filmindia magazine, Baburao Patel reports that, "'Jalaja' failed to draw and people in town think that it was due to bad direction. The story is reported to be weak and a bad selection of artistes is also given as a reason." In September of the same year, Patel continues with, "the original 'Jalaja' is now expected to be revived after a number of changes." No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Notelist
References
Category:1930s Tamil-language films
Category:1938 films
Category:1938 lost films
Category:Indian black-and-white films
Category:Indian dance films
Category:Lost Indian films
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