Those were the days: When a Christian-themed movie ran to packed theatres

Christian literature in Tamil is quite old. The first printed work in an Indian language and script was in 1578 — Thambiran Vanakkam in Tamil as early as 1578. With Jesuit scholars, came the frequent usage of printing press. Hence it was not something new to have a Christian-themed play occasionally cropping up in the drama stages during the early 1900s. Gnanasoundari was one such theatrical production — the protagonist is a Christian princess, who worships the Virgin Mary. The secular audiences of Madras presidency lapped it up. 

Gnanasoundari was a folktale which had an evil stepmother, who amputates the hands of a beautiful princess and leave her in the forest to die. Post intermission, a handsome prince saves her while Mother Mary restores her hands. 

In 1930, Nawab Rajamanickam Pillai, a pioneer of the Tamil theatre (the role of a Nawab in Ramdass’ play got him this label) and his company Madurai Devi Bala Vinodha Sangita Sabha were famous for mythological plays with spectacular background settings and magic trick shots. 

Even Gandhi, during a hectic southern visit in 1934, took three hours off from his busy schedule and enjoyed his Nandanar play. Gnanasoundari was a favourite of Pillai. The amputation of the pretty hands and their miraculous regeneration with the heavenly blessings, when done as a trick performance, had the audience in tears. Hundreds of Tamil children born during that period were named Gnanasoundari.

With the onset of the talkies, the effortless way to give a movie triumph was to draw inspiration from a stage play. In fact, the first Gnanasoundari talkie came in 1935. Just on the heels of the success of Chandralekha, the first film made at the cost of a million dollars outside USA, the Gemini Studio team was understandably arrogant. 

In 1948, while the movie Gnanasoundari shot by Christian dominated Citadel Studios was already waiting for release, Gemini Studio decided to shoot its own version. Its executives tipped the boss SS Vasan that the Gemini brand and their superior filmmaking skills would carry the day. 

But there was a huge culture gap that separated them from reality. The script writers including Gemini-Kothamangalam Subbu were typically from a Tambram culture.

First, to their horror, they realised the heroine being a Christian would not be able to adorn her forehead with a kumkum. For the Tambram culture, a bare female forehead meant widowhood and a widow was a bad omen. Their entrails twisted and turned on this abhorred concept. As a cinematic compromise, they foolishly decided the heroine would have a small cross etched on her forehead. However, the more repugnant aspect to the audience was the language. The script was written in Brahmanical slang but it seemed so weird for a Christian story. 

The film after being duly approved by Vasan was released. The citadel Gnanasoundari was already running to packed theatres. Gemini expected a huge migration to happen to the Wellington theatre. Alas, the audiences rose in revolt. They could not tolerate Mother Mary uttering her allotted lines in pure Mylapore slang. The irritation soon grew into violence by intermission. Chairs were broken. There was even an attempt to tear the screen and further shows were stopped.

Within three days, the fearful theatre owners and the Gemini executives approached SS Vasan. Vasan was always open to suggestions. He was aghast. It was obvious he still had not come out of the stupor created by the success of Chandralekha which had earned him the sobriquet Cecile B Demille of India. 

But he made a logical decision. He wanted his staff and the people to forget that he had made a movie which was totally unacceptable to the theatre audience. He instructed the theatres to remove the reels from the projectors and return them to the studios. And it is reported that he secretly burnt the negatives. It’s a doubt if anyone at all mentioned the movie in the presence of the boss again. 

A few years later, Vasan, while wondering on why his Ananda Vikatan Magazine was lagging behind Kalki and Kumudham, realised that the Brahmanical slang was costing him his rightful place. It was then that the winning idea to promote a serial based on the dancer community was entrusted to the same Kothamangalam Subbu, who had made the colossal mistake in Gnanasoundari. And Thillana Mohanambal, perhaps, one of the most popular novels in Tamil emerged.