Kaliyuga Kannan

Kaliyuga Kannan (transl. Kannan, from the Age of Vice) is a 1974 Tamil-language comedy-drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju. It is based on the play Sri Krishna Vijayam written by Vaali. The film stars Jaishankar, Jayachitra, Thengai Srinivasan and Sowcar Janaki. It was later remade in Telugu as Devudu Digivaste (1975),[2] in Kannada as Devara Duddu (1977),[3][4] and in Hindi as Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977).[5]

Kaliyuga Kannan
Poster
Directed byKrishnan–Panju
Produced byN. Elango
Story byVaali
Based onSri Krishna Vijayam
by Vaali
StarringJaishankar
Jayachitra
Thengai Srinivasan
Music byV. Kumar
CinematographyS. Maruti Rao
Edited by
  • Panjabi
  • Narasimhan
Production
company
Ajantha Enterprises
Release date
  • 13 November 1974 (1974-11-13)
Running time
146 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Kaliyuga Kannan is a drama of faith and disbelief in God of a middle-aged couple. It tells of how the man is made to realise on becoming rich that God certainly does not neglect his faithful and wealth only brings sorrow and pain with it. He renounces all his wealth to his son and daughter-in-law and goes back to his old way of living.[1]

Cast

Production

Kaliyuga Kannan is the inaugural production of Ajantha Enterprises,[7] and is an adaptation of Sri Krishna Vijayam, a play written by Vaali that featured Thengai Srinivasan as the protagonist.[8] The play, which was written for actor V. Gopalakrishnan's Gopi Theatres,[9] intended to convey the message that "money could not buy peace of mind".[10] When adapting the play as a film, the makers wanted Sivaji Ganesan as the male lead. But Ganesan suggested Srinivasan, after being impressed with his performance in the play.[8] Vaali wrote the dialogue for the film adaptation,[11] which was produced by N. Elango.[1] Jaishankar and Jayachitra were cast as the male and female lead respectively.[12] Cinematography was handled by S. Maruti Rao.[7] Besides directing, Panju co-edited the film (alongside Narasimhan) under the pseudonym "Panjabi".[7][13] The final cut of the film measured 3,993 metres (13,100 ft).[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by V. Kumar, while the lyrics were written by Vaali. The playback singers were T. M. Soundararajan, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela and Renuka.[7] The songs featured were "Kannaiah", "Kadhal Ponnedu", "Jaichutte" and "Seven O'Clock".[1]

Release and reception

Kaliyuga Kannan was released on 13 November 1974,[14] and emerged a commercial success,[8] while propelling Srinivasan to stardom.[13] CV Aravind of The News Minute praised it for the "riveting script by Vaali".[15] Playwright and comedian Crazy Mohan developed a desire to write a play with "God as the fulcrum" after watching the play Krishnaya Thubhyam Namaha, and Kaliyuga Kannan encouraged him to solidify his plans,[16] resulting in the play Chocolate Krishna.[17]

References
  1. Dharap, B. V. (1974). Indian Films. National Film Archive of India. p. 369. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  2. "Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977)". MySwar. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  3. "Devara Duddu (1977) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". Chiloka.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. குணா, எம். (29 March 2018). "ஜெயந்தி மேடம் நல்லாயிருக்காங்க; வதந்தியை நம்பாதீங்க..! - ஹேமா செளத்ரி". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  5. Ramachandran, T. M., ed. (1977). "Yehi Hai Zindagi". Film World. Vol. 13. p. 390.
  6. Krishnamachari, Suganthy (12 June 2009). "Livewire of the stage". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. Kaliyuga Kannan (motion picture) (in Tamil). Ajantha Enterprises. 1974. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 2:30.
  8. Raman, Mohan V. (20 October 2012). "He walked tall in tinsel town". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  9. Rangarajan, Malathi (6 October 2011). "Creator Invincible!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  10. "The Stage of Madras". Cultural News from India. Vol. 15. Indian Council for Cultural Relations. 1974. p. 64.
  11. Kolappan, B. (18 July 2013). "Lyricist Vaali leaves a void". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 September 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  12. "ஜெயலலிதாவும் கமலும் இணைந்து நடித்த ஒரே படம்" [The only film where Jayalalithaa and Kamal acted together]. Dinakaran (in Tamil). 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  13. Guy, Randor (1 March 2015). "Remembering Panju". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  14. "கலியுக கண்ணன் / Kaliyuga Kannan (1974)". Screen4screen. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  15. Aravind, CV (1 April 2016). "From the sublime to the ridiculous: A journey through decades of Tamil film comedy". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  16. Rangarajan, Malathi (11 July 2008). "How humour meets magic". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  17. "Siri on top fo [sic] the cake!". The Times of India. 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
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