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Kanavane Kankanda Deivam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	T. R. Raghunath
Screenplay by	K. V. Srinivasan
Story by	K. V. Srinivasan Umachandran Sadasivabrahmam
Produced by	Pattanna Narayana Iyengar
Starring	R. Ganesh Anjali Devi
Cinematography	B. S. Ranga
Edited by	S. R. Chandra Sekaran
Music by	A. Rama Rao Hemant Kumar
Production company	Narayanan Company
Release date	6 May 1955 (1955-05-06)
Running time	168 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kanavane Kankanda Deivam (transl. Husband is a Palpable God) is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language fantasy film directed by T. R. Raghunath and produced by Pattanna. The film stars R. Ganesh and Anjali Devi, with V. Nagayya, M. N. Nambiar, Friend Ramaswamy and Lalitha in supporting roles. It revolves around a man who steals an object to cure the king's blindness and marry the princess, but becomes cursed because of the theft and seeks to undo it.

Kanavane Kankanda Deivam was released on 6 May 1955. The film received positive reviews mainly for the performances of Ganesh and Anjali Devi, and became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in many theatres. It was remade in Hindi as Devta (1956), with Ganesh and Anjali Devi reprising their roles.

Plot

Vijayan, the son of a retired soldier Karunakaran, is advised by his father to meet Soorasimmar, the blind king, and join the army. Vijayan meets Soorasimmar's only daughter Nalini and falls in love with her. When commander Veerasenan tries to throw Vijayan aside for blocking his way, Vijayan fights and trounces Veerasenan. This impresses Nalini, who is on the way to meet a sage who has a medicine for her father's blindness.

After examining Soorasimmar, the sage says the only cure lies in using the "Naga Jothi" (serpent light) found in Nagalokam (serpent world). Nalini suggests a prize for anyone who brings the Naga Jothi. Soorasimmar agrees and announces that anyone bringing the Naga Jothi will be given any prize they ask.

Nalini falls in love with Vijayan when they next meet. The next day, Vijayan presents his father's knife to Soorasimmar who recognises it and advises Veerasenan to induct Vijayan into the army. Veerasenan is unhappy to see the entry of Vijayan, and waits for an opportunity to avenge his past humiliation.

When Vijayan meets Nalini in private, Veerasenan arrives with his soldiers, captures and accuses him of betraying Soorasimmar. For this, Soorasimmar orders Vijayan's execution the next day, despite Nalini's pleas. Vijayan escapes from prison with help from fellow prisoner Singan and comes to meet Nalini. He tells her that he will retrieve the Naga Jothi so that he can seek her hand as prize.

Vijayan saves Nagakanni, a snake girl, from danger. She gives him two magic rings which will lead to Nagalokam from any pond, and tells him he must please the snake queen Nagarani to obtain the Naga Jothi. Using the rings, Vijayan and Singan enter a pond and reach Nagalokam. Nagarani instantly falls in love with Vijayan and makes him stay at her palace. Singan advises Vijayan to pretend to love her and pilfer the key to the safe containing the Naga Jothi.

Vijayan makes Nagarani unconscious, takes the key, goes with Singan and collects a Naga Jothi while Singan takes one too. While returning, Singan accidentally locks himself in a prison cell. Nagarani awakens and notices the key is missing. Enraged, she curses Vijayan by transforming him into a deformed hunchback.

Vijayan explains his predicament and pleads for a remedy. Nagarani says he should marry a virtuous woman who must bear his son; that son should come through the cave using the Naga Jothi and take the glass stone containing Vijayan's youth and break it before Vijayan after which he will regain his original looks. She says this should be done within five years, Vijayan will be killed by a snake should he fail, and will die if he reveals this secret to anyone.

Vijayan returns and restores Soorasimmar's eyesight with the Naga Jothi. Vijayan seeks the hand of Nalini as his prize, which Soorasimmar objects to but Nalini accepts, and the marriage takes place. When Soorasimmar insults Vijayan for his looks, Nalini and Vijayan leave and settle in a forest. Nalini treats him well, and lives with the credo that husband is the ultimate god. She soon delivers a son named Raja. When Raja is around four years old, a snake appears, reminding Vijayan that he will die by the end of the day should his curse not be lifted.

Nalini learns about the curse and cure; she rushes with Raja to the cave with the Naga Jothi. Raja enters the cave to acquire the glass stone, but the Naga Jothi's light goes off, leaving him trapped. At Vijayan's suggestion, Nalini meets Nagarani and pleads for her husband and child. Nagarani refuses, Nalini curses her for selfishness and is imprisoned. She finds Singan's forgotten Naga Jothi, and escapes with it. En route, Nalini is troubled by Veerasenan who is killed by Singan. Nalini frees Raja.

Nalini and Raja reach home, and Raja breaks the glass stone, restoring Vijayan's appearance. Nalini's curse on Nagarani causes her to lose her beauty. She comes to apologise for her stubbornness and misbehaviour with Vijayan, who forgives her along with Nalini. Nalini blesses Nagarani, who regains her beauty. Soorasimmar invites Vijayan and Nalini to return to the palace, and they assent.

Cast

Production

Kanavane Kankanda Deivam was directed by T. R. Raghunath, and produced by Pattanna and Narayana Iyengar under Narayanan Company. The story was written by K. V. Srinivasan, Umachandran and Sadasivabrahmam, while Srinivasan wrote the screenplay and Umachandran the dialogues. Cinematography was handled by B. S. Ranga. The producers initially rejected R. Ganesh (later known Gemini Ganesan) for the lead role of Vijayan because they believed he was too attractive to play a disfigured hunchback. Ganesh later disguised himself as a hunchbacked beggar and approached Iyengar, who mistook him for an actual beggar and offered him alms until Ganesh revealed his true identity. Impressed with his unorthodox auditioning, Iyengar cast Ganesh. For every day of filming, Ganesh's makeup took hours to apply and he could not eat until filming ended for the day.

The producers cast Anjali Devi as the princess Nalini after being impressed with her performance in Sorgavasal (1954). P. Bhanumathi was initially cast as the snake queen Nagarani after production began. She filmed many sequences, including the song "Unnai Kann Theduthey", but left in the middle of production. The role was later recast with Lalitha. Ganesh performed many stunts without the use of a stunt double. While the film was shot primarily in black-and-white at Vauhini, Revati and Narasu studios in Madras, the sequences in Gevacolor were shot at Mehboob Studio in Bombay. The final cut of the film was 174,446 feet (53,171 m).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack composed by A. Rama Rao and Hemant Kumar. The hiccups in "Unnai Kann Theduthey" were not originally planned, but added through improvisation. The song was originally sung by P. Bhanumathi, but after her exit, it was resung by P. Susheela. However, Bhanumathi's hiccups in the original version were retained in the new version. The song was later sampled by G. V. Prakash Kumar in a song by the same name in Va (2010).

Release and reception

Kanavane Kankanda Deivam was released on 6 May 1955, and received positive reviews. Kalki appreciated the film for the cast performances (particularly Ganesh and Anjali Devi), the audio recording and the cinematography. It became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in many theatres. The film was later remade in Hindi as Devta (1956), where Ganesh and Anjali reprised their roles.

References

1. ^ Dhananjayan 2011, p. 148.
2. ^ கணவனே கண்கண்ட தெய்வம் (motion picture) (in Tamil). Narayanan Company. 1955. Opening credits, from 1:52 to 2:15.
3. Kamath, Sudhish (12 December 2013). "Rewind to the first reel". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
4. Jeyaraj, D.B.S. (11 July 2015). ""Kaadhal Mannan" Gemini Ganesan, romantic actor king of Tamil cinema". Daily FT. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
5. ^ Ganesh 2011, p. 64.
6. ^ தீனதயாளன், ப. (11 February 2016). "அஞ்சலி தேவி: 2. எங்கெங்கு காணினும்...!". Dinamani (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
7. ^ Guy, Randor (31 December 2009). "Blast from the past: Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
8. V, Sankaran (4 November 2022). "முடியாது என்ற கதாபாத்திரத்தை உயிரைப் பணயம் வைத்து துணிச்சலாக செய்து காட்டிய ஜெமினிகணேசன்". CineReporters (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
9. Dhananjayan 2011, p. 150.
10. "1955 – கணவனே கண்கண்ட தெய்வம் – நாராயணன் கம்பெனி, நாகமாடத்து தம்புராட்டி (ம)". Lakshman Sruthi (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
11. "Kanavane Kankanda Deivam". Gaana. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
12. Neelamegam, G. (December 2014). Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 (in Tamil) (1st ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Publishers. pp. 87–88.
13. ^ Rangaraj, R (8 August 2020). "When Hemant Kumar made music for Tamil films". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
14. "வ - குவாட்டர் கட்டிங்". Webdunia (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
15. "கணவனே கண்கண்ட தெய்வம்". Kalki (in Tamil). 5 June 1955. pp. 14–15. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024 – via Internet Archive.

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1931–1976. Galatta Media. OCLC 733724281.
• Ganesh, Narayani (2011). Eternal Romantic: My Father, Gemini Ganesan. New Delhi: Lustre Press. ISBN 978-81-7436-578-1.

External links

• Kanavane Kankanda Deivam at IMDb 

• 1955 films
• 1950s fantasy films
• 1950s Indian films
• 1950s Tamil-language films
• Films about blind people in India
• Films about snakes
• Films based on Indian folklore
• Films directed by T. R. Raghunath
• Films partially in color
• Indian black-and-white films
• Indian fantasy films
• Tamil films remade in other languages
• Tamil-language Indian films