தினசெய்தி 12 11 2023
பக்கம் எண் : 4
அருந்தமிழும் அன்றாட வழக்கும் – 187
ஷைலக் என்ற பெயரில் முதல் தமிழ்த் திரைப்படம்
முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தில்லிப் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் யான் 28 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு வழங்கிய
முனைவர் பட்ட ஆய்வின் முப்பத்தேழாம் பகுதி வருமாறு:
EFFLORESCENCE IN THE MEDIA . . . .
The first successful version of Shakespeare on the silver screen was the brilliant performance of Laurence Olivier as Henry V.
The costumes and colours were bright.
The battle scene of Agincourt with the speech once more unto the breach’ proved magnificent cinema.
The film hailed Laurence Olivier as the new man of the Age who projected the best of Shakespeare to the world audience of the cinema.
He infused new life into the Shakesperean characters like Hotspur, Toby Belch, Justice Shallow, Malvolio, Richard III, Henry V and last but not least, Hamlet, Julius Caesar (M.G.M. Productions) was in black and white.
Louis Calhern, had all the Imperial majesty and Imperial Rome.
While turning down the plea of Cassius (John Gielgud) and Brutus (James Mason) to set Metellus Cimber free, he shows himself the tyrant that he was in the late forties,
Arthur Rank Productions presented Hamlet with Laurence Olivier in the main cast and it was a superb rendering of the play.
Till then the play was considered to be Ulysses’s bow of criticism which nobody had drawn to the fullest extent.
The film became extensively popular.
In fact even in the West the role of Hamlet decided one’s acting potentials.
As Anne Theroux, Head of Features and Arts at B.B.C. World service once observed
Ask any actor in British theatre what their ambition is and it will be to play a Shakesperean role; for the woman it might be Rosalind, Cleopatra or Lady Macbeth.
For a man it’s undoubtedly going to be Hamlet’s.
The play had already been acted on the Western Stage but Laurence Olivier’s interpretation of the character of Hamlet was unique.
“The reason why Shakespeare is considered great is that he can be interpreted in many ways’ says Gordon House, Head of B.B.C. World Service Drama.
No wonder Indian film makers of the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s were inspired by the Western productions.
Some of the producers were lawyers, college professors and men of letters who were familiar with the works of Shakespeare.
In Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar’s play Manohara there is a short interlude which is nothing but an adaptation of the ‘play within the play’ in Hamlet.
Likewise Henry IV (1) was partly adapted and included in the movie Vetala Ulagam and simultaneously dramatised by Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar.
On a comparison with the original, it is found that Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar has neither retained the names of Shakespeare Characters, nor has he translated the passages of the source.
It is in fact a successful grafting of the original piece into a drama which is totally tamil in its cast, locale and atmosphere.
The substance alone is drawn from Shakespeare, but for Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar’s acknowledgement in his Ninaivugal, this comic strip would have hardly been notice as a matter borrowed from Shakespeare In acknowledging his indebtedness, in his autobiography Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar exemplifies his intellectual honesty and his eagerness in sharing his interest in Shakespeare with his audience.
The first Shakesperean play which was made in to in Tamil was ‘Shylock’ in 1940.
It was the Tamil Version of The Merchant of Venice’ in Tamil under the banner Bharat Pictures.
Written by Ramu, ‘Shylock’ was directed by Serukalathur Sama and Ramu.
Interestingly in ‘Shylock’ the names of the characters of the Shakesperean play were retained without making any changes. Bassanio, Antonio, Lorenzo, Portia and Shylock all spoke Tamil.
The noted stage and screen actor T.S. Santhanam played Bassanio and S.G. Kasi Iyer (brother of the legendary S.G. Kittappa) was Antonio, Portia was enacted by T.V. Janakiram and Shylock by Serukalathur Sama.
The characters wore Elizabethan costumes which was a novelty in Tamil cinema.
The song book of ‘Shylock’ carried the familiar picture of William Shakespeare on the cover.
Ramu and Sama preserved the spirit of the play by having a chorus song in praise of Abraham
‘Deva Neo’, ‘Thanthai Abraham’ ‘Devaseelanay Abraham’.
Shylock who believed in getting his pound of flesh sang a song rendered by Sama ‘Paname Pradanam Dinamey Kanamum”.
Unfortunately this film was not a box office hit.
Though an innovative venture, very few remember ‘Shylock’ today.
K.P. Varadhachari, a man with a literary bent of mind was actively associated with the pioneers of tamil cinema, K.S. Narayana Iyengar, A.V. Meyyappan and T.G. Raghavachari.
He was anxious to make Cymbeline into a Tamil film.
Sankaradas Swamigal had written a play in Tamil which he staged under the title Cymbeline.
Varadhachari was then associated with Narayana Iyengar who launched a Tamil film adapted from Cymbeline.
– முனைவர் ஔவை அருள்
தொடர்புக்கு dr.n.arul@gmail.com
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