Kanjan 1947

Kanjan 1947

S. V. Subbaiah, M. N. Nambiar, R. Malathi, T. G. Kamala Devi, P. V. Narasimha Bharathi, M. Mustafa and M. S. S. Bhagyam

Kovai C. Ayyamuthu, noted Tamil scholar, Congress Party worker, and close associate of Rajaji and Kamaraj, based in Coimbatore was eager to make a film. A good friend S. K. Mohideen of Jupiter Pictures fulfilled his desire by launching Kanjan which Ayyamuthu wrote and directed. As he was new to the medium, T. R. Gopu, the Jupiter Pictures-Central Studios editor, worked along with him as director and received joint credit for direction, besides, of course, editing.

The story was built around a wealthy widower with a roving eye (Subbaiah). He has a pot of gold buried in his yard. He lusts after his son's girlfriend, a beautiful actor named Maragatham (Kamala Devi), and schemes to make her his second wife. That's not all. The rural Don Juan plans to sell his only daughter (Malathi) to a rich old man for a sizeable dowry. He gets his due knocks on the head in the end. The film highlights social ills ranging from black marketing to sale of young girls.

The film had pleasing music (S. M. Subbaiah Naidu) and one song penned by the director was rendered by the noted off-screen singer of the day M. M. Mariappa (he lent his voice to MGR in some of his early movies.) He had gone on record that after the movie was completed the producers waited for six months to get him to sing the popular song, ‘Mandaril ezhil vudayon engal Tamizhan', highlighting the Tamil's pride.

The popular Telugu stage and screen singer-actor Kamala Devi was paired with Nambiar playing his first major role after doing supporting roles. Malathi played the attractive daughter of the miser.

SK, a cautious businessman, produced the film on a low budget casting mostly artists who were then new to cinema and had migrated from Tamil theatre such as Subbaiah, Nambiar, Mustafa and Bhagyam. However, the film proved a major flop.

An interesting and hilarious event connected with this film needs to be narrated…. while this film was just released, a Coimbatore-based college celebrated its annual day with variety entertainment. A short play titled ‘Yama Durbar' was staged by students. Noted Tamil filmmaker A. S. A. Sami was the chief guest on the occasion and SK went along for the evening's entertainment.Coming back to the play… a sinner is brought to Yama's court and after listening to the sins he had committed, the Lord of Death sentences him to be fried in boiling oil. Chitragupta, his assistant, says the punishment is not enough, and Yama orders that his body be sliced and thrown to vultures. It's not enough, says his right-hand man. Unable to decide, Yama asks Chitragupta to suggest the punishment.

He says the sinner should watch all three shows of a movie called Kanjan, now running in a place called Coimbatore on Planet Earth! At once, the sinner screams and appeals to Yama that he be pushed into boiling oil and his sliced body be thrown to vultures, but not be made to watch Kanjan all the three shows of the day! The person who laughed the loudest in the audience was SK! When his astonished friends asked him why, the producer said that the film enabled his company (Jupiters) to write off the losses against the profit his other movies made!