Celluloid – this feature film is publicized as a tribute to J C Daniel, acknowledged as “The Father of Malayalam Cinema”. The team behind the production of the film claims it to be a biographical film on J.C. Daniel who produced the silent film “Vigatha Kumaran” (1928), the fist Malayalam film. Unsolved controversy persists on the year of its release as there is difference of opinion on this. In the film, the year of release is mentioned as 1930. Malayalam cinema has every right to feel proud over the venture ("Celluloid"), because so far no feature film is produced on the life and times, contributions etc. of pioneers like Dada Saheb Phalke, Nataraja Mudaliyar, Raghupathi Prakash (R. Prakash), Raghupathy Venkiah etc. who were responsible for bringing out cinema in various languages. Documentary films might have been made on these stalwarts, but no feature films were produced so far.
Film magazines like Chithrabhoomi, Vellinakshatram, Nana etc. and leading newspapers celebrate the release of the film “Celluloid”. The reports continue like this –
The film may become the Masterpiece of Kamal
The film documents the life of J.C. Daniel, “the father of Malayalam Cinema” and becomes a part of the history of Indian cinema.
The music of the film takes back the audience to the Vigathakumaran Period (Silent era) in Malayalam cinema.
The music corresponds to the music culture of that period and the songs are in the sonic structure of 1930’s.
Extensive research conducted in composing the music, the reference going back to legend like Dandapani Desikar.
Exaggerated comments and compliments on the play-back singers who sang for the film
Let us have an appreciation of the film as an enthusiast fan of Malayalam cinema, and ascertain to what extent these claims are fulfilled in the film. Let us see whether “Celluloid” is true to the tale of the “father of Malayalam cinema” (as we know, and have understood so far) presented on the celluloid!! Kamal is the co-producer, director and script writer of the film. The film was released on 15th February 2013. Music composed by M. Jayachandran. Prithviraj in J C Daniel’s role, Chandni as Rosy, Mamta as Janet (Mrs. J.C.Daniel) and Srinivasan as Chelangad Gopalakrishnan, the journalist.
Excellent performance by Prithviraj, Mamta and Chandni. Srinivasan’s small role of Chelangad also is impressive.
However, it is felt that no creative and result oriented research is made on the subject – production of Vigathakumaran, its release and the life of J C Daniel. The title cards of the film indicate that the script of the film is based on the Malayalam novel “Nashta Nayika” written by Vinu Abraham. The novelist claims that the fictional work “Nashta Nayika” is the story of Rosy, the heroine of “Vigathakumaran”. How a fictional work can be the basis of a biographical film? And has the script writer ‘ filtered’ the story of the novel to extract ‘facts’ only from the fictional work - it is doubtful. And the period of occurrence of some important events in the life of J C Daniel is not highlighted in the film.
According to most of the books published so far on Indian Cinema and Malayalam Cinema, the year of release of “Vigatha Kumaran” is 1928. But in “Celluloid”, the film was released on 23rd October 1930. What is the basis of this release date? If some documentary evidence like the copy of censor certificate of the film or records of the censor board is unearthed, that should have been exposed in the film. And if it is based on some reports in the newspapers of that time, that also should have been highlighted and exposed. The date of release of the film is very important, it is the “Birth Certificate” of the first Malayalam film. And this date/ year is still not confirmed and supported with documentary evidence. Books on Indian cinema/Malayalam cinema which are believed to be authentic like – Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (Oxford University Press – 1994, 2002, 2004), “70 years of Indian Cinema” (by T M Ramachandran – 1985), “Malayala Cinema – Ara Noottandu” (by M. Saraswathy – 1985)etc. give the release year of “Vigathakumaran” as 1928. It is very sad that the book “Indian Film” ( by Erik Barnough and S Krishnaswamy published by Columbia University Press, New York and London – 1963) appears to be ‘silent’ on this first ‘silent Malayalam film’. No mention about J.C.Daniel also. In a debate over the film “Celluloid”telecast at 7.30 PM on 20/02/2013 in Indiavision channel, it is understood that a report that came in “Nasrani Deepika”, a Newspaper of that time, the release date of the film is confirmed as October 23, 1930. If this be the fact, this important press report could have been exhibited in the film “Celluloid”. This was very much warranted because it is through “Celluloid” that the prevalent belief about the year of release of the film is changed from 1928 to 1930. The director and script writer should have been vigilant on this matter.
As if to lead the audience to the conclusion that the film was released after 1928 (i.e. in 1930), the film narrates an incident of J C Daniel visiting Dada Saheb Phalke and watching the shooting of Phalke’s silent film “Parashuram” (1929. The scene – Karna and Parashuram episode from Mahabharata). This scene might have been cleverly included by the script writer in support to the year of release 1930 mentioned in the film.
Period of occurrence of some important incidents – for example, when did J C Daniel qualify in Dental Surgery and the periods of practice in various places? The biography of J C Daniel written by Chelangad Gopalakrishnan narrates that Daniel had practiced at various centres in Tamilnadu and was in Government Service also. “Celluloid” is vague or silent in these matters. The year of occurrence and the places of practice are important because another incident that adversely affected the life of J C Daniel is related to his medical practice – the ‘P U Chinnappa (1915 – 1951) episode in the film’. J C Daniel’s second phase in cinema led him to penury and the P U Chinnappa episode in the film is accountable for the tragedy. P U Chinnappa was the uncrowned superstar of not only of Tamil cinema of 1940’s, but also of the City state of Puthukkottai. Books on Tamil Cinema say that the singing star P U Chinnappa amassed wealth and bought so many houses in his home town of Puthukkottai, that the Maharaja of the city state prohibited the sale of buildings to Chinnappa without his prior sanction! In the film “Celluloid” it is this super star who is alleged to have invited J C Daniel to Madras for producing a film to recapture his lost wealth. P U Chinnappa had offered Daniel all his support for the film production but did not keep his words and Daniel lost all his savings and was thrown to utter poverty and mental agony. P U Chinnappa and his group manipulated the savings of J C Daniel and Daniel even neglected his family in his mental depression over the loss of wealth. He did not care for his family for two years - “Cellulois” goes like this. P U Chinnappa’s peak period in Tamil cinema was 1940 to 1944 and his last film was “Sudarshan” (1951). P U Chinnappa died in 1951. The P U Chinnappa episode in “Celluloid” is an unheard story and no authentic reports and write ups on the matter are available as per available literature on cinema. The uncrowned hero of Tamil cinema is presented in “Celluloid” in a hilarious manner – his mannerisms in the film not matching with his image in the minds of his fans. In the script of “Celluloid” published by DC Books, Chinnappa’s age is given as 30, and the period of this incidence is shown as 1941. If the year of occurrence is 1941, then Chinnappa was only 26 at that time (born in 1915) . This is worth mentioning here because if the Scriptwriter is focusing on the period when Chinnappa was 30, then the period of occurrence of this incident was 1945, and not 1941. !! P U Chinnappa mentions about his blockbuster films. His films like Aryamala (1941), Uthamaputhran (1940) were huge hits in Kerala also, with “Aryamala” running continuously for several weeks in theatres. Wall posters of these films could have been shown in the scene in which Chinnappa comes to Daniel for medical support. And that too it is shown as the incident occured in Puthukottai, the birth place of Chinnappa. The wall posters of these films are not difficult to get. The videos of these films are available. This could have been time markers in the biographical “Celluloid”. A bit of more groundwork could have made the film more close to the history and period of the story of J C Daniel.
Coming to Chelangad Gopalakrishnan’s (Srinivasan) interactions with the Government Secretary (Siddique) regarding approval of “Vigathakumaran” as the first Malayalam film and J C Daniel as the father of Malayalam cinema – allegation that the Secretary was in favour of considering “Balan” (1938. Producer T R Sundaram) as the first Malayalam film, for its producer was a ‘Brahmin’ and J C Daniel is a ‘Nadar Christian’ and that the Government Secretary’s attitude is a case of caste discrimination. An experienced and learned journalist Chelangad – was he not aware that T R Sundaram was not a Brahmin and he belonged to the Mudaliyar community in Tamil Nadu ( Mudaliyar is non Brahmin)? T R Sundaram was born to Tiruchengode Ramalimga Mudaliyar and Ganapathi Ammal. Affectionately and with respect addressed as “Mudalali” by the South Indian Cinema world, Chelangad’s argument that the favoritism of the Secretary is because of T R Sundaram’s birth as a Brahmin is baseless, simply because Sundaram was not a Brahmin. This statement not only misleads the audience that T R Sundaram was a brahmin, but questions the knowledge of Chelangad about the pioneer of South Indian cinema, T R Sundaram, because in the film it is Chelangad who makes the statement. Remember that T R Sundaram was not only the producer of the first Sound film in Malayalam ‘Balan’, but also the producer who ‘coloured’ the Malayalam cinema by ‘Kandam Becha Coatu” (1961, the first colour film in Malayalam). And thus the film “Celluloid” publicized as a document that is going to become a part of the history of Indian Cinema is going on adding mistakes and misrepresentations in the history of Indian Cinema!!
Music of Celluloid - the reports over various media claim that it brings back to the audience the music of 1930s, the silent era. How far this is true? The song “Katte Katte….” when it echoes, it brings to our mind the drama songs of 1950s and not the music of 1930s or sonic structure of songs of that era. The reports regarding the music go on to say that it was taken as a challenge to recreate the music of that era. The songs should adhere to the music and sonic structure of that period, the silent era in cinema. It is commented in the movie that during those days folk songs and classical music was blended together, and that the legendary Dandapani Desikar acted and sang “folk type” songs in Tamil films! It is only an inference by the music team of “Celluloid” that it was the music culture of the period, the silent era. No, that is not the fact. Dandapani Desikar might have sang folk songs in “Nandanar “(Tamil 1942), because in that film he performed the role of a devotee of Lord Siva who belonged to Dalit Community and who was a worker in paddy fields. But this cannot be generalized.
Indian cinema was born as a continuation of “Sangeetha Nataka”(musical opera). The early sound films in all languages followed this tradition. The music of early films was just copies of sangeetha natakas. In regional languages also this tradition was followed. It can be seen that in early Tamil and Telugu films popular Hindi film tunes were copied. And the Hindi film tunes in the early period were just copies of Parsee Theatre Drama sons. In “Celluloid” if the intention was to recreate the music culture of the silent era, popular tunes of any early Hindi or Tamil cinema, say of 1930s could have been taken as a model. The hit song of “Celluloid” the duet “Katte Katte” brings to our memory the Hindi film melodies of 1940s or Malayalam drama songs of 1950s. In the first sound film in Malayalam, “Balan” (1938) the hit song of the film “Jathaka doshathale…” was copy of the popular Tamil drama song “ Theyila thottathile” (drama – PathiBhakthi). Some of the songs of the film ”Balan” were copies of Hindi film songs of K L Saigal and songs from early Tamil films like “Tukaram” (1937) – (Source: Interviews with the heroine of the film M K Kamalam and song booklet of the film). Popular music of silent era period is hence represented by music of Sangeetha Nataka, early Hindi/Tamil/Telugu films or pure classical music sung by classical singers like Salem Godavari, Bangalore Nagarathnam, Coimbatore Thayi etc. (Popular classical singers of that time whose 78 rpm gramophone records were in high demand in Kerala also). The songs in Celluloid” cannot be considered to be corresponding to the sonic structure of the aforesaid.
In the previous article some ‘biographicals’ in Indian cinema were referred. How the time markers were included in these films also was highlighted – like the inclusion of radio broadcasts etc. To create the ‘feel’ of the period, “Celluloid” could have adopted some techniques like that. For example exhibiting wall posters of popular silent films like “Kalyan Khajina” (1924), “Sathi Savithri” (1927) etc. Such things could have created the nostalgic feelings of that era. In gramophone (the horned player) popular songs of singers like like Gauhar Jaan (who was called the first lady of gramophone) could have been played. She was very popular in Kerala also. 78 rpm discs of her songs are not much difficult to get. The duet included in “Celluloid” seems to be far away from the prevalent music of the time of “Vigathakumaran”.
And about the playback singers. The media reports compare the female voice in the duet with the voice of our M S Amma, our beloved M S Subbalakshmi!! And that only this female singer is the apt voice for the duet!!! And the exaggeration goes like this – you may get another composer for the song but not another apt female voice!!!! No further comments on this point in this write up!!!!!
THERE IS NO RELEVANCE FOR ALL THE AFORESAID DISCUSSIONS AND THE CRITICISMS IF THE FILM CELLULOID WAS NOT UPHELD BY THE MEDIA AND RELATED PERSONS AS BIOGRAPHICAL FILM ON J C DANIEL OR A FILM THAT IS GOING TO BE A PART OF HISTORY!
While such films are being produced, it should be true to the subject and the period of occurrence. Hence if such films are claimed to be ‘entertainers’ loosely based on the subject or life of a person, there is no scope for a discussion or criticism made in here.
Keeping aside all the controversies over the year of release of “Vigathakumaran” and difference of opinions on various aspects related with and the purported biographical “Celluloid”, the Malayalam cinema lovers salute you, with respect, J C Daniel “the father of Malayalam Cinema”. The Malayalam film industry for which you laid down the foundation stone in Kerala with “Vigathakumaran” is now a canopy for lakhs of people in Kerala – the artists, technicians, singers etc. And under this canopy, their artistic talents bloom and they earn their daily bread also. And the industry is the most popular entertainment media of crores of people in Kerala! Once again salutes to “father of Malayalam cinema J C Daniel”
Tail piece –
(1) Please listen to a song from the Hindi film “Maya Machindra” (1932) which was an instant hit, sung by the composer Govinda Rao Tembe himself. The style of singing, the orchestration – this might have been the popular music style of the “Vigathakumaran” times.
(2) Now listen to this song from the Tamil film “Prema Pasam”(1956) singers Ghantasala, P Leela – a copy of the “Kismat” (Hindi, 1943) number that you have already heard. Bhairai Raga, Ek Taal composition – this style and trend in Hindi cinema music was the popular music in Kerala also in 1950s and not in early period corresponding to “Vigathakumaran”.
(3)Now that you have listened to these two,
Listen to this piece of music Alphonsa also – Varumo Varumo (Moti, A P Komala)
Now is it clear to you what the music structure of 1930s and 1950s was? And you could now differentiate between the music structure and sonic structure of the songs of “Celluloid” ?
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