Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1959)

Interesting facts

Veerapandiya Kattabomman is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language historical war film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, S. Varalakshmi, and Ragini, with V. K. Ramasamy and Javar Seetharaman in supporting roles. Its soundtrack and score were composed by G. Ramanathan.

Production

Since childhood, Sivaji Ganesan dreamt of playing the resistance fighter Veerapandiya Kattabomman; he had left home at age seven to fulfill his dream. Several years later, while Ganesan and writer Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy were travelling through Kayatharu, where Kattabomman was hanged, Ganesan expressed a desire to produce a play based on Kattabomman's life; his first exposure to acting was when he saw Kambalaththaar Kooththu, a street play about…

Before Ganesan and Panthulu, there were two unsuccessful attempts to make a film on Kattabomman: in July 1948, Selvam Pictures announced its intention to produce Kattabommu (the rebel's real name), which would star P. U. Chinnappa. The other attempt was made by producer S. S. Vasan of Gemini Studios; a promotional poster for the project, entitled Kattabomman, was released on 5 November 1953.

Ganesan originally offered the role of Vellaiyathevan to S. S. Rajendran, who declined due to his commitment to Sivagangai Seemai. He later asked actress Savitri to ask her husband, Gemini Ganesan, to play the role. Gemini was initially reluctant to accept the part, feeling it was "improper" to replace Rajendran. After Rajendran wrote to Panthulu that he had no objection to Gemini playing Vellaiyathevan, however, the actor agreed. S.

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was launched at Annai Illam, Sivaji Ganesan's home. Principal photography began in October 1957 with a puja. During filming at Bharani Studios, Madras (now Chennai) in 1958, Adoor Gopalakrishnan (who watched the shoot one afternoon) remembered the actors rushing outside after every take because of the intense heat on set: "The speed of the film was so low those days that one needed many, many lights for correct exposure."…

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was the first full-length Tamil film released in Technicolor; it was shot in Gevacolor and then converted into Technicolor in London. Panthulu adopted the American director Cecil B. DeMille's practise of introducing the film on-camera. The film's final length was 18,086 feet (5,513 m).

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