Kalidas (1931)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Mumbai

Kalidas is a 1931 Indian biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is notable for being the first sound film in the Tamil and Telugu languages, and the first sound film to be made in a Dravidian language. It was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa; it featured P. G. Venkatesan in the title role and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila, and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.

Production

After the success of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931), its director Ardeshir Irani wanted to venture into South Indian cinema. In the same year, he chose H. M. Reddy, his former assistant, to direct the first South Indian sound film, which would later become the first Tamil-Telugu film Kalidas, based on the life of the Sanskrit poet and playwright Kalidasa. Irani produced the film under Imperial Movi-Tone. P. G.

The film's actors spoke a variety of languages, including Tamil (Rajalakshmi), Telugu (Venkatesan) and Hindi (Prasad). Because Venkatesan's first language was Telugu, and he could not correctly pronounce Tamil words, his dialogue was in Telugu. Rajalakshmi mentioned in an interview that H. M. Reddy filmed and went on to produce a Telugu film titled Kalidas, indicating that it might be a Telugu production.

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