Quite interesting to infer that Central Studios had contributed to Kannada cinema soon after it changed hands to B.Rangaswamy Naidu of Rajalakshmi Mills from R.K.Ramakrishnan Chettiar and his associates in the year 1940 with a condition that S.M.Sriramulu Naidu must continue as the administrator.
In fact, two Kannada movies were produced at Central Studios which created a history. The first movie ‘Jeevan Nataka’ was produced by Gubbi Veeranna of ‘Gubbi Films’. The second movie was ‘Vani’, produced by violin wizard Mysore T.Chowdiah on music theme in 1943.
Gubbi Veeranna was a cult figure and an icon in the old Mysore State. He had contributed a lot with regard to the growth of arts in Mysore. His play ‘Sadarame’ was staged not only in Mysore but also in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. This excellent actor and comedian is known for his role ‘Pukka Kalla’ (smart thief) in the movie ‘Sadarame’. This folk tale had been filmed in more than one language and a few times in Kannada but yet, the role of Gubbi Veeranna became immortal. The movie ‘Jeevan Nataka’ was made on the script given by noted writer A.N.Krishna Rao and it was directed by Wahab Kashmiri (a well know director and actor of the times). The producer, actor and director D.Kempraj Urs played the lead role along with B.Jayamma (Mrs. Veeranna for he had a three wives totally). The second heroine was Shantha Hublikar and she had been a noted Marathi star of the yester years. She hit the national media for playing the role in Shantaram’s classical Hindi and Marathi movie – Admi. Shantha Hublikar was a tough person to deal with. She simply refused to stay in the residential accommodation which was in the studio and therefore she was put up in a separate bungalow. She had issues speaking Kannada too.
The director Wahab Kashmiri did not know Kannada and the entire script was translated into English. The dialogue was transliterated into the Roman script. The smart director discharged his duties well in spite of these shortcomings and the movie became a success. It was a milestone movie in Kannada cinema. Those days the ‘call sheet charges’ or the studio hire charges were just Rs.150 for a six hour schedule. The hero D.Kempraj had been paid Rs.1000 and the popular comedian received only a small amount. The former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Devaraj Urs happened to be the elder brother of Kempraj Urs.
‘Vani’, the other Kannada movie had been shot in the year 1943 and it was the musical which was produced by Mysore T.Chowdiah. Thirimaguda Chowdiah was born in the year 1895 in an agricultural family. He became the disciple of the famous Mysore State musician Bidaram Krishnappa (1869 – 1931) at the age of fourteen. He made his mark on violin and eventually accompanied Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar in the year 1926. His fabulous performance earned the goodwill of the people of Madras and he became a big man thereafter. The Kannada film world had got its first talking film ‘Sati Sulochana’ by the year 1934. In spite of the fact that film production in Kannada had been slow T.Chowdiah decided to seek his place in the movie world. His good friends from the world of music – Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Musiri Subramanya Iyer, G.N.Balasubramaniam and M.S. Subbulakshmi had already acted in a few movies. T.Chowdiah displayed a lot of caution in this venture. He had roped in K.Hiranaiah (noted Kannada theatre person and comedian) as one of the partners for this venture.
T.Chowdiah played the hero’s role in the film. The other actors included Hiranaiah, Bellary Ratnamala, Bellary Lalitha, Kannada character actor ‘Musiri’ Krishnamurthy and Pandari Bai. The voice of ‘Musiri’ Krishnamurthy used to be just like the voice of the famous ‘Musiri’ Subramanya Iyer. He was a good mimic who used to sing the songs of ‘Musiri’ Subramanya Iyer in the same voice and style. At times, he used to give a funny touch while singing Kannada songs like ‘Krishna, Ne Baeganey Baaro in order to make fun of the musician’s Kannada accent. Hiranaiah wrote the story and it was directed by him along with M.N.Gopal. T. Chowdiah composed the music and he was helped out by H.K.Seshagiri Rao, another veteran. T.Chowdiah had been known as a magician who did wonders with his violin and his popularity combined with his skill had helped him make a lot of money.
The innovative T.Chowdiah approached Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar with the proposal of having him in the movie. The orthodox Bhagavathar refused to act or sing in the movie. He had felt that the other Carnatic musicians like G.N.Balasubramaniam had polluted themselves by doing roles in movies. T.Chowdiah did not give up and used his charm to convince Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. At last, Chembai gave a Carnatic music performance in the movie accompanied by T.Chowdiah on the violin and mridangam by Palakkad T.S.Mani. The song was ‘Nikila Papa Vinasasini’ set to Raga Shanmughapriya and the lyrics had been penned by T. Chowdiah. Since Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar refused to step into Central Studios, it was shot in Chembai at Kerala.
Huge crowds had gathered to watch the shoot and scene ran for over ten minutes on the screen. It was a rare musical treat.
The concert given by Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar in the movie was like his other concerts. The amazing musician would never have agreed to sing duets where men and women used to run around trees and bushes. In fact Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar was of the opinion that leading musicians like Maharajapuram Viswanathan, G.N.Balasubramaniam and Musiri Subramanya Iyer had polluted the divinity associated with sacred Carnatic music by singing and acting in movies.
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar was offered a princely sum of Rs.5000 for his role by T.Chowdiah, but the musician refused to touch the cash. The singer felt that the money was dirty for it belonged to the dirty world of cinema ! Finally he was persuaded by T.Chowdiah to accept the amount and it was given away by Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar for making a gold kavacham or armour for the Parthasarathy Swami Temple in his village.
The great musician had felt that film money was tainted with sins. ‘Vani’ was about a musician. It spoke about the problems, pressures and troubles confronted by a good musician.
The movie did not fare well, but it found a place in the history of Kannada cinema. The film had been a musical treat. T.Chowdiah had to sell his car in order to make up for the losses.
Mysore T.Chowdiah and his team had spent a lot of time at the Central Studios owned by B.Rangaswamy Naidu while taking the movie ‘Vani’. Central Studios had been a place for creativity, work and talent for a number of years.
—Rajesh Govindarajulu
