Sridevi First Indian Movie

Kandhan Karunai

Kandhan Karunai (transl. By the mercy of Kandhan) is a 1967 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film, written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan. It features an ensemble cast including Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Sivakumar, Savithri, K. R. Vijaya and Jayalalithaa. This was the debut film for actress Sridevi, who had starred as Lord Murugan at the age of 3.

Directed by

A. P. Nagarajan

Screenplay by

A. P. Nagarajan

Based on

Kanthapuranam

by Kachiyapper

Produced by

A. L. Srinivasan

Starring

Sivaji Ganesan

Sivakumar

Gemini Ganesan

Savitri

K.R.Vijaya

Jayalalithaa

Cinematography

K. S. Prasad

Edited by

R. Devarajan

Music by

K. V. Mahadevan

Production

company

A. L. S. Productions

Release date

14 January 1967

Running time

150 minutes

Country

India

Language

Tamil

The film revolves around Murugan, his birth, marriage and his acceptance of the post of the head of the army of heaven. In Hinduism, there are six abodes of lord Muruga, known as the "Arupadaiveedu". The story behind each of the abodes are portrayed chronologically in the film. It starts with Swamimalai, where Lord Muruga teaches the meaning of the word 'OM' to his father, Shiva. He goes to Palani Hills after a fight over a sacred fruit, that is his second abode. Then he wins over the demon king Surapadman in Thiruchendur and that is his third abode. The King of heaven, Indra offers his daughter's hand in appreciation of Lord Muruga's victory and he marries her in Thirupparamkunram, his fourth abode. He later marries Valli in his fifth abode of Thiruthani, later after a short dispute between both his wives they amicably settle in Pazhamudircholai, his sixth abode. All the events are summarised by Nakkeerar, a great Tamil poet portrayed by Sirkazhi Govindarajan at the end of the film.

Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. A. K. Ramanujan described it as "the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past". The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as "one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world". Recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years. The earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from c. 300 BC until AD 300. It has the oldest extant literature among Dravidian languages. The earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and 'hero stones' date from around the 3rd century BC. About 60,000 of the 100,000 odd inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India in India are in Tamil Nadu. Of them, most are in Tamil, with only about 5 percent in other languages. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka and on trade goods in Thailand and Egypt.The two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil.

In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiran Vanakkam, thus making Tamil the first Indian language to be printed and published. The Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, of which 353 were dailies.