Filmed originally in Tamil and later in Hindi, Chandralekha was in its time the most expensive film made in India. Directed by showman S.S. Vasan, the owner of Chennai’s Gemini Studios, the film brought the scale and vision of the Hollywood spectacular to indigenous themes, creating a nationwide hit that still features in every list of landmark Indian films. It was hugely influential, setting production and publicity standards for the Bombay blockbuster. A robust Ruritanian swashbuckler at heart, the film tells the story of the princes Veerasimhan and Sasankan, rivals for the throne and the affections of the beautiful Chandralekha.

India’s First Spectacular

Reading Chandralekha‘s success in retrospect, one realizes that several factors would have contributed to its positive reception. In 1948, the first year of India’s independence from colonial rule, the film’s primary conflict – the struggle between the usurper and the rightful heir – would have resonated strongly with the Indian audience, leading them to register all the nuanced allusions and metaphors embodied in the film. They would have seen the demonized villain as a personification of the cruel colonial power which had usurped the land, with Veerasimhan’s  struggle  and  imprisonment evoking  the  freedom  struggle  and  the harsh treatment meted out to the leaders of the nationalist movement. The joyous celebrations at his release and ascension to power would have surely reflected the mood of the newly independent nation. On the surface, Chandralekha is an incredible extravaganza with a great story and setting. In the darkened cinema hall, however, it goes beyond mere entertainment to create an intense engagement with its audience, through its references to popular notions of valour and courage, and characters who try to live up to an heroic and moral ideal. In this context, it is interesting to note the central female character and her pivotal role in restoring the status quo. Chandralekha, named after its heroine, portrays a world where men and women work together to establish a rightful rule. Perhaps this reflects the filmmaker’s vision of a truly democratic nation, based on equal rights for men and women.
Chandralekha marks a transition for the Tamil audience, which was moving on from its staple fare, the ‘mythological’ film, dealing with stories from Indian myth and legend. It also represents a change for filmmakers who were attempting to use their democratic medium to bring contemporary themes to the audience. Costume dramas like Chandralekha, dealing with struggles for power, eventually led the audience to accept ‘socials’ (films about contemporary issues in modern-day settings). The film also established many of the conventions that are associated today with Indian cinema – the spectacular song-and-dance sequences, colourful costumes, and elaborate sets which are considered typical of Bollywood, but in actuality emerged from the South Indian film industry. This was the true achievement of Chandralekha – the creation of a template for mainstream Indian cinema, a model for future filmmakers to emulate and reap benefits from at home and abroad.

Uma Vangal