Balan (film)
| Balan | |
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A promotional notice of Balan
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| Malayalam | ബാലൻ |
| Directed by | S. Nottani |
| Produced by | T. R. Sundaram |
| Screenplay by | Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai |
| Based on | "Vidhiyum Mrs. Nayarum" by A. Sundaram |
| Starring |
K. K. Aroor M. K. Kamalam Master Madanagopal M. V. Shanku K. Gopinath Alleppey Vincent C. O. N. Nambiar K. N. Lakshmi Baby Malathi |
| Music by |
K. K. Aroor Ibrahim |
| Cinematography | Bado Gushwalker |
| Edited by | Varghese and K.D. George |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Shyamala Pictures |
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Release date
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| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Balan is a 1938 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by S. Nottani. It was the third feature film (after Vigathakumaran and Marthanda Varma) and first sound film in Malayalam. Based on the short story "Vidhiyum Mrs. Nayarum" by A. Sundaram, its screenplay and dialogues are written by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai. The film is a melodrama and was the first movie in this genre in Malayalam. It is produced by T. R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres, Salem. The film, which stars K. K. Aroor, Master Madanagopal, M. V. Shanku, K. Gopinath, Alleppey Vincent, C. O. N. Nambiar, M. K. Kamalam, K. N. Lakshmi, Baby Malathi, A. B. Pious and Subhadra, is about the struggle of two orphaned children. German cinematographer Bado Gushwalker handled the camera while Varghese and K.D. George did the editing. Its music was composed by K. K. Aroor and Ibrahim. There are overall 23 songs in the film.
The film was a milestone in Malayalam film history, not only for being the second talkie, but also for being one of the first commercially successful films. Through the film, Alleppey Vincent became the first "speaking person" of Malayalam cinema, K. K. Aroor the first "speaking hero" and M. K. Kamalam the first "speaking heroine". "Hello Mister" was the first recorded sound, which was in the voice of Alleppey Vincent.
The film is lost; only the songs book and a few stills survive to this day.
There were several attempts to make a talkie in Malayalam, right from the days Vigathakumaran (1928) got released. One among them, A. Sundaram Pillai, had an unpublished story entitled Vidhiyum Mrs. Nayarum (Mrs. Nair and the Fate) with him. He contacted several production houses to adapt this story into a film. Several of his attempts failed, but at last he got a letter from T. R. Sundaram, a Tamil based producer informing him that he was ready to produce the film. T. R. Sundaram owned the production company Modern Theatres, which he established in 1936. A. Sundaram had already finished casting, which included several theatre artists from Malayalam. K. Kunjunair, credited as K. K. Aroor in the film, of the Kottakkal Nataka Samithi was selected to do the title role. M. K. Kamalam was chosen as the heroine.
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