Keechaka Vadham
| Keechaka Vadham | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | R. Nataraja Mudaliar |
| Produced by | R. Nataraja Mudaliar |
| Written by | C. Rangavadivelu |
| Starring | Raju Mudaliar Jeevarathnam |
| Cinematography | R. Nataraja Mudaliar |
| Edited by | R. Nataraja Mudaliar |
| Distributed by | India Film Company |
|
Release date
|
1916—1918 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Silent film with intertitles |
| Budget | ₹35,000 |
| Box office | ₹50,000 |
Keechaka Vadham (English: The Extermination of Keechaka), alternatively spelt as Keechaka Vatham, is an Indian silent film produced, directed, filmed and edited by R. Nataraja Mudaliar. The film is based on an episode from the Hindu epic Mahabharata focusing on the characters Kichaka and Draupadi; it stars Raju Mudaliar as Keechaka and Jeevarathnam as Draupadi.
Keechaka Vadham was the first silent film made in South India. It was shot in five weeks at Nataraja Mudaliar's studio, India Film Company. Since the cast members were from Tamil Nadu, it was viewed as the first Tamil film. Released in the late 1910s, it became a commercially successful venture and received positive feedback from critics upon its release.
The success of Keechaka Vadham prompted Nataraja Mudaliar to make a series of similar historical films. Mudaliar's works inspired other filmmakers like Raghupathi Surya Prakasa and J. C. Daniel. Because no print of it is known to survive, this makes it a lost film.
Mooppanar, a wealthy landowner based in Thanjavur, had purchased a Williamson 35 mm camera and a printer in England. R. Nataraja Mudaliar, then an automobile dealer in Madras, bought the equipment from him at a price of less than ₹2,000. Nataraja Mudaliar developed a passion for moving pictures after watching the films of Dadasaheb Phalke. During the administration of Lord Curzon as Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, cinematographers from Britain were filming a documentary on him. Nataraja Mudaliar met Stewart Smith, one of the cinematographers who worked in the documentary, and learned about the basics of photography in film-making through him. This eventually led to Nataraja Mudaliar establishing his production house, India Film Company. He brought together some of his business associates, who invested in the production house, and established South India's first film studio in 1915 on Miller's Road, Purasawalkam, Madras.
...
Wikipedia