Thursday, November 27, 2008

B. Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu: Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1959/1962)

Veerapandiya Kattabomman, made in 1959, is based on the true story of one of India's first to oppose English rule. The company (The British East India Company), was taxing land owners and he protested by not paying the tax. The British attacked his fortress and he was hung in 1799. For the longer and more detailed version of the story you can 1) listen to this record or 2) follow this Wikipedia link.

The record is split into 6 parts on each side. Some parts include dialogue only but most have a short extract of a song in between. And please take note that the songs on the record are not in their entirety. There are two songs missing from this record, they are "Takku Takku" and "Singaarakkanne". This is not the official soundtrack but a condensed audio version of the film. All I know is that this is a classic Sivaji film, so if some one understands Tamil, please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks
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Cast
Sivaji Ganeshan ......Veerapandiya Kattabomman
Gemini Ganeshan............................ Vellayathevan
V. K. Ramasamy....................................... Ettappan
Javar Seetharaman ..................Major Bannerman
Varalakshmi.................................. Rani Jakkamma
Padmini .................................................Vellayamma
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Tracks:
Side 1 (track 1. (19 minutes))
1- Dialogue & Song: Mattuvandi Poottikittu: T. M. Sounderarajan & T. V. Rathnam
2- Dialogue & Song: Anjatha Singam: P. Susheela
3- Dialogue & Song: Inbam Pongum Vennila: P. B. Sreenivos & P. Susheela
4- Dialogue & Song: Aathukkulley: K. Jamunarani, Ratnamala & Trichy Loganathan
5- Dialogue & Song: Karantha Palayum: T. M. Sounderarajan
6- Dialogue
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Side 2 (track 2. (19 minutes))
7- Dialogue & Song: Vetri Vadivelane: Sundaram & S. Varalakshmi
8- Dialogue & Song: Pogathe Pogathe: Ratnamala
9- Dialogue (Battle)
10- Dialogue & Song: Jakkamma: Seerkazhi S. Govindarajan
11- Dialogue
12- Dialogue & Song: Veerathin Sinname: Seerkazhi S. Govindarajan
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Directed: B. Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu
Music: G. Ramanathan
Lyrics: Ku Ma Balasubramaniam
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Get the Tamil Film Story Now: Veerapandiya Kattabomman*
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*The download comprises of two tracks, Side 1 and Side 2, each side is about 19 minutes long and are divided into 6 parts, as shown in the list above.
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This is one of my favorite songs, thought it is not in it's entirety on this record, I decided to post the video. It's pure historical kitsch and you get Padmini doing a deer dance. Enjoy!