Konjum Salangai

Plot

A king Parthiban (Ramadas) gifts a rare anklet (salangai) to a dancer Aparajita (Kumari Madhuri). She incurs the displeasure of people who do not like a dancer having a hold over the kingdom. She begets the king’s son, Amarendran and hands him over to a priest along with the anklet. She dies after extracting a promise from him that the truth will be revealed at an appropriate time. Amarendran grows into a strong young man (Gemini Ganesan) interested in music, dancing and martial arts. One day, a special festival is arranged and the priest thinks it is time to reveal the secret. He carries the anklet in a wooden box, and while crossing a river in floods, he loses the anklet. It is found by Amarendran, who also rescues a dancer Mallika (Kumari Kamala) from the floods. He hands over the anklet to the king. Amarendran also happens to meet a beautiful singer Shantha (Savithri), who falls in love with him. Mallika impresses the king, is subsequently appointed the court dancer and gets the anklet as a gift. In another dance competition, Mallika dances with Kamavalli (Kushalakumari) and the anklet gets stolen due to a conspiracy. The villain Nagadevan (Manohar) lusts after Mallika. How Amarendran and Shantha are united forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Crew

Production

Konjum Salangai was shot in 41 different sets at three studios Newtone Studios and Narasu Studios in Madras, and Raman Studio in Bombay. It was processed in London under the direct supervision of Raman. The budget of the film was ₹4 million (equivalent to ₹240 million or US$3.7 million in 2016).

Soundtrack

The music was composed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu while the lyrics for songs were written by Kannadasan, Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam, and V. Seetharaman. One of the songs from this film "Singara Velane" was well received and provided breakthrough for S. Janaki who sang the song, Nadaswaram portions for the song was played by Karaikurichi Arunachalam. Regarding the recording of the song, the singing by Janaki was recorded at the Raman Studio in Bombay, while the nadaswaram portions were recorded in Madras, and the two tracks were mixed. The song is based on Abheri raga. Another song "Orumuraiyudan" is based on Bilahari raga.

Release and reception

Konjum Salangai was released in India on 14 January 1962, coinciding with Thai Pongal. It was also released outside India, with the original having subtitles in more than 22 languages by a British company. It was also dubbed into other languages and received a fair amount of notice from critics. The film marked a record for being the first Tamil film to be exhibited in Poland with a dubbed version. In a review dated 28 January 1962, The Indian Express said, "Konjum Salangai, the first Technicolor feature film of South India is a revealing experience that even our technicians can bring out in a film the rich, glossy sheen and pleasing tonal gradations comparable with that of any Technicolor product made abroad."