Manohara (film)

Cast

Crew

Production

Manohara was a film adaptation of the stage play of the same name staged by playwright Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar in the 1930s; he even acted in a film version which was released in 1930. K. R. Ramasami successfully staged Manohara under his own banner, playing the lead actor, Sivaji Ganesan portrayed the role of the queen in the play. Jupiter Pictures, announced the film adaptation of Manohara with Ramasami in the title role and A. S. A. Sami as the director. Elangovan, was engaged to write the script. However, this project was shelved and Sivaji Ganesan was brought on board. Producer signed Sivaji either for the role of Rajpriyan or Manoharan. However Sivaji was keen on doing the titular character and got selected. Elangovan worked on the script for sometime under the new setup, but he was soon replaced by Mu. Karunanidhi. Karunanidhi rewrote Mudaliar’s play, introducing changes like the climactic sequence for which he drew inspiration from Samson and Delilah, especially the part where the blind Samson pushes the pillars down. L. V. Prasad was selected to direct the film.

P. Kannamba was cast as Manohara's mother. Telugu actress Girija was cast as the princess, and T. R. Rajakumari as the king’s ambitious mistress Vasanthasena. Kaka Radhakrishnan, Pandari Bai, Javert Seetharaman, S. A. Natarajan, T. P. Muthulakshmi and Sadasiva Rao were recruited to play supporting roles.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by S. V. Venkatraman and T. R. Ramanathan. Lyrics by K. D. Sundaram, Surabhi, Chellamuthukavi & Udumalai Narayana Kavi. Singers are T. R. Rajakumari & C. S. Pandiyan. Playback singers by A. M. Rajah, S. V. Venkatraman, T. A. Mothi, Radha Jayalakshmi, T. V. Rathinam & Jikki.

Release

Dhananjayan in his book Pride of Tamil cinema - 1931 to 2013 mentioned that the film became cult classic due to the performances of Sivaji and Kannamba and dialogues by Karunanidhi. Ananda Vikatan wrote "Manohara is an example if there is a good script combined with lively dialogues and powerful acting, the public will appreciate and love such films".

The film was successful at the box office. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu and Hindi with the same title; both became failures. Kongara Jaggaiah dubbed his voice for Sivaji Ganesan in Telugu. Acharya Atreya wrote dialogues for the Telugu version.