Production
company Bharat Pictures Language Tamil | Country India | |
Directed by Kinema Ramu
Serukalathur Sama Based on The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare Starring Serukalathur Sama
T. V. Janakam
S. G. Kasi Iyer
P. S. Sivaramalingam | ||
Shylock is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Kinema Ramu and Serukalathur Sama (under the name Sama-Ramu) and produced by Bharat Pictures. It is based on William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. The film stars Sama as the title character, T. S. Santhanam, S. G. Kasi Iyer, ‘Jayakodi’ K. Natarajan, T. V. Janakam, S. C. Gomathi, K. V. Jayagowri, L. Narayana Rao, V. S. Mani, S. R. Meenakshisundaram, T. R. S. Raghavan, N. Thiruvengadam, A. Gowri, L. Halasyam, N. V. Srinivasan, L. N. Somayajulu, Sundarabhashyam, P.S. Sivaramalingam, T. S. Pitchandi and Kamala. The film was a commercial failure, and no print of it has survived, making it a lost film.
Contents
Cast
Production
Kinema Ramu, a lawyer based in Kumbakonam and scholar on William Shakespeare, wrote the dialogue for Shylock, a Tamil adaptation of Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. He and his friend Serukalathur Sama directed the film under the name Sama-Ramu. Sama also played the title character. The lyricists were Yaanai Vaidyanatha Iyer, P. S. Sivaramalingam (who acted onscreen as the Duke) and Papanasam Rajagopala Iyer, brother of Papanasam Sivan. S. G. Kasi Iyer, the brother of Tamil theatre actor S. G. Kittappa, was the music director, besides playing Antonio onscreen. Portia was played by T. V. Janakam, and Bassanio by T. S. Santhanam. Shooting took place at Bharat Movietone in Kilpauk.
Release and reception
The film did not succeed commercially as audiences could not relate to the characters, costumes and sets. However, film historian Randor Guy praised it for remaining faithful to the source material, the performances of the cast, and the costumes and sets. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.