Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of Swathi Thirunal

Timestamp:

Jul 23, 2012, 6:48:17 PM (12 years ago)

Author:

Trupti

Comment:

--

Swathi Thirunal

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+'''Swathi Thirunal'''
+
+
+1987 133’ col/scope Malayalam
+d/co-s Lenin Rajendran p G.P. Vijay Kumar
+pc Seven Arts Films co-s Varaham Balakrishnan
+c Madhu Ambat m M.B. Srinivasan
+lp Anant Nag, Srividya, Ambika, Ranjini,
+Nedumudi Venu
+
+
+Biographical fantasy about Swathi Thirunal,
+best-known of the 19th C. Travancore kings.
+The British treaty (1795) established
+Travancore as an independent state
+figureheaded by its royalty. As with e.g. the
+Mysore state and other capitals of former rulers
+reduced to ceremonial function, this period
+saw a major revival of classical music and
+performing arts. However, Swathi Thirunal’s
+reign has received special attention, as a
+relatively uncomplicated era preceding
+Travancore’s decline into the 20th- C. rule of
+the despotic Diwan C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyer
+against whom the 1940s communist uprising
+was directed. The big-budget CinemaScope
+film, by a director noted for his CPI(M)
+sympathies, appropriates what it presents as a
+‘golden age’ in Travancore history. Its
+resemblance to G.V. Iyer’s Hamsa Geethe
+(1975) in this regard is further heightened by
+the presence of leading man Nag, whose
+naturalist underplaying of the king contrasts
+with the elaborate period decor. After
+establishing the king’s credentials as lover and
+patron of art and music, and as staunch antiimperialist,
+the film devolves into a love story
+with the Tanjore dancer Sugandhavalli
+(Srividya). The escalating political crisis is
+represented by the arrival of a new general,
+and ends with the king’s death.
+
+[[Film]]