Gulebakavali (1955 film)


Gulebakavali is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film produced and directed by T. R. Ramanna. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, T. R. Rajakumari, Rajasulochana, G. Varalakshmi, S. D. Subbulakshmi and E. V. Saroja in the lead roles, while K. A. Thangavelu, J. P. Chandrababu, E. R. Sahadevan and A. Karunanidhi play supporting roles. It tells the story of a young prince who sets out to the kingdom of Bakavali to find a mysterious flower which is believed to have the power to restore his father's eyesight. The story originated from the Arabic folklore collection, One Thousand and One Nights.

Plot

Dasan, a prince, sets out to the kingdom of Bakavali to find a mysterious flower which is believed to have the power to restore his father's eyesight.

Cast

Gulebakavali is the second Tamil film to be based on the story of the same name from the Arabic folklore collection One Thousand and One Nights, following a 1935 film. The film also involved a fight sequence between lead actor M. G. Ramachandran and a tiger. Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass, who wrote the film's script, also wrote the film's dialogues and the song's lyrics.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy while the lyrics were written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. The song "Mayakkum Maalai" was composed in the Carnatic raga named Bageshri, being one of the earliest film songs to do so. It was originally composed by K. V. Mahadevan for T. R. Ramanna's previous film Koondukkili. As that film was getting delayed and the song was yet to be filmed, Ramanna instead used it in Gulebakavali, with Jikki and A. M. Rajah as the singers. Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy were credited as the composers instead of Mahadevan. The lyrics for this song was penned by Vindhan.

Reception

Gulebakavali was released on 29 July 1955. Randor Guy praised the film for its "well-orchestrated fight sequences", the "interesting storyline and T. R. Rajakumari providing the glamour quotient ", and concluded that the film would be "Remembered for the excellent onscreen narration by Ramanna".

Namesake

The 2018 film Gulaebaghavali was named after this film, but with a different spelling. To connect these two films, director Kalyaan devised a "special flashback sequence".