Director: Lenin Rajendran; Producer: G.P. Vijay Kumar; Cinematographer: Madhu Ambat; Cast: Anant Nag, Srividya, Ambika, Ranjini, Nedumudi Venu
Duration: 02:09:01; Aspect Ratio: 1.250:1; Hue: 306.977; Saturation: 0.112; Lightness: 0.217; Volume: 0.107; Cuts per Minute: 8.223
Summary: 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.
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