Kappalottiya Tamizhan

Kappalottiya Tamizhan (The Tamilian who drives the ship) is a Tamil movie released in 1961. The movie was directed by B.R.Panthulu. The main roles were acted by Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan. The supporting roles were made by S. V. Subbaiah, T. K. Shanmugham, S. V. Ranga Rao, Savitri and S. A. Ashokan. The movie was based on the life history of freedom fighter, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai. This movie was awarded the National Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.[1] Somehow it failed in the collections or became a commercially failed movie.

Reception

Kappalottiya Thamizhan received generally positive reviews. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu newspaper said, "Films on patriotism are many. But Panthulu's Kappalottiya Tamizhan stands higher for the natural imitations of Sivaji Ganesan as VOC, and S.V. Subbiah as Bharatiar. The reviews praise the movie that it remains a perfect showcase of the Independence Movement in the South.

Box office

Kappalottiya Thamizhan was the first Tamil movie to get tax exemption (No tax is needed to pay), from the Government of India. This is because of the movie's content of patriotism. But it became a commercial failure.[2] It faced a loss of Rs. 7 Lakhs.

References

  1. "9th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  2. M. T. Saju (4 August 2011). "Government rains on film world tax holiday". Times of India, Chennai. Retrieved 24 March 2012.