Parthiban Kanavu (1960)

Verbose Tamil historical with a relentless music track, adapting one of Kalki’s Walter Scott-like historicals. King Parthiban (Ashokan), 8th C. Chola king, dies in battle against the Pallavas and his son Vikraman (Ganesh) tries to realise his father’s dream of an autonomous and unified Tamil kingdom. He achieves this with the help of a wise Pallava king, Narasimhavarman I (Ranga Rao), whose daughter Kundhavi (Vyjayanthimala) he marries. Together they defeat the Chalukyan King Pulakesin II and overcome the latter’s nasty priests. An abridged version of another Kalki novel, Sivakamiyin Sabatham [The Vow of Sivakami], has been incorporated, clumsily, as a dance drama. The film, like many other South Indian historicals, overlaps with the stage, here including painted backdrops and simulated shrines (except one shot of the Pallava monument of Mahabalipuram).