Kula Deivam (1956 film)


Kula Deivam is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film was produced by SK Pictures and stars S. V. Sahasranamam and Pandari Bai in the lead roles, while Rajagopal, S. S. Rajendran, Chandrababu, S. A. Ashokan and Vijayakumari play pivotal roles. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by R. Sudarsanam, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Subramaniya Bharathi, Bharathidasan, Kamatchisundaran, Athmanathan and Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram.
Maruthi Rao and S. Panjabi handled cinematography and editing respectively. The screenplay was written by Murasoli Maran. The film was released on 29 September 1956, and became a commercial success, winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.
The film was a remake of 1954 Bengali film Banga Kora which was based on the novel Bijila by Prabhavathi Devi Saraswathi. The film was remade in Hindi as Bhabhi and in Kannada as Jenu Goodu. Pandari Bai reprised her role in all versions except Bengali.

Cast

;Male cast
;Female cast
;Dance
;Male support cast
Kula Deivam was based on a Bengali film Banga Kora. It was directed by the duo Krishnan-Panju, and the dialogues were written by Murasoli Maran, making his cinematic debut. Stage actor V. R. Rajagopal, who appeared in this film, later adapted the film's title as a prefix to his name.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by R. Sudharsanam and lyrics were written by Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar, Bharathidasan, Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram, K. P. Kamatchi and M. K. Athmanathan. Playback singers are C. S. Jayaraman, T. M. Soundararajan, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, M. M. Muthu, M. L. Vasanthakumari, T. V. Rathinam & P. Suseela.
A Kriti composed by Oothukadu Venkata Subbaiyer, Thaaye Yasodha Undhan, was included in the film for a dance sequence of Kumari Kamala. It was sung by M. L. Vasanthakumari.
The album was released under the label "Saregama".

Release

Kula Dheivam was released on 29 September 1956. The film was a commercial success, and ran for over 100 days in theatres. Randor Guy of The Hindu noted that the film was "Remembered for the socially relevant storyline, excellent performances by Sahasranamam and Pandari Bai, pleasing music and touching on-screen narration". The film was remade in Hindi as Bhabhi which also was a success and was also remade in Kannada as Jenu Goodu. The film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.