Desa Munnetram

Desa Munnetram English Development of the Nation is a 1938 Indian Tamil film, dealing with the issue of untouchability. Produced by Sarvotham Badhami and directed by Mahindra, the film features an ensemble cast, including Mathrimangalam Natesa Iyer, K. R. Chellam, Baby Rukmini, S. R. Padma, Sripatha Shankar, Govindarajulu Naidu, Seetha Devi, M. Lakshmanan, K. S. Gopalakrishnan and Kokilam. The film opened to critical acclaim and was commercially successful, however it is lost.

A prince of the kingdom is involved in an accident, Murugan saves him and is duly rewarded with money. The unexpected boon helps him send his daughter to college and she acquires an M.A. Degree. In college, she falls in love with a young man who has no idea about her origins. More complications arise like entry into the local temple by the downtrodden becoming an issue. Finally they march into the temple in a peaceful procession and the lovers marry.After Tamil cinema started producing talkie films, beginning with Kalidas in 1931, some socially conscious filmmakers began to make films, highlighting the Indian independence movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian freedom fighters. One of them was K. Subramanyam, who made films such as Bhaktha Chetha and Thyaga Bhoomi. One such film highlighting the issue of untouchability was Desa Munnetram. Produced for Sagar Movietone, a Bombaybased company, by noted multilingual filmmaker Sarvotham Badhami and directed by Mahindra, the film had Carnatic musician Mathirimangalam Natesa Iyer in the lead. The story and screenplay were by N. R. Desai, while A. N. Kalyanasundaram wrote the dialogues. ........

Source: Wikipedia