Keechaka Vadham
Keechaka Vadham English The Extermination of Keechaka alternatively spelt as Keechaka Vatham, is a 1918 Indian silent film produced, directed, filmed and edited by R. Nataraja Mudaliar. The film was based on an episode from the Hindu epic Mahabharata focusing on the characters Keechaka and Draupadi it starred Raja Mudaliar as Keechaka and Jeevarathnam as Draupadi, the female lead.
Mooppanar, a wealthy landowner based in Thanjavur District, had owned a Williamson 35mm camera and a printer purchased in England. R. Nataraja Mudaliar, then an automobile dealer in Madras, had taken the entire equipment from him at a price of less than 2,000, a thereby making his debut in the film industry. Nataraja Mudaliar developed a passion for moving pictures after watching the films of Dadasaheb Phalke. At the time cinematographers from Britain were filming a documentary on Lord Curzon, then the GovernorGeneral and Viceroy of India. Nataraja Mudaliar got introduced to Stewart Smith, one of the cinematographers who worked in the documentary, and learned about the basics of photography in filmmaking through him. This eventually led to Nataraja Mudaliar establishing his production house, India Film Company, in 1917. He brought together some of his business associates, allowing them to invest on the production house, and established South Indias first film studio on Millers Road, Purasawalkam, Madras. b Nataraja Mudaliar sought the advice of his friend, Pammal Sambandam Mudaliar, one of the founding fathers of the Renaissance of Tamil Theatre, who suggested that he should picturise the story of the Mahabharata characters Draupadi and Keechaka. However, some relatives objected to it for they felt that for the first venture it was not the proper story. But Nataraja Mudaliar decided to proceed and launched his maiden film Keechaka Vadham, which was based on an episode from the Mahabharatha. Nataraja Mudaliar was not a writer, so he had to take assistance from his close friend C. Rangavadivelu, a lawyer by profession. Besides writing the screenplay, Rangavadivelu agreed to coach artistes on sets. Nataraja Mudaliar engaged stage actors Raja Mudaliar and Jeevarathnam to play the roles of Keechaka and Draupadi respectively. The production for the film cost 35,000, a which was then considered high, revealing Nataraja Mudaliars inexpe
Source: Wikipedia