Chandralekha   (also spelt   Chandraleka ) [b]   is a 1948 Indian   historical   adventure film   produced  and directed by   S. S. Vasan   of   Gemini Studios . Starring   T. R. Rajakumari ,   M. K.  Radha   and   Ranjan , the film follows two brothers (Veerasimhan and Sasankan) who fight over  ruling their father's kingdom and marrying the village dancer, Chandralekha.   Development began during the early 1940s when, after two successive box - office hits, Vasan  annou nced that his next film would be entitled   Chandralekha . However, when he launched an  advertising campaign for the film he only had the name of the heroine from a storyline he had  rejected. Veppathur Kittoo (one of Vasan's storyboard artists) developed a st ory based on a  chapter of   George W. M. Reynolds ' novel,   Robert Macaire: or, The French bandit in England .  Original  director   T. G. Raghavachari   left the film more than halfway through because of  disagreements with Vasan, who took over in his director ial debut.   Originally made in   Tamil   and later in   Hindi ,   Chandralekha   spent five years in production (1943  ± 1948). It underwent a number of scripting, filming and cast changes, and was the   most - expensive film made in India   at the time. Vasan mortgaged all his property and sold his jewellery  to complete the film, whose cinematographers were   Kamal Ghosh   and   K. Ramnoth . The music,  largely inspired by Indian and Western classical music, was composed by   S. Rajeswara  Rao   and   M. D. Parthasarathy   with lyrics by   Papanasam Sivan   and   K othamangalam Subbu .   Chandralekha   was released on 9   April 1948. Although the film received generally - positive   reviews, it did not recoup its production costs. Vasan directed a Hindi version with some  changes, including re - shot scenes, a slightly altered cast, and Hindi dialogues from   Agha Jani  Kashmiri   and Pandit Indra. The Hindi version was released on 24   December of that year,  becoming a box - office success.   South Indian cinema   became prominent throughout India with  the film's release, and it inspired South Indian producers to market their Hindi films in   North India .   Plot   This plot summary refers to the original Tamil version.   Veerasimhan and Sasankan are the sons of a king. When Veerasimhan   rides through a village,  he meets a local dancer named Chandralekha and they fall in love. At the palace, the king  decides to   abdicate   his throne in  favour of Veerasimhan. This enrages Sasankan, Veerasimhan's  younger brother, who forms a gang of thieves; they embark on a crime spree. Chandralekha's  father is injured in the ensuing chaos, and dies shortly afterwards. The orphaned Chandralekha  joins a ba nd of travelling musicians, whose caravan is raided by Sasankan's gang.   Sasankan orders Chandralekha to dance for him, which she does only after being flogged, but  she soon escapes. He later ambushes Veerasimhan and takes him prisoner. Chandralekha  watches   Sasankan's men imprison Veerasimhan in a cave and seal its entrance with a boulder.  She rescues him with the aid of elephants from a passing circus troupe. Veerasimhan and  Chandralekha join the circus to hide from Sasankan's men. When Sasankan returns to  the  palace, he imprisons his parents, declares himself king and sends a spy to find Chandralekha.   The spy sees Chandralekha performing in the circus, and tries to capture her. Veerasimhan  saves her; they escape and join a group of gypsies. When Veerasimhan   goes to find help,  Sasankan's men capture Chandralekha and bring her to the palace. When Sasankan tries to woo  Chandralekha, she pretends to faint every time he approaches her. One of her circus friends  comes to Sasankan disguised as a gypsy healer and cl aims that she can cure Chandralekha of  her "illness". Behind locked doors, the two women talk. Sasankan is pleased to find  Chandralekha miraculously cured and apparently ready to accept him as her husband; in return,  he agrees to her request for a drum dan ce at the royal wedding.   Huge drums are arranged in rows in front of the palace. Chandralekha joins the dancers, who  dance on the drums. Sasankan is impressed with Chandralekha's performance but, unknown to  him, Veerasimhan's soldiers are hiding inside the   drums. As the dance ends, they rush out and  attack Sasankan's men. Veerasimhan confronts Sasankan, and their lengthy sword fight ends  with Sasankan's defeat and imprisonment. Veerasimhan releases his parents and becomes the  new king, with Chandralekha as  his queen.   

Cast   Ranjan   in   Chandralekha   Cast according to the song book: [8]    x   T. R. Rajakumari   as Chandralekha    x   M. K. Radha   as Veerasimhan    x   Ranjan   as   Sasankan    x   M. S. Sundari Bai   as Sogusu    x   N. S. Krishnan   as the circus buffoon    x   T. A. Mathuram   as circus girl    x   L. Narayana Rao as the circus  manager    x   Subbaiah Pillai as Chandra's father    x   V. N. Janaki   as a gypsy girl    x   V. S . Susheela as a gypsy girl    x   Pottai H. Krishnamoorthy as a circus  clown    x   N. Ramamurthi as a circus clown    x   T. A. Jayalakshmi as the palace nurse    x   Appanna Iyengar as the music  maestro    x   T. E. Krishnamachariar as the king    x   Kakinada Rajarathnam   as the queen    x   Seshagiri Bhagavathar as Singaru    x   T. V. Kalyani as Singaru's wife    x   N. Seetharaman   as Veerasimhan's  bodyguard    x   Velayudham as S asankan's menial  assistant    x   Veppathur Kittoo as a spy    x   Ramakrishna Rao as a sepoy    x   Varalakshmi as a circus girl    x   Sundara Rao as an officer    x   Surabhi Kamala   as a gypsy woman    x   Seetharaman as the cart driver    x   N. Meera as Chandra's friend    x   Vijaya Rao as a palace guard    x   Sampathkumar as a palace guard    x   Balaraman as a palace guard    x   Gopala Krishnan   as a palace guard    x   100 Gemini Boys & 500 Gemini  Girls   Production   Development   After the box office  success of   Bala Nagamma   (1942) and   Mangamma Sabatham   (1943),  producer   S. S. Vasan   of   Gemini Studios   wanted his next film to be made on a grand scale, with  no budgetary constraints. [9]   He asked the story department  ² K. J. Mahadevan,   Kothamangalam  Subbu , Sangu, Naina and Veppathur Kittoo  ² to write a screenplay. [10]   They saw   Mangamma  Sabatham   and   Bala Nagamma   as "heroine - oriented stories", and suggested a simil ar story. The  group told the story of Chandralekha, a tough woman who "outwits a vicious bandit, delivers the  final insult by slashing off his nose and, as a finishing touch, fills the bloodied gaping hole with  hot, red chilli powder". Vasan disliked the s tory's gruesomeness and vulgarity; he rejected it, but  kept the heroine's name. [9]   Without waiting for a full  story, Vasan announced that his next project would be  entitled   Chandralekha   and publicised it heavily. Despite hard work by Gemini's writers, the story  was not ready three months later. Vasan grew impatient, and told the writers that he would  shelve   Chandr alekha   in favour of   Avvaiyyar   (1953). After he gave them one more week, [9]   Kittoo  discovered   G eorge W. M. Reynolds ' novel,   Robert Macaire, or the French Bandit in England . In  the first chapter, he read:   

A dark night in rural England and a mail coach convoy drawn by horses trots its way down a  deserted leafy  highway when suddenly,   Robert Macaire , the fierce bandit and his henchmen  emerge from the surrounding darkness and rob the convoy. Hiding unde r a seat is a young  woman fleeing from a harsh, unhappy home. She is a dancer and when she refuses to dance the  bandit whips her into submission. [7]   Vasan was impressed when Kittoo told him a story based on the chapter. He decided to continue  with the film, and named the heroine Chandralekha. Although the story was developed by  Kittoo, [11]   it was credited to the entire Gemini story department. [10]   T. G. Raghavachari   was hired  as director. [11]   Casting   The script had two major roles: princes in a kingdom, the elder of whom was the hero and the  younger the villain. [12]   M. K. Radha was offered the part of Sasankan, the younger prince. Since  he was then known for heroic roles, Radha was unwilling to play a villain and instead agreed to  play the older prince, Veerasimhan. [12] [13]   His wife Gnanambal persuaded Vasan to cast Radha in  the role. [13] [14]   K. J. Mahadevan (a member of Gemini's story department) was chosen by Vasan to  play Sasankan. [15] [16]   Although some footage of Mahadevan was filmed, his performance was  considered "too soft" and he was  removed; [17]   however, he remained on the project as a  scriptwriter and assistant director. [18]   When Raghavachari suggested Ranjan as Sasankan, Vasan  was reluctant; although the producer initially considered the actor too   effeminate   to play a "steel - hard villain", Vasan eventually relented. Ranjan had committed to B. N.  Rao's   Saalivaahanan   (1945), but Kittoo persuaded him to test for   Chandralekha   and Rao gave  the actor a few days off. The   screen test   was successful, and Ranjan was cast. [19]   T. R. Rajakumari was chosen to play Chandralekha, replacing Vasan's first choice,   K. L. V.  Vasantha . [11] [20]   Film historian   Randor Guy   believed Vasan  chose Rajakumari over Vasantha  because she was leaving Gemini for   Modern Theatres . [11]   In April 1947 N. S. Krishnan, who had  been convicted in the   Lakshmika nthan murder case , was released from prison on  appeal; [21]   Vasan recruited him and T. A. Mathuram to play the circus artists who help  Veerasimhan rescue Chandralekha from Sasankan, with Mathuram's character named  Sumathi. [11]   The script was rewritten, with scenes added to showcase the comic duo. [7]   P. A.  Subbiah Pillai who played Venkatachalam in Gemini's   Mangamma Sabatham , [22]   was credited as  Subbiah Pillai and played Chandralek ha's father. [23]   Madurai Sriramulu Naidu and   S. N.  Laksh mi   made their acting debuts in the film; Naidu played a horseman, [24]   and Lakshmi was a  dancer in the climactic drum - dance scene. [25] [26]   Struggling stage actor V. C. Ganeshamurthy (later known as   Sivaji Ganesan ), who had contacted  Kittoo several times for a role in   Chandralekha , was interested in a minor role as Veerasimhan's   bodyguard and grew his hair long for the part. Kittoo eventually brought Ganeshamurthy to  Vasan, who had seen him perform onstage. Vasan turned the actor down, calling him "totally  unsuited for films" and telling him to choose another profession; the inci dent created a  permanent rift between Vasan and Ganeshamurthy. [11]   The role of the bodyguard was eventually  given to N.   Seetharaman, who later became known as   Javar Seetharaman . [27]   Kothamangalam  Subbu's wife, Sundari Bai, played a circus performer who helps Chandralekha escape from  Sasankan. [27]   T. A. Jayalakshmi, in one of her earliest film roles, appeared briefly in one scene as a  dancer. [28] [29]   Veppathur Kittoo played Sasankan's spy and was an assistant director. [30]   Studio staff  members, th eir families and passers - by were recruited as extras to play spectators in the circus  scenes, [7]   and Vasan introduced Chandra lekha in a   voice - over   during her circus performance. [31]   Filming   During the making (of   Chandralekha ), our studio looked like a small kingdom   ... horses, elephants, lions, tigers in one  corner, palaces here and there, over there a German lady training nearly a hundred dancers on  one studio floor, a  shapely Sinhalese lady teaching another group of dancers on real marble steps adjoining a palace, a studio worker  making weapons, another making period furniture using expensive rosewood, set props, headgear, and costumes,  Ranjan underg oing fencing practice with our fight composer 'Stunt Somu', our music directors composing and  rehearsing songs in a building   ... there were so many activities going on simultaneously round the clock.   

   ±   Kothamangalam Subbu on the film's production at Gemin i Studios [17]   Chandralekha   began filming in 1943. [4]   Raghavachari directed more than half the film, but aft er  differences of opinion with Vasan over the shooting of scenes at the Governor's Estate (now   Raj  Bhavan, Guindy ) he left the  project. Vasan took over, for his directorial debut. [11] [30]   The film did not originally include circus scenes. Vasan decided to add them halfway through  production, and the screenplay was changed. [7]   For the scene where Veerasimhan is freed from a  cave by elephants, "hundreds" of circus elephants were used. [32]   Kittoo travelled  throughout   South India   and Ceylon (now   Sri Lanka ), seeing over 50 circuses before he chose the  Kamala Circus Company and Parasuram Lion Circus; [11] [33]   Vasan employed Kamala for a  month. [34]   The circus scenes were shot by   K. Ramnoth . [7] [35]   Kittoo reminisced about the  cinematographer's work:   In those days, we had no zoom lenses and yet Ramnoth   did it. One night, while Chandralekha is  performing on the flying trapeze, she notices the villain's henchman in the front row. She is on  her perch high up and he is seated in a ringside chair. Shock hits her and to convey the shock  the camera zooms fast  from her to the man. Today, with a fast zoom shot it can be done very  easily, but there was no such lens forty years ago. Ramnoth did it using the crane. He planned it  well and rehearsed the shot for long. He took the shot 20 times and selected the best "t ake". [30]   After Raghavachari's departure, the drum - dance scene he directed remained in the film. [35] [36]   The  scene  involved 400 dancers and six months of daily rehearsals. It was designed by chief art  director A. K. Sekhar, [11]   choreo graphed by Jayashankar and filmed with four cameras by   Kamal  Ghosh . [7] [37]   Randor Guy estimated that the scene cost   
`          D E R X W  8 6          L Q  1948); [38]   in his 2015 book,   Madras   Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema ,  Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai estimated that the scene cost   
`         ² the entire budget of a typical  Tamil film of the period. [39] [c]   The scene included the   Kathakali   and   Bharatanatyam   classical  dances   and the Sri Lankan   Kandyan dance . [41]   A. Vincent , who later became an established  cinematographer and director in   Malayalam cinema , assisted Ghosh in this film. [42]   During   post - production , Vasan asked Ramnoth his opinion of the scene when hundreds of  Veerasimhan's war riors storm the palace to rescue Chandralekha from Sasankan. Although the  scene's photography, shots and action had been unanimously praised by others, Ramnoth was  quiet before saying that the suspense might be ruined if the scene was shown uncut. This  spa rked a discussion; Vasan advised the film editor Chandru to edit in accordance with  Ramnoth's direction, and was impressed with the result. [43]   C. E. Biggs was the film's   audio  engineer . [44]   Chandralekha   was in production for five years (1943  ± 1948), with changes to its story, cast and  filming which generated substantial time and   cost overruns . The film ultimately cost   
`    million  (about $600,000 in 1948), [c]   and was the   most - expensive Indian film   at the time. [11]   Vasan  mortgaged all his property, received financial assistance from   The Hindu   editor   Kasturi  Srinivasan   and sold his jewellery to complete the film. [45]   Adjusted for  inflation,   Chandralekha   would have cost $28   million in 2010. [46]   According to historian   S. Muthiah ,  with the free - floating exchange rate in effect at the time it was the first film with a budget of over a  million dollars made outside the United States. [47]   Themes and influences   Although a   period film ,   Chandralekha   is not based on historical fact; [48]   its plot is based on the first  chapter of   Robert Macaire, or the French Bandit in England . Sasankan is b ased on Macaire and,  according to film historian B. D. Garga, Chandralekha is "probably" based on a female dancer in  the novel whom Macaire flogs when she refuses to dance; [49]   the film includes the scene from the  novel. [7]   Garg a noted that   Chandralekha   was also influenced by other Western literary and  cinematic works, including the novel   Blood and Sand   (1908) and the films   The Mark of  Zorro   (1920),   Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood   (1922),   The Thief of Baghdad   (1924) and   Ben - Hur: A Tale of the Christ   (1925). [50]   In December 1964, film historian   Jerzy Toeplitz   called the film  an "extension and development" of the mythological genre: "The characters are mortals but  behave like heavenly beings, and their movements and gestures, like those of the gods and  

heroes of the   Mahabharata   are impregnated with the miraculous." Toeplitz wrote that the story  was a "mere pretext to hold together the different episodes, each of which builds up like a circus  turn: the ten sion mounts to a culminating point, whereupon the next episode immediately takes  over." [51]   According to Roy Armes' 1987 book,   Third W orld Film Making and the West ,   Uday  Shankar 's 1948   Kalpana   (also filmed at Gemini Studios) inspired Vasan to  make   Chandralekha . [52]   In the 2003   Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema , the film is described as a  " Ruritanian   period extravaganza". [53]   The climactic sword fight between Veerasimhan and Sasankan has been compared to the  fight in  the 1894 novel,   The Prisoner of Zenda . [54]   In 1976, American film historian   William K.  Everson   compared the comedians in   Chandralekha   to   Laurel and Hardy . [55]   Although Randor Guy  considers the film's drum - dance scene the first of its kind in I ndian cinema, [30]   the 1947 film   Naam  Iruvar   includes a scene when the lead actress' younger sister dances on drums to the Tamil  poet   Subramania Bharati 's "Kottu Murase"; [56]   French film historian Yves Thoraval wrote that it  "prefigured the dance that   Chandralekha   made famous the very next year." [57]   According to  American film critic   Jonathan Rosenbaum , the film "belongs to the same childhood continuum"  as   Fritz Lang 's 1959 films   The Tiger of Eschnapur   and   The Indian Tomb , both of which were set  in India. [58]   In his 2009 book,   50 Indian Film Classics , film critic   M. K. Raghavendra   wrote  that   Chandralekha   was constructed in a manner which "enables its narrative to incorporate  elements drawn from virtually any kind of genre." [59]   According to Guy, the setting of the song  "Naattiya Kuthirai" with Sundari Bai (including her dance and  costume) were inspired by the 1943  musical film   Coney Island . [60]   Film scholar Uma Vangal wrote that the film reflects Vasan's "vision  of a truly democratic nation, based on equal rights for men and women" by portraying "a world  where men and   women work together to establish a rightful rule". [61]   Music   Main article:   Chandralekha (soundtrack)   Chandralekha 's   soundtrack was composed by   S. Rajeswara Rao , [62]   with lyrics by   Papanasam  Sivan   and Kothamangalam Subbu. [63]   R. Vaidyanathan and B. Das Gupta collaborated with   M. D.  Parthasarathy   on the background music. [62]   Rajeswara Rao recalled in a 1993 interview for   The  Hindu   that it took him over a year to compose the film's music, with much o f his time devoted to  the drum - dance scene: "As the dancers performed, we used to rehearse and compose the  music. It was done with incredibly few instruments. We used a piano, ten double - bass violins,  and drums from Africa, Egypt, and Persia which we have  acquired from an African War troupe."  Rao's salary was   
`       [64]   The music was influenced by   Carnatic   and   Hindustani   music,   Latin  American   and   Portuguese folk music   and   Strauss   waltzes. [65] [66]   According to M. K.  Raghavendra,   Chandralekha   has "snatches from   [Richard] Wagner   and   [Nikolai] Rimsky - Korsakov   ( Scherezade ) being used at dramatic moments." [59]   "Naattiya Kuthirai", not originally part of the film, was added during final production. Sundari Bai  spe nt over a month rehearsing the song. [60]   M. D. Parthasarathy was the sole singer of "Aathoram  Kodikkalam" and co - singer o f "Naattiya Kuthirai". [67]   J.   Cooling Rajaiah played accordion and  piano in the film's gypsy song. [68]   The circus chorus was adapted from " The Donkey Serenade "  in   Robert Z. Leonard 's 1937 film,   The Firefly . [69]   Vasan offered most of the songs on the Hindi  soundtrack to Uma Devi, who later became popularly known as   Tun Tun . She initially hesitated,  feeling that "[they] were beyond her capabilities", but was supported by Rajeswara Rao, who  "worked hard on her". [70]   "Sanjh Ki Bela", from the Hindi soundtrack, is loosely based on "Sanjh Ki  Bela Panchhi Akela" from   Jwar Bhata   (1944). [71]   Chandralekha 's   music helped make it one of the  most - successful Indian musical films of the 1940s, [72]   and it "created an atmosphere for a number  of music directors influenced by Western music" in Tamil cinema . [73]   Marketing   The first advertisement for   Chandralekha   appeared on the back cover of the songbook for the  film,   Dasi Aparanji   (1944). In the advertisement, Vasantha was the heroine before she was  replaced by Rajakumari. [7] [d]   With   Chandralekha , G emini was the first Tamil studio to attempt to  distribute a film throughout India. [63]   According to film scholar   P. K. Nair , it was the first Indian film  

with a full - page newspaper advertisement. [74]   In a 2010   Mumbai Mirror   article, Vishwas Kulkarni  wrote that   
`         Z D V  V S H Q W  R Q  W K H   film's newspaper publicity and   
`         R Q  S R V W H U V   banners and billboards. [75]   Chandralekha 's   publicity  campaign was the most expensive for an  Indian film at the time; the publicity budget for a typical Indian film a decade earlier was  about   
`         D Q G  S X E O L F L W \  I R U  D   W R S  , Q G L D Q  I L O P   F R V W  Q R  P R U H  W K D Q   
`         G X U L Q J  W K H  1950s. [75]   According to Guy, the film's publicity campaign "made the nation sit up and take  notice". [76]   A. K. Shekhar designed the publicity material, which included posters, booklets and full - page  newspaper advertisements. Gemini Studios, inspired by American cinem a, also produced a  publicity brochure for distribution to exhibitors and the press. [48]   It contained a synop sis of the film,  a pictorial account of key plot points, and text for use by local theatres. The booklet also had  layouts for women's pages, a pictorial account of suggested marketing activities (such as "How  to drape an Indian sari: Theatre demonstrations   have a big draw") and information about the  film's costumes. The costumes were hand - woven silk and gold; one gold - embroidered riding  jacket was considered "the most expensive piece of outfitting ever used in a motion picture." [77]   Release   Chandralekha   was released on 9   April 1948 simultaneously in over 40 theatres throughout South  India. [78] [79]   A ty pical 1940s Tamil film was released in about ten towns, but   Chandralekha   was  released simultaneously in 120 towns. [45]   Advertisement for the Tamil version   The film was released in Japan as   Shakunetsu -  Q R  N H W WÀ   ( !N!Õbô7 ,   Fight Under the Red  Heat )   in April 1954, where it was distributed by Nippon Cinema Corporation (NCC). [80]   It was the  first Tamil film dubbed in Japanese, [81]   and the second Indian film released in Japan; the first was  the 1952   Hindi   film   Aan , which was released in Tokyo in January 1954. NCC later collapsed, and  no information about   Chandralekha 's   Japanese release survives. During the 1950s (when foreign  currency was  scarce in India), barter was a common means of exchange with overseas business  partners;   Reitaku University 's Tamaki Matsuoka believes   that this was the case  with   Chandralekha . An NCC pamphlet about the film called Vasan the " Cecil B. DeMille   of the  Indian film  industry". [80]   A Danish version of the film,   Indiens hersker   ( India's Ruler ), was released  on 26 April 1954. [82]   An abridged English - language version of   Chandralekha ,   Chandra , was  screened in the United States and Europe during the 1950s. [4] [83]   Despite the film's positive reviews and good box - office performance, it was unable to recover its  large production costs; [15] [45]   Vasan remade it in Hindi in an attempt to do so. [84] [85]   The Hindi  

version, distributed by The Screens (a company in Bombay, now   Mumbai ), [86]   was released on 24  December 1948. [87]   With over 600 prints it was a commercial success, setting box - office  records. [11] [e]   Vasan called   Chandralekha   "a pageant for our peasants", [90]   intended for "the war - weary public that  had been forced to watch insipid war propaganda pictures for years." [91]   It was  selected by the Indian governme nt for screening at the fourth   International Film Festival   in  Prague in 1949. [92]   The film's success made Madras a production centre for Hindi films. [93]   Fi ve  years after   Chandralekha 's   success, Gemini paid its employees a bonus, one of the first studios  in the world to do so. [94]   Reception   Box office   Although exact figures for the film's box - office earnings are not available, film - trade websites  provide estimates.   Box Office India   cited the Hindi version's   nett   earnings as   
`    million, and said  that it was the second - highest - grossing Hindi film of 1948 (after   Shaheed ). [95] [f]   As of February  2009, the website gave   Chandralekha 's   adjusted nett gross as   
`              [97]   According to the  1998 book   Indian cinema: A Visual Voyage , by India's   Ministry of Information and  Broadcasting ,   Chandralekha   grossed   
`    P L O O L R Q   (equivalent to   
`      billion or US$28   million in  2023). [98]   Film historian B. D. Garga said in his 2005 book,   Art Of Cinema , "The two versio ns  ² Tamil and Hindi  ² grossed millions." [50]   Sharmishtha Gooptu states in her 2010 book,   Bengali  Cinema: An Other N ation , that   Chandralekha   grossed   
`    P L O O L R Q   D E R X W             L Q        L Q  India. [99] [c]   A 2011 article by   Namrata Joshi   in   Outlook   says   Chandralekha   grossed   
`      million   with an audience of 30   million,  "60% from rural India." [100]   Overseas in Japan, the film earned   ¥2,319,000   ($6,442) in ten days following its release in April  1954. It came close to the Japanese opening record of   Aan , which had earned   ¥2,386,032   in ten  days when it released there earlier in January 1954. [101]   Critical response   India   The drum - dance scene was  considered   Chandralekha 's   highlight by critics.   Chandralekha   received generally - positive reviews from Indian critics. [15]   On 9 April 1948, an  article from   The Hindu   said: "The Indian Screen has, indeed, in this Province or any other given  us little that can bear comparison with Gemini's   Chandraleka   for the sheer magnificence of its  backgrounds." [102]   In a review published on 10 April, a critic from   The Indian Express   article  termed the film to be "essentially for the young of all ages and even the harassed house - wife will  share the pleasure of children treated unexpectedly to a pride of lions, tigers, ponies and  elephants showing the ir paces along with clowns and acrobats." [103]   A   Dinamani   article that day  stated, "People who were depressed with the quality of our Tamil pictures so far can now raise  their heads and hail proudly that  a great picture can be produced in our land also." [102]   In  contrast,   Kumudam   gave the film a lukewarm review: "Though the story is ordinary, the shocking  events inserted into the narrative are something new to the Tamil cinema." The magazine  criticised the film's  songs and length, also noting the inconsistency in its time period where the  king's office featured a wall clock and the king himself was writing with a   quill . [104]   In its January  1949 issue   Gundoosi   magazine praised   Chandralekha 's   Hindi version as an improvement on th e  Tamil version, noting that it had better dialogue and pacing. [105]   

V. A. K. Ranga Rao   called it "the most complete entertainer ever made." [g]   In their 1988  book,   One Hundred Indian Feature Films: An Annotated Filmography , Anil Srivastava and  Shampa Banerjee praised   Chandralekha 's   grandeur, battle scenes and drum dance, which in  thei r opinion was the film's " raison d'etre ". [107]   In 2003, S. Muthiah called it "an epic extravaganza  worthy of Cecil B. de. Mille" and "larger - than - life." [108]   In their 2008 book,   Global Bollywood:  Travels of Hindi Song and Dance ,  Sangita Gopal and Sujata Moorti wrote  that   Chandralekha   translated "the aesthetic of Hollywood   Orientalism   for an indigenous mass  audience", while  also opining the film's drum - dance scene was "perhaps one of the most  spectacular sequences in Indian cinema." [109]   In his 2009 book,   50 Indian Film Classics , M. K.  Raghavendra wrote: "Indian films are rarely constructed in a way that makes undistracted  viewing essential to their enjoyment and   Chandralekha   is arranged as a series of distractions". [110]   Raja Sen   praised the film's   set pieces , drum - dance  sequence and the "longest swordfight ever  captured on film" in May 2010 on   Rediff , calling   Chandralekha   "just the kind of film, in fact, that  would be   best appreciated now after digital restoration." [111]   Randor   Guy appreciated Rajakumari's  performance in an October 2010 review, calling   Chandralekha   "her career - best" and saying that  she "carried the movie on her shoulders." Guy also noted Radha was his "usual impressive self",  saying that the film would be "remem bered for: the excellent onscreen narration, the magnificent  sets and the immortal drum dance sequence." [7]   International   Re viewing the English version of   Chandralekha ,   The New York Times   called Rajakumari a  "buxom beauty." [h]   When the film was screened in New York City in 1976, Willi am K. Everson  said: "It's a colorful, naive and zestful film in which the overall ingenuousness quite disarms  criticism of plot absurdity or such production shortcomings as the too - obvious studio  "exteriors"   ... Last but far from least,   Busby Berkeley   would surely have been delighted to see his  influence extending to the climactic drum dance." [55]   Jonathan Rosenbaum   said in August 1981, "The prospect of a three - hour Indian film in [Tamil]  with no subtitles is a little off - putting, I would say  ² wouldn't you?" However, Rosenbaum had  "surprisingly little trouble following the plot and a ction" of the film: "This made - in - Madras costume  drama makes for a pretty action - packed 186 minutes." [58]   In June 2009, K. S . Sivakumaran  of   Daily News Sri Lanka   called   Chandralekha   "the first colossal [Tamil] film I saw." [113]   Malaysian  author D. Devika Bai, writing for the   New Straits Times   in October 2013, praised its technical  aspects: "At almost 68, I have not tired of watching the movie." [114]   Hindi version   Actor     Role   T. R. Rajkumari   ...   Chandralekha   M. K. Radha   ...   Veer Singh   Ranjan   ...   Shashank   Sundri Bai   ...   Sokasa   Yashodra Katju   ...   circus girl   

L. Narayan Rao   ...   circus manager   The Hindi version of   Chandralekha   was Vasan's first film in the language. [115]   For this version,  Vasan re - shot several scenes and used a slightly different cast. [116]   Agha Jani Kashmiri   and  Pandit Indra wrote the dialogue for the Hindi version, [117]   while Indra and   Bharat Vyas   were the  lyricists. [118]   Rajeswara Rao, who composed the soundtrack for both versions, was assisted by Bal  Krishna Kalla on the Hindi version, while Parthasarathy and Vaidyanathan composed this  version's background music. [119]   The Tamil version was over 18,000 feet (5,500   m) long, [i]   but the  Hindi version was edited down to 14,495 feet (4,418   m). [105]   Although R ajakumari, Radha and Ranjan reprised their roles in the Hindi version, Radha and  Ranjan's characters were renamed. Radha's character was Veer Singh in the Hindi version, and  Ranjan's character was renamed Shashank. [120]   Of the other cast members, N. S. Krishnan, T. A.  Mathuram, T. E. Krishnamachari, Pottai Krishnamoorthy and N. Seetharaman appeared only in  the Tamil version, and Yashod ra Katju and H. K. Chopra appeared only in the Hindi  version. [121]   Nearly the entire cast were cr edited in the Tamil version, [122]   but only six  ² Rajakumari  (credited as Rajkumari), Radha, Ranjan, Sundari Bai (credited as Sundri Bai), Katju and  Narayana Rao (credited as Narayan Rao)  ² were credited in the Hindi version. [123]   Legacy   With the film's success, Vasan became known as one of the best directors in Indian  cinema. [11]   Kristin Thompson   and   David Bordwell , authors of   Film History    ±   An Introduction , called  it "the biggest box - office hit of the decade." [12 4]   Guy later called Vasan the "Cecil B. DeMille of  Tamil cinema", [4]   and called   Chandralekha   his " magnum opus ." [125]   According to S. Muthiah,  Vasan "pioneered making South Indian films in English." [4]   He inspired producer   A. V. Meiyappan ,  who became a "mas ter at publicity." [126]   The Hindi version's success gave South Indian producers  the opportunity to market their Hindi films in North   India. [127]   Chandralekha 's   publicity campaign  had such an impact that Bombay producers passed a  resolution that a limit should be imposed  on advertisements for any film in periodicals. [128]   Vasa n's   Apoorva Sagodharargal   (1949), also a  success, is considered an unofficial sequel of the film. [63] [12 9]   Chandralekha   enhanced Rajakumari's and Ranjan's careers; both became popular throughout  India after the film's release. [7]   Its climactic sword - fight scene was well received, [130]   and is  considered the longest sword fight in Indian cinematic history. [48]   The drum - dance scene is  considered the film's highlight, [7] [11]   and later producers tried unsuccessfully to emulate  it. [131]   Producer - director   T. Rajendar   said that he was inspired by the scene for a song scene  budgeted at   
`    P L O O L R Q   (e quivalent to   
`     million or US$540,000 in 2023) in his 1999  film,   Monisha En Monalisa . [132] [133]   Film historian Firoze Rangoonwalla  ranked   Ch andralekha 's   Hindi version eighth on his list of the top twenty films of Indian  cinema. [134]   It was a major influence on   Kama lakara Kameswara Rao 's 1953 Telugu  film,   Chandraharam , featuring   N. T. Rama Rao . [135]   On 26 August 2004, a postage stamp with  Vasan and the drum dance was issued to commemorate the producer's centenary and the 35th  anniversary of his death. [136]   In July 2007, S. R. Ashok Kumar of   The Hindu   asked eight Tamil film directors to list their all - time  favourite Tamil films; two  ² Mahendran   and   K. Balachander  ² named   Chandralekha . [137]   Mahendran said, "If anybody tries to remake this black - and - white film,  they will make a mockery of it." [137]   According to Balachander, "Just like   Sivaji   today, people  talked about   Chandralekha   in the past. Produced at a cost  of   
`     lakhs     >
`    million], a huge sum  at that time), it has grand sets. I have seen it 12 times." [137]   In December 2008, Muthiah said:  "Given how spectacular it was  ² and the appreciation lavished on it from 1948 till well  into the  1950s, which is when I caught up with it  ² I'm sure that if re - released, it would do better at the  box office than most Tamil films today." [4]   In a 2011 interview with   Indo - Asian News  Service   (IANS),   Vyjayanthimala   said that although people consider that she "paved the way" for  other South Indian actresses in Hindi cinema, "the person who really opened the doors was S. S.  Vasan   ... When [ Chandralekha   was] released, it took the North by storm because by then they  

haven't seen that kind of lavish sets, costumes and splendour. So Vasan was the person who  opened the door for Hindi films in the South." [138]   Chandralekha   was K. Ramnoth's last film for Gemini Studios. Although he is often credited with  shooting the drum - dance sequence, Ramnoth left the studio i n August 1947, before the scene  was conceived. [37] [38]   Director   Singeetam Srinivasa Rao   told film critic   Baradwaj Rangan   that he  disliked   Chandralekha   when he first saw it and recognised it a s a classic only after 25 years, "a  fact that the audiences realised in just two minutes." [139]   Film producer and writer   G.  Dhananjayan   told   The Times of India , "When you talk of black - and - white films, you cannot resist  mentioning the 1948 epic   Chandralekha   ... That film's grandeur, be it in the sets, costumes,  songs, dances and the fight sequences, still remains a benchmark even this day of col our and  3D films." [140]   In April 2012, Rediff included the film on its "A to Z of Tamil Cinema" list and said  that   Chandralekha   "boa sted an ensemble cast, great production values and a story that ensured  it became a blockbuster all over India, the first of its kind." [141]   Chandralekha   has been screened at many film festivals, and was shown in December 2012 at  the 10th   Chennai International Film Festival   (a tribute to 100 years of Indian  cinema). [142] [143]   Chandralekha   was screened in April 2013 at the  Centenary Film Festival,  organised by India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the   National Film Archive . [144]   It  was one of eight Indian films screened at the 28th Italian   Il Cinema Ritrovato   in 2014 as part of  "The Golden 50s: India's Endangered Classics", the festival's first Indian - cinema  retrospective. [145] [146] [j]   In his   Times of India   review of   Baahubali: The Beginning   (2015), M. Suganth  wrote that director   S. S. Rajamouli   had "take[n] his cues [for its visuals] from varied sources"  (including   Chandralekha ). [148]   In a November 2015 interview with Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of   The  Hindu , actor   Kamal Haasan   said: "Visual appeal has always gone hand - in - hand with content,  since the days of   Chandralekha   and [ Mayabazar ], not  just after   Baahubali ." [149]     