Mangamma Sabatham (1943 film)

Mangamma Sabatham (transl. Mangamma's vow) is a 1943 Indian Tamil-language film, starring Vasundhara Devi, Ranjan, N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Mathuram. The film was produced by S. S. Vasan and directed by T. G. Raghavachari, credited as Acharya.^[1] The film was remade in Hindi and Telugu as Mangala (1950 and 1951) and again in Telugu as Mangamma Sapatham (1965).

Mangamma Sabatham
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Acharya
Written by	Acharya
Produced by	S. S. Vasan
Starring	Vasundhara Ranjan
Cinematography	Ramnoth
Edited by	Chandru
Music by	S. Rajeswara Rao M. D. Parthasarathy
Production company	Gemini Studios
Distributed by	Gemini Studios
Release date	30 July 1943 (1943-07-30)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Mangamma, a village girl, is humiliated by a prince and vows to take revenge. She vows to make the prince marry her and have a child who would whip the prince in the court. However, her plans are almost foiled when the prince imprisons her when she tries to seduce him. The story revolves on how she tricks him into falling in love with her and begets a son through the prince who ultimately whips him in court.

Cast

Adapted from the song book:^[2]

• Vasundhara as Mangamma
• Ranjan as Sugunan, Jayapalan
• P. A. Subbaiah Pillai as Venkatachalam
• P. N. Seshagiri Bhagavathar as King
• P. V. Rao as Minister
• P. Appanna Iyengar as Adappakkaran
• Puliyoor Duraisami Iyer as Guard
• M. Ramamurthi as Sumathi
• A. S. Leelavathi as Rathi
• Kolathu Mani as Acrobat
• Ramasami as Sarangi
• N. S. Krishnan as Sathan
• T. A. Mathuram as Yamuna

Production

Mangamma Sabatham is the first film that N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Mathuram featured for Gemini Studios. Krishnan trained hard to do the tight-rope walking scene himself without using a double.^[1]

Soundtrack

Music was composed by S. Rajeswara Rao and M. D. Parthasarathy while the lyrics were penned by Papanasam Sivan and Kothamangalam Subbu.^[2]

Song	Singer	Lyricist	Length
"Puththiyulla Manithar Enraal"	Vasundhara	Kothamangalam Subbu	02:44
"Anjaathae Nee Vaa"	Vasundhara	Kothamangalam Subbu	01:41
"Vanna Puraavae Nee Yaar"	Ranjan	Kothamangalam Subbu	01:51
"Aanantham Ithae"	Vasundhara		01:53
"Ayyaiyaiya Solla Vetkamaguthae"	Vasundara
"Jayame Jayame"	Vasundara Devi	Papanasam Sivan	02:04

Release and reception

Mangamma Sabatham was released on 30 July 1943.^[3] The Indian Express wrote that despite the lengthy running time, it was "a perfect artistic unit in every detail".^[4] According to historian Randor Guy, the film netted a profit of ₹4 million (equivalent to ₹610 million or US$7.2 million in 2023).^[5]

Remakes

Mangamma Sabatham was remade in Hindi in 1950 and Telugu in 1951, both titled Mangala.^[6][7] A Sinhala remake Mathalan was released in 1955.^[8] A second Telugu remake, Mangamma Sapatham, was released in 1965.^{[citation needed]}