Shantha Sakkubai was a 1939 Tamil film starring K. Aswathamma, Bannibai, K. Sarangapani, Kothamangalam Seenu, Kothamangalam Subbu, P. G. Venkatesan, S. S. Rajamani, K. Aranganayaki, T. S. Krishnaveni, M. A. Ganapathi Bhat and Sundar Rao Nadkarni. The film was directed by acclaimed director Sundar Rao Nadkarni.
Shantha Sakkubai revolves around Sakkubai (Aswathamma), a Krishna devotee, whose husband (Sarangapani) is a ‘mama’s boy’. Sakkubai’s mother-in-law is a sadist, played by the Harikatha exponent C. Bannibai. Though it was her debut, Bannibai excelled in that role. Sakkubai was played by the singing star of Karnataka, Aswathamma, known as ‘Kannadatha Kogiley’ (Kannada’s cuckoo). A stage artiste, she entered filmdom and made a splash with Chintamani (1937). Her career was cut short by the then dreaded disease tuberculosis which claimed her life when she was still young. The gramophone discs of Kannada songs rendered by her were bestsellers and acquired by many Tamil and Telugu speaking families in south India.
Coming back to the storyline, Sakkubai goes away to Pandaripur along with a group of pilgrims and Lord Krishna in disguise takes her place in the household. Unaware of this, the cruel mother-in-law makes the ‘fake’ Sakkubai’s life hell. But she wins all the cruel tests. The real Sakkubai wishes to lay down her life at the feet of her Lord and dies.
Lord Krishna realises he cannot get out of the disguise, because the original is no longer alive. His wife Rukmini comes to his rescue and the mother-in-law realises the truth about her daughter-in-law and all ends happily…
The film had excellent music (composer Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma, lyrics Papanasam Sivan). The film was a box-office success. The music composer Rajagopala Sarma appears on screen in a Pandaripuram festival sequence, singing a bhajan. The director Sundar Rao Nadkarni sings and dances an ‘abhang’.
Directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni
Produced by Salem Shankar Films
Starring K. Aswathamma, Bannibai, K. Sarangapani, Kothamangalam Seenu, Kothamangalam Subbu, P. G. Venkatesan,
S. S. Rajamani, K. Aranganayaki, T. S. Krishnaveni, M. A. Ganapathi Bhat
Music by Songs : Papanasam Sivan
Background Score : Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma
Edited by Sundar Rao Nadkarni
Release dates 1939
Language Tamil
