Pudukottai Ulaganatha Chinnasami, later P. U. Chinnappa (1916-1951), was one of the top singer-cum-stars of the early decades of Tamil Cinema. A versatile artiste with knowledge of several forms of martial arts, he did the action sequences on his own.
Indeed, he was ranked only next to the superstar of the day, M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. His father was a struggling stage actor and Chinnappa attended school only for a short while. Poverty drove his father to put his talented five-year-old son in one of his ‘Boys Drama Companies', which was then a strongcultural force in the Renaissance of Tamil Theatre. Soon his reputation as a singer and actor grew and in 1936 he took his bow in cinema playing a small role in the Jupiter Pictures' controversial production Chandrakantha in which his name appeared in the credits as ‘Chinnasami'.
During that era, the immortal but short-lived stage star and cult figure S. G. Kittapppa (he passed away at the age of 30, collapsing on the stage while performing) was every actor's idol. Many of them changed their names to rhyme with ‘Appa' and thus Chinnasami became ‘ Chinnappa!'
Yayathi was one of his early movies in which he played the lead role. Produced by the now forgotten Mohan Movietone, Madurai, the film was directed by the noted Hollywood-trained filmmaker of his day, Manik Lal Tandon. Tandon studied filmmaking at the famous University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, and also worked on many students' films made in Hollywood as part of the training programme introduced by some studios. His classmates were Michael Omalov (of Nava Yuvan fame), and the celebrated American Tamil filmmaker Ellis R. Dungan.
Tandon made memorable movies in Tamil such as Bhama Vijayam and Dumbachari . He also made films during the late 1940s for Modern Theatres. Advancing years and problems with his sight forced him to retire to his hometown Bombay.
Yayathi narrated the tale of Devayani (M. V. Rajamma), daughter of Sukracharya (Rangachari), guru of the Rakshasas, and her companion Sharmista (Sulochana), a princess. Devayani is vain and envious of her friend because of her royal blood.
Yayathi, a prince, saves Devayani when she falls into a well and is abandoned by her friend Sharmista. The two fall in love and marry. To get even with Sharmista, Devayani persuades her father to send the princess as her maid.
Sukracharya warns Yayathi to keep away from Sharmista and if he attempts to seduce her, he would be cursed. However, he falls in love with her. The two meet in secret and beget three children, including Puru, a dutiful son.
Sukracharya curses Yayathi to become old. Loving the pleasures of youth, he gets a boon from the guru that if one of his sons would offer his youth and take over his old age, he could become young again.
All of them refuse except Puru, who gives his youth to his father. Later, a remorse-stricken Yayathi becomes old again. Puru regains his youth and ascends the throne....
The dialogue was written by the multi-faceted Serukalathur Sama, while Papanasam Sivan wrote the lyrics and composed the music. The film was shot at Calcutta and had 25 songs but none of them became popular.
According to Rajamma, there were clashes during the shooting between Tandon and Chinnappa who had a fiery temper. There were even rumours that he slapped the famed filmmaker!
Remembered for Chinnappa's performance and Tandon's deft direction.
