How A Bhimsingh Became A Top Director In Tamil Cinema

Kwanasco

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He directed his first film in 1954, Ammaiyappan, which was produced by National Productions. It was written by M Karunanidhi.

A Bhimsingh was among the most popular filmmakers in the Tamil film industry. He made some of the biggest hits during the 1960s and 1970s and was known as one of the best directors of his time. Apart from Tamil, he made films in other languages including 18 films in Hindi, 8 films in Telugu, 5 films in Malayalam and 1 film in Kannada. Today, let us take a look at his journey.

A Bhimsingh hailed from Andhra Pradesh and started his film career as an assistant editor with filmmaker duo Krishnan-Panjuin the late 1940s. Later, he became an assistant director and then ventured into filmmaking. After gaining considerable experience as an assistant director and assistant editor, he directed his first film Ammaiyappan, which was produced by National Productions. He also worked as an editor on the film. Notably, M Karunanidhi wrote the story of Ammaiyappan. It was released in 1954 and featured SS Rajendran, S Varalakshmi and Shakuntala in the lead roles. The film received an average response from the audience.

After Ammaiyappan, he directed another film named Raja Rani, starring Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini. This film started the long association between Sivaji Ganesan and A Bhimsingh. Thereafter, the filmmaker was not able to garner success with his films, so he decided to start his own production house, named Buddha Pictures.

In 1958, he directed a film named Pathi Bhakthi, starring Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri. The film became a huge hit among the audience and received a great response from the masses.

The other of his films, Pathi Bakthi has a long history of its own. It was first made in 1936 by PY Altekar and was based on the play of the same name, and received a great response. In the same year, a film named Sathi Leelavathi was also made with the same plot. The two went to court for a case against each other but were dismissed as the court stated that the film was actually inspired by a foreign film.

Later, A Bhimsingh made this film, which became a huge success. After its success, he decided to make films with titles starting with the ‘Pa’. Many of his films like Padikkadha Medhai, Pasamalar, Paava Mannippu and Pachhai Vilakku, became hits.