Kuchela (film)

Kuchela ( Devotee Kuchela) is a 1936 Indian devotional film in Tamil language directed and produced by lawyer turned filmmaker K. Subramaniam. The film featured Papanasam Sivan as Kuchela and S. D. Subbulakshmi in dual roles as Lord Krishna and Kuchela's wife Susheela.

Plot
The film depicted the tale of friendship between the poor Brahmin Kuchela who had 27 children and Lord Krishna.

Cast
The following list was adapted from The Hindu review article by Randor Guy and from the film's song book.


 * Male cast
 * Papanasam Sivan as Kuchela
 * Vidwan Shankaralingam as Balaraman
 * S. S. Mani Bhagavathar as Saandheepa Muni
 * Jolly Kittu as Dwarapaalakar
 * G. Pattu Iyer as Samba Moorthi
 * Kunjithapatham Pillai as Vevukaar
 * Salem Sundaram as Rich Mirasudar


 * Female cast
 * S. D. Subbulakshmi as Lord Krishna and Suseelai
 * K. K. Parvathi as Rukmini
 * Poornima as Sathyabhama
 * Bala Saraswathi as Young Krishnan
 * Neelambal as Young Kuchela

Production
Subramanyam cast Subbulakshmi in a double role as a male (Lord Krishna) and a female (Susheela, Kuchela's wife). Such casting was the first of its kind in Tamil film history and even Indian cinema. Cinematography was handled by Sailen Bose and the continuity (Editing) was supervised by G. Pattu Iyer.

Title
The Encyclopedia of Indian cinema and The Hindu review article gives the title of the film as Bhaktha Kuchela. Whereas, Film News Anandan's database and the Song Book gives the title as Kuchela.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Papanasam Sivan who also penned the lyrics. There were more than 30 songs in the film. The song book gave the details of orchestra.
 * Parthasarathy Naidu – Harmonium
 * Rajam Iyer – Fiddle (Violin)
 * Ekambara Achari – Mridangam

Reception
Writing in 2010, Randor Guy said the film was a success. He said the film is "Remembered for the innovative casting, pleasing music and Subbulakshmi's performance."