Kalidas (film)

Kalidas
Directed by	H. M. Reddy
Produced by	Ardeshir Irani
Starring	T. P. Rajalakshmi P. G. Venkatesan
Production company	Imperial Movi-Tone
Release date	31 October 1931 (1931-10-31)
Country	India
Languages	Tamil Telugu

Kalidas (transl. The Servant of Kali,^[1] pronounced [kaːɭidaːs]) is a 1931 Indian biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is notable for being the first sound film in the Tamil and Telugu languages, and the first sound film to be made in a language from South India. It was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa; it featured P. G. Venkatesan in the title role and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila, and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.

Kalidas, principally in Tamil, contained additional dialogue in Telugu and Hindi. While Rajalakshmi spoke Tamil, Venkatesan spoke only Telugu due to his lack of fluency in Tamil, and Prasad spoke only Hindi. Despite its mythological theme, the film featured songs from much later time periods, such as the compositions of Carnatic musician Tyagaraja, publicity songs of the Indian National Congress, and songs about Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement. The sound was recorded using German-made technology. Kalidas was shot in Bombay on the sets of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931) and was completed in eight days.

Kalidas was released with high expectations on 31 October 1931, coinciding with Diwali day. It was the only South Indian film to be produced and released that year. Despite numerous technical flaws, it received critical acclaim, with praise for Rajalakshmi's singing performance, and became a major commercial success. The success of Kalidas spawned other films based upon Kalidasa, including Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955), Mahakavi Kalidasu (1960) and Mahakavi Kalidas (1966).

In addition to its commercial success, Kalidas was a major breakthrough for Rajalakshmi's career, and made her a bankable singing star. Because no print, gramophone record, or songbook of the film is known to survive, it is a lost film.