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{{short description|1937 film directed by K. Amarnath}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Minnalkodi
| image = Minnalkodi.jpg
| alt = Black-and-white poster in Tamil featuring a portrait of a woman
| caption = Poster
| native_name = 
| director = [[K. Amarnath]]
| producer = Ramaniklal<br />Mohanlal
| writer =
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on = 
| starring = K. T. Rukmini<br />Srinivasa Rao<br />S. S. Kokko
| narrator =
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing =
| studio = Mohan Pictures
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes/no|1937|10|30}}
| runtime = 158 minutes<ref name="Encyclopaedia" />
| country = India
| language = Tamil
}}
'''''Minnalkodi''''' ({{translation|Bolt of lightning}}) is a 1937 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[action thriller]] film,<ref name="GogiaPasha" /> directed by [[K. Amarnath]] and produced by Ramaniklal and Mohanlal. The film stars K. T. Rukmini, Srinivasa Rao, and S. S. Kokko. Released on 30 October 1937, it became a commercial success, but no print of the film is known to survive, making it a [[lost film]].

== Plot ==
Mohini is a young girl whose father dies, leaving her and her male servant homeless. Her wily uncle unfairly takes her property. In their wanderings, Mohini and the servant come across Minnalkodi, a [[Dacoity|dacoit]], and protect him from the police. The injured Minnalkodi declares Mohini the leader of his gang and dies. Mohini goes about in the guise of a man as Minnalkodi and kills her uncle and others who had harmed her earlier, but she is a good thief who robs the rich only to help the poor. Jayakumar, a police inspector, tries to capture her but is unable to make much progress. In the jungle, he comes across Mohini, without her disguise, and falls in love with her. When he learns that she is, in fact, Minnalkodi, he persuades her to change her ways, and they marry.{{sfn|Baskaran|1996|pp=93-94}}<ref name="Encyclopaedia" />

== Production ==
''Minnalkodi'' was among Tamil cinema's earliest action films, then known as "stunt films",<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=August 2007 |title=From Silents to Sivaji! A look into the past |url=https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G_Vzkgw39eQ/T8fQPte5gLI/AAAAAAAAEwE/ryd7dBFrftU/s1600/07.jpg |magazine=Galatta Cinema |page=57 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180215024617/https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G_Vzkgw39eQ/T8fQPte5gLI/AAAAAAAAEwE/ryd7dBFrftU/s1600/07.jpg |archive-date=15 February 2018 |access-date=15 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> and followed the [[Robin Hood]] concept of robbing the rich to help the poor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nevins |first=Jess |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRHUDQAAQBAJ&q=Minnalkodi&pg=PA292 |title=The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger: The 4,000-Year History of the Superhero |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4408-5483-5 |page=292}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thoraval |first=Yves |title=The cinemas of India |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |year=2000 |location=India |pages=37}}</ref> It was directed by [[K. Amarnath]] and produced by Ramaniklal and Mohanlal under Mohan Pictures, this being one of the [[Mumbai|Bombay]]-based company's earliest Tamil films.<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /><ref name="Anandan" /> K. T. Rukmini, an [[Anglo-Indian]] actress, played Mohini. She modelled her screen mannerisms on the Hindi film actress [[Gohar Mamajiwala]], and draped her ''[[sari]]'' in the [[Gujarat]]i style.{{sfn|Baskaran|1996|p=94}} She also took influence from the acting style of [[Fearless Nadia]].<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /><ref name="Anandan" /> S. S. Koko, a stunt-comedian, played Mohini's servant.{{sfn|Baskaran|1996|p=94}} Srinivasa Rao played Jayakumar, the police inspector who falls in love with Mohini.<ref name="Encyclopaedia" /> Other supporting roles were played by Gogia Pasha,<ref name="GogiaPasha">{{Cite news |last=Zubrzycki |first=John |url=https://thewire.in/153325/mysterious-gogia-pasha-original-gilly-gilly-man/ |title=The Mysterious Gogia Pasha: The Original Gilly Gilly Man |date=1 July 2017 |work=[[The Atlantic#The Wire|The Wire]] |access-date=9 February 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210002508/https://thewire.in/153325/mysterious-gogia-pasha-original-gilly-gilly-man/ |archive-date=10 February 2018}}</ref> Subbulakshmi, Alamu, K. B. Rao and Usharani.<ref name="Anandan" /> ''Minnalkodi'' was filmed in black-and-white,{{sfn|Baskaran|1996|p=93}} featured only three songs,{{sfn|Baskaran|1996|p=94}} and its final length measured {{convert|14205|feet|metres}}.<ref name="Anandan" />

== Release and reception ==
''Minnalkodi'' was released on 30 October 1937<ref name="Anandan" /> and emerged a major commercial success,<ref name="Dharamsey">{{Cite journal |last=Dharamsey |first=Virchand |date=2010 |title=The Advent of Sound in Indian Cinema: Theatre, Orientalism, Action, Magic |url=http://www.jmionline.org/articles/2010/the_advent_of_sound_in_indian_cinema_theatre_orientalism_action_magic.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Moving Image |volume=9 |pages=47 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826160946/http://www.jmionline.org/articles/2010/the_advent_of_sound_in_indian_cinema_theatre_orientalism_action_magic.pdf |archive-date=26 August 2014}}</ref> besides propelling Rukmini to stardom.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guy |first=Randor |title=Memories of Madras: Its Movies, Musicians & Men of Letters |publisher=Creative Workshop |year=2016 |isbn=978-81-928961-7-5 |editor-last=Gopal |editor-first=T. S. |location=Chennai |pages=41 |author-link=Randor Guy}}</ref> No print of the film is known to survive, making it a [[lost film]].{{sfn|Baskaran|1996|p=93}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Encyclopaedia">{{Cite book |last1=Rajadhyaksha |first1=Ashish |url=https://indiancine.ma/texts/indiancine.ma%3AEncyclopedia_of_Indian_Cinema/text.pdf |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema |last2=Willemen |first2=Paul |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-563579-5 |page=272 |orig-year=1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821193440/https://indiancine.ma/texts/indiancine.ma%3AEncyclopedia_of_Indian_Cinema/text.pdf |archive-date=21 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Anandan">{{Cite book |last=Film News Anandan |url=http://www.lakshmansruthi.com/cineprofiles/1937-cinedetails27.asp |title=Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru |publisher=Sivagami Publishers |year=2004 |location=Chennai |language=Tamil |trans-title=Tamil film history and its achievements |author-link=Film News Anandan |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180209131112/http://www.lakshmansruthi.com/cineprofiles/1937-cinedetails27.asp |archive-date=9 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Baskaran |first=S. Theodore |title=The Eye of the Serpent: An Introduction to Tamil Cinema |publisher=East West Books |year=1996 |location=[[Chennai]] |author-link=S. Theodore Baskaran}}

== External links ==
* {{AllMovie title|253930}}
* {{IMDb title|0154879}}

[[Category:1930s action thriller films]]
[[Category:1937 lost films]]
[[Category:1937 films]]
[[Category:Cross-dressing in Indian films]]
[[Category:Indian action thriller films]]
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Indian swashbuckler films]]
[[Category:Lost Indian films]]
[[Category:1930s Tamil-language films]]

Minnalkodi - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Alter: url. URLs might have been anonymized. Add: authors 1-1. Removed parameters. Some additions/deletions were parameter name changes. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:1937 films | via #UCB_Category 1058/1156