Burma Rani

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox film | image = Burma Rani.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[T. R. Sundaram]] | producer = [[T. R. Sundaram]] | starring = [[K. L. V. Vasantha]]<br />[[T. R. Sundaram]]<br />[[C. Honnappa Bhagavathar]]<br />[[Serugulathur Sama]]<br />[[T. S. Balaiah]] | cinematography = W. R. Subba Rao | editing = D. Dorairaj | music = T. A. Kalyanam | studio = [[Modern Theatres]] | distributor = Modern Theatres | released = {{Film date|1945|4|13|df=y}} | country = India | language = Tamil }}

'''''Burma Rani''''' ({{IPA|ta|'bəɾ.mɑː 'ɾaːɳɪ}} {{translation|Queen of Burma}}) is a 1945 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[war film|war]]-[[spy film]] set against the backdrop of the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsR8AgAAQBAJ |title=Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry |date=3 April 2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-15446-3 |editor-last=Velayutham |editor-first=Selvaraj |language=en}}</ref> Directed by [[T. R. Sundaram]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Nathan |first=Archana |date=27 May 2017 |title=Rangoon has never been too far away from Madras – ask Kollywood |url=https://scroll.in/reel/838148/rangoon-has-never-been-too-far-away-from-madras-ask-kollywood |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241102055059/https://scroll.in/reel/838148/rangoon-has-never-been-too-far-away-from-madras-ask-kollywood |archive-date=2 November 2024 |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=[[Scroll.in]] |language=en}}</ref> it starred [[K. L. V. Vasantha]] and Sundaram, himself. The film was released on 13 April 1945, during Puthandu.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 April 1945 |title=Burma Rani |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o7Q-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=VEwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1906%2C2514188 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211124615/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o7Q-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=VEwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1906%2C2514188 |archive-date=11 February 2025 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |pages=6 |via=[[Google News Archive]]}}</ref> It was believed to be [[Lost film|lost]] until 2006, when it was [[List of rediscovered films|rediscovered]] and made available on [[DVD]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baskaran |first=S. Theodore |author-link=S. Theodore Baskaran |date=5 October 2006 |title=War relic |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/arts-and-culture/cinema/article30211050.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130163142/https://frontline.thehindu.com/arts-and-culture/cinema/article30211050.ece |archive-date=30 November 2024 |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] |language=en}}</ref>

== Plot == The main plot revolves around a spy ring in Japanese-occupied [[Burma]]. It is led by a Tamil woman named Mangalam.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 2022 |title=As The Temple Bells Beckon |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/making-a-difference/as-the-temple-bells-beckon-news-280473 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125054433/https://www.outlookindia.com/making-a-difference/as-the-temple-bells-beckon-news-280473 |archive-date=25 January 2025 |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |language=en}}</ref> She monitors General Bakjina, who is planning an attack on India. General Bakjina, the Japanese army commander, is modelled after [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Balasubramanian |first=Roshne |date=22 November 2017 |title=Untold war tales of Madras |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/Nov/21/untold-war-tales-of-madras-1707307.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125054528/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/Nov/21/untold-war-tales-of-madras-1707307.html |archive-date=25 January 2025 |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=[[The New Indian Express]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 September 2019 |title=The textile engineer who took Tamil film industry to new heights |url=https://www.dtnext.in/city/2019/09/29/the-textile-engineer-who-took-tamil-film-industry-to-new-heights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125054659/https://www.dtnext.in/city/2019/09/29/the-textile-engineer-who-took-tamil-film-industry-to-new-heights |archive-date=25 January 2025 |access-date=30 June 2024 |website=[[DT Next]] |language=en}}</ref>

The story intensifies when three Indian pilots crash-land in Japanese-occupied [[Rangoon]]. They hide in the house of Rani, an Indian dancer. The secondary plot is a love story between Ranjit Kumar, one of the pilots, and Rani. The pilots are captured and taken prisoner, and Ranjit is eventually killed. The story of the escape of the other two pilots forms the plot of the movie.

== Cast == {{Cast listing| * [[C. Honnappa Bhagavathar]] as Kumar * [[Serukalathur Sama]] as Buddhist Monk * K. K. Perumal as Uso * [[T. S. Balaiah]] as Ranjith Singh * [[S. V. Sahasranamam]] as Kundu Rao * A. Dhasaratha Rao as Soni * S. R. Sandow as Gotto * [[N. S. Krishnan]] as Kunjitham * [[Kali N. Rathnam]] as Koduchi * [[V. M. Ezhumalai]] as Umpan * M. E. Madhavan as Madhav * [[K. L. V. Vasantha]] as Rani * [[T. A. Mathuram]] as Banama * [[C. T. Rajakantham]] as Miss Mangalam * [[T. R. Sundaram]] as Colonel Bakinja }}

== Reception ==  Burma Rani was one among four war-effort films released in Madras in 1945.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Mukherjee |first=Debashree |date=13 September 2023 |title=Media wars: Remaking the logics of propaganda in India's wartime cine-ecologies |journal=Modern Asian Studies |language=en |volume=57 |issue=5 |pages=1585–1614 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X22000427 |issn=0026-749X |doi-access=free}}</ref> Upon its initial release, ''Burma Rani'' was appreciated by the British.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Alonso |first=Isabel Huacuja |last2=Amstutz |first2=Andrew |date=13 September 2023 |title=Rethinking the Second World War in South Asia: Between theatres and beyond battles |journal=Modern Asian Studies |language=en |volume=57 |issue=5 |pages=1449–1458 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X2300015X |issn=0026-749X |doi-access=free}}</ref> The local war propaganda officer, G. T. B. Harvey, presided over the premiere of the film.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Baskaran |first=S. Theodore |author-link=S. Theodore Baskaran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOEDAAAAMAAJ |title=The Message Bearers: The Nationalist Politics and the Entertainment Media in South India, 1880–1945 |date=1981 |publisher=Cre-A |pages=122 |language=en |oclc=9441794}}</ref> However, Harvey later grew suspicious of the film’s portrayal of Japanese characters and withheld its commercial release, reflecting the ideological complexity of a war film set against the backdrop of India, Britain, and Japan.<ref name=":1" /> While the Japanese characters were negatively stereotyped, the Indian spies and military officers were portrayed with a nuanced patriotism that could be interpreted as anti-colonial.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

It was eventually banned by the Madras censor board in post-independence India.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 May 2024 |title=South Indian Cinema: Changing times, changing films |url=https://tcrcindia.com/2024/05/14/south-indian-cinema-changing-times-changing-films/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514094100/https://tcrcindia.com/2024/05/14/south-indian-cinema-changing-times-changing-films/ |archive-date=14 May 2024 |access-date=11 February 2025 |website=The Cinema Resource Centre |language=en}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *{{IMDb title}} {{Modern Theatres}} {{T. R. Sundaram}}

[[Category:1940s rediscovered films]] [[Category:1940s spy films]] [[Category:1945 films]] [[Category:1945 Indian films]] [[Category:1945 Tamil-language films]] [[Category:1945 war films]] [[Category:Anti-Japanese sentiment]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Japanese people]] [[Category:Film censorship in India]] [[Category:Films about Adolf Hitler]] [[Category:Films about the Burma campaign]] [[Category:Films directed by T. R. Sundaram]] [[Category:Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan]] [[Category:Films set in Myanmar]] [[Category:Films set on the home front during World War II]] [[Category:India–Japan military relations]] [[Category:India–Myanmar relations]] [[Category:Indian black-and-white films]] [[Category:Indian propaganda films]] [[Category:Indian spy films]] [[Category:Indian war films]] [[Category:Indian World War II films]] [[Category:Japan in non-Japanese culture]] [[Category:Rediscovered Indian films]] [[Category:Tamil-language Indian films]] [[Category:Tamil-language war films]] [[Category:World War II films made in wartime]] [[Category:World War II propaganda films]] [[Category:World War II spy films]] [[Category:Yangon]]