Wikipedia
Kalidas or Kalidasa may refer to:
Kalidas , also known as Kalidasa, is a 1931 Indian Tamil-language biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is noted for being the first Tamil language sound film, and the first sound film to be made in South India. The film was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa; 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 in Tamil, Venkatesan spoke only in Telugu due to his lack of fluency in Tamil, and Prasad spoke only in 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 Germany-made technology. Kalidas was shot in Bombay on the sets of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931).
Kalidas was released amidst high expectations on 31 October 1931, coinciding with Diwali day. It was the only Tamil film to be produced and released that year. Despite numerous technical flaws, it received critical acclaim, with praise aimed at Rajalakshmi's singing performance and became a major commercial success. The success of Kalidas spawned numerous other films based upon Kālidāsa, including Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955), Mahakavi Kalidasu (1960) and Mahakavi Kalidas (1966).
In addition to its commercial success, Kalidas became a major breakthrough in Rajalakshmi's career, and made her a bankable singing star. Because no print, gramophone record or songbook of the film is known to survive, this makes it a lost film.