Death of a heroine and the making of hit Tamil film ‘Bhadrakali’ with substitute actor

An aeroplane crash in Bombay (now Mumbai) on October 11, 1976, shook the Tamil film industry and left ace director A.C. Thirulokchandar devastated.

At the time, he was directing the movie Bhadrakali, starring actors Sivakumar and Rani Chandra in the lead roles. Nearly 5,000 feet of the film had already been shot when tragedy struck. The air crash claimed the lives of Rani Chandra, her mother and her three sisters. According to Sivakumar, Thirulokachandar had entered into an agreement with Rani Chandra that she should neither leave the country nor commit herself to other film projects while Bhadrakali was under production.

“However, she participated in a cultural programme in Dubai. After the event, she arrived in Bombay. The flight scheduled to take her to Madras (now Chennai) was cancelled. But, she was reportedly keen to reach Chennai in time to board another flight to the United States,” he recalled.

In his book Thiraipadasolai, a collection of articles originally published in The Hindu Tamil Thisai, Sivakumar recounted that as stranded passengers argued with airline officials, an alternative aircraft that had reportedly been kept aside for repairs was pressed into service. The plane took off from Bombay airport but crashed shortly after reaching an altitude of about 1,000 metres. There were no survivors.

The accident not only cut short the life of a promising actress but also dealt a severe blow to the production of Bhadrakali and to Thirulokchandar personally. Despite having directed several successful films, he was already going through a difficult phase in his career.

“There is no hope for me. I am finished. She took revenge on me as the real Bhadrakali,” Sivakumar recalled Thirulokchandar lamenting in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Even before the accident, the production had been facing financial difficulties. To raise funds, Thirulokchandar screened portions of the film and played the songs “Kettele Ange” and “Kannan Oru Kaikuzhandhai,” composed by Ilaiyaraaja, for distributors across Tamil Nadu. Impressed by the songs and the footage, several distributors came forward with financial support. While the director managed to overcome the monetary crisis, the death of his female lead actor left him shattered.

Movie plot and Rani Chandra’s last scene

In the film, Rani Chandra played Gayathri, the first wife of Ganesan, portrayed by Sivakumar. The couple leads a happy life until tragedy strikes. Gayathri suffers from mental illness after returning from an interview. Though Ganesan initially stands by her, he decides to divorce her after she accidentally causes the death of their daughter by pushing her into a well. Persuaded by his mother, he agrees to marry another woman, but the second marriage proves unsuccessful.

Later, he encounters Gayathri again after she has recovered from her illness. He explains everything that has happened and offers to drop her home. “You go your way and I will go the way as the fate of mine,” she tells him before walking away. In the background, the poignant lines, “Yezhu pirappum inaindhirukkum sontham yenna sontham amma,” play. It was the last scene Rani Chandra acted in before her death.

Today, computer graphics could easily recreate a deceased actor on screen. But, such technology was unimaginable in the 1970s. It was then that Sivakumar came up with a remarkable solution.

“I remembered a girl who had danced in the movie Pattikattu Raja. She bore some resemblance to Rani Chandra, though there were differences in the shape of her eyes and nose. I discussed it with cinematographer Viswanath Roy and we devised a plan to use her,” he said.

The dancer, Pushpa, was traced and brought in. Through careful make-up, lighting and camera angles, the team created scenes that made it difficult for audiences to distinguish between the original Rani Chandra and the replacement actor.

Resumption of shoot with look-alike actor

“Nearly 3,000 feet of film was shot with Pushpa performing the role intended for Rani Chandra. Most of the scenes were long shots, with her walking around with dishevelled hair. There were hardly any close-ups. The scene of her dying in my lap was the only close-up shot,” Sivakumar recalled.

Another challenge soon emerged. Rani Chandra had already recorded portions of her dialogue. To ensure continuity between the footage featuring Rani Chandra and Pushpa, Thirulokchandar decided to re-record all the affected dialogue sequences.

The painstaking effort paid off. Bhadrakali emerged as a major success. It was released on December 10, 1976 and ran for 100 days in theatres.

“Rani Chandra often said she wanted to make a name for herself in Tamil cinema. She dreamed of buying a house and living happily with her mother and younger sisters. But it remained only a dream,” Sivakumar wrote.