Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the king of Panchalankurichi, is a brave fighter and a devotee of his family deity, Murugan of Thiruchendur. On receiving news of a robbery in his territory, Kattabomman and his retinue set out incognito to capture the robbers. When they are captured, they confess that they had been hired by the British to create unrest in Kattabomman's domain. They also tell him that the British had enticed the neighbouring chieftain, Ettappan, to help them in their endeavour to annexe Panchalankurichi.

At Chayalkudi, a village near Panchalankurichi, lives Vellaiyammal, who vows to marry the man who tames her pet bull. She takes her bull to participate in a Jallikattu game held at Panchalankurichi under Kattabomman's patronage. All those who attempt to tame the bull fail. At Kattabomman's call, his commander-in-chief, Vellaiyathevan, subdues the bull and wins Vellaiyammal's love. Later, Kattabomman learns of their love and has them marry.

Kattabomman receives a message from W. C. Jackson, the collector of Tirunelveli, who demands a meeting with him at Ramanathapuram to discuss the payment of his tribute. Captain Davison, Kattabomman's British friend, advises him to go and see Jackson. Jackson, finding that Kattabomman has come to see him with his troops, demands to meet him alone. At the meeting, Jackson insults him and orders his arrest. Though surrounded by the British troops, Kattabomman fights and escapes, but his Minister, Thanapathi Sivasubramaniam Pillai, is captured by the British.

Some time later, Pillai is released. He brings news that Jackson has been transferred back to England on Davison's recommendation. At Kattabomman's court, a British messenger sent by Colonel Ooshington, Tirunelveli's new collector, reports that Pillai and his men have looted their granaries and killed their men at Srivaikuntam. Pillai justifies his act, saying that he instructed his men to do it because of the famine conditions prevalent in their kingdom. Ashamed of Pillai's act, Kattabomman accuses him of injustice. Pillai apologises and offers himself as a prisoner to the British, but Kattabomman refuses to hand him over; instead he offers money to the British as compensation for the looted rice. Ooshington does not agree and, with Major Bannerman's and Ettappan's help, incites the neighbouring rulers to attack Kattabomman. Bannerman is placed in charge of the British troops. He and Ettappan plan to attack Panchalankurichi when the people are away attending a festival in Tiruchendur. Kattabomman's spy Sunderalingam, overhears this and informs him; he prepares for battle.

On the day of the battle, Vellaiyammal pleads with Vellaiyathevan not to go because the previous night she had a nightmare, which was full of evil omens. Ignoring her entreaties, Vellaiyathevan sets out, and is killed in the ensuing battle. Vellaiyammal, on learning of his death, kills the man who killed him, avenging her husband's death. She finds Vellaiyathevan's corpse and, overcome by grief, dies on it. Bannerman's troops attack Panchalankurichi with heavy artillery and Kattabomman's army suffers badly. Kattabomman is wounded in the neck, but is saved by his brother, Oomaithurai. Sensing that the fort cannot survive another cannon barrage, Kattabomman and Oomaithurai flee to the adjoining kingdom of Kovilpatti. Pillai, disguising himself as Kattabomman, misleads the British soldiers who are on Kattabomman's trail. From Kovilpatti, Kattabomman and Oomaithurai flee to Pudukkottai. Thondaimaan, the king of Pudukkottai, is ordered by the British to capture Kattabomman and Oomaithurai. Fearing the British, Thondaimaan captures the two and hands them over. While Oomaithurai is jailed, Kattabomman faces a trial by the British and is hanged from a tamarind tree at Kayatharu

Lead actors

• Sivaji Ganesan as Veerapandiya Kattabomman
• Gemini Ganesan as Vellaiyathevan
• Padmini as Vellaiyammal
• S. Varalakshmi as Jakkamma
• Ragini as Sundaravadivu

Supporting actors

• V. K. Ramasamy as Ettappan
• Javar Seetharaman as Major Bannerman
• O. A. K. Thevar as Oomaithurai
• M. R. Santhanam as Thanapathi Sivasubramaniam Pillai
• A. Karunanidhi as Sunderalingam
• S. A. Kannan as Captain Davison
• C. R. Parthiban as Jackson Durai (W. C. Jackson)
• Baby Kanchana as Meena
• Tambaram Lalitha as Valli
• T. P. Muthulakshmi as Kamatchi

Origin

The idea to make a film adaptation on the life of resistance fighter Veerapandiya Kattabomman occurred to many producers in the late 1940s, just after India's independence from the British Raj. In 1948, the production company Selvam Pictures announced its intention to produce Kattabommu (named after the rebel's real name), a "mammoth production" which was to star P. U. Chinnappa; this production did not materialise. Another attempt was initiated in 1953 by producer S. S. Vasan. A promotional poster announcing the project was released on 5 November 1953. On 8 November 1953, a notice was issued at Vasan's production company, Gemini Studios, in the magazine Ananda Vikatan, stating that anyone with any useful information regarding Kattabomman and his exploits could send it to the studio's storyboard department.

The concept of Veerapandiya Kattabomman began when Sivaji Ganesan and Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy were travelling through Kayatharu, where Kattabomman was hanged. While there, Ganesan expressed a desire to do a play based on Kattabomman's life. Krishnasamy immediately agreed, and started to write a script for it. Coincidentally, Ganesan's first exposure to acting was when he saw a street play on Kattabomman’s life titled Kambalaththaar Kooththu. Krishnasamy completed writing the script in a month's time. The play, titled Kattabomman, was launched in Salem on 29 August 1957, and was staged by Ganesan's own troupe, Sivaji Nataka Mandram. He had invested close to ?50,000 for the sets and costumes. On seeing the play, director B. R. Panthulu decided to adapt it into a feature film. Panthulu produced the film adaptation, titled Veerapandiya Kattabomman, under his own company Padmini Pictures. G. Dharmarajan, who was the set designer, was selected to do the same for the film. W. R. Subbarao was hired as cinematographer, and R. Devarajan as editor. The screenplay was credited to a "History Research Team" headed by M. P. Sivagnanam and consisting of Krishnasamy, Panthulu, Sivaji Ganesan, P. A. Kumar and Singamuthu.

The Singapore-based Indian Movie News stated in 1957 that when Ganesan heard of Vasan's attempt to make a film adaptation on Kattabomman, he personally requested that he abandon the project; Vasan assented, and lent Ganesan important research materials on Kattabomman. Film historian Randor Guy contradicted this in his 1997 book Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema by stating that writers like Kothamangalam Subbu and Veppathur Kittoo were employed by Vasan to conduct extensive research on Kattabomman's life, but the only eligible choice to portray Kattabomman was Ganesan, who by then had become popular after Parasakthi (1952). Guy noted that Ganesan was hesitant to take up the role under Vasan's direction as he was earlier rejected by him for the role of a bodyguard in Chandralekha (1948), leading to Vasan dropping the project. But later on, Ganesan acted in Irumbu Thirai (1960), which was produced and directed by Vasan, and Motor Sundaram Pillai (1966), which was produced by him.

Casting

Ganesan originally offered the role of Vellaiyathevan to S. S. Rajendran, who declined it due to his commitment to the film Sivagangai Seemai (1959). He later requested actress Savitri to ask her husband Gemini Ganesan to play the role, which she agreed to do despite being pregnant at that time. Gemini Ganesan was initially reluctant to accept the role, feeling it was "improper" to replace Rajendran, but after the producer received a letter from Rajendran saying he had no objection to Gemini Ganesan playing Vellaiyathevan, the latter eventually agreed. Padmini, O. A. K. Thevar, and V. K. Ramasamy were chosen to play Vellaiyammal, Oomaithurai and Ettappan respectively. S. Varalakshmi played Kattabomman's wife, Jakkamma, and also worked as a playback singer.

The role of Lord W. C. Jackson was portrayed by C. R. Parthiban, while M. R. Santhanam played the minister, Thanapathi Sivasubramaniam Pillai. Kattabomman's daughter in the film, Meena, was a fictional character created by Krishnasamy. She was based on Krishnasamy's own daughter, Mynavathi, who died when she was five years old. Krishnasamy initially refused to include the scene involving Meena's death as it reminded him of his daughter, but finally did so reluctantly. The character was played by Baby Kanchana.

Filming

The film was launched at Sivaji Ganesan's house, Annai Illam. Principal photography began in October 1957 with a puja. Most of the film's shooting took place at Jaipur. With help from Janakaraja, the man in charge of the cavalry division, the production unit of Veerapandiya Kattabomman managed to hire junior artistes to portray the cavalry soldiers for shooting the war scenes.

When the film was being shot at Bharani Studios in 1958, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who witnessed the shooting on a particular afternoon, recalled that after every take, the actors would rush outside because of the intense heat on the set. He also noted, "The speed of the film was so low those days that one needed many, many lights for correct exposure." Veerapandiya Kattabomman is notable for being the first Tamil film to be released in Technicolor. Panthulu adopted American director Cecil B. DeMille's tactic of personally introducing the film on camera. The final lengt