''Azhakan'' () () is a 1991 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

and produced by Kovai Chezhiyan. It stars

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

, in lead role with an ensemble supporting cast. The film, released on 25 August 1991, was critically and commercially successful.

Plot

Azhagappan a successful hotelier and father of four small children has lost his wife (whose face is not shown in the photo) in an accident. College student Swapna plays pranks on him and also falls in love with him, but Azhagappan refuses her love considering the age difference between them. After passing the matriculation exam, Azhagappan enrolls in a tutorial center where his teacher Kanmani is smitten with him, but Azhagappan is not interested in her. Classical dancers Priya Ranjan and Azhagappan though, fall in love. After egos and differences crop up between them, Driver Santhanam blurts out the truth that the four children are orphans adopted by him. In the end, Swapna understands the situation and would love to call him "Daddy". With the help of Kanmani and Swapna, the four children devise a plan and play mediator between Azhagan and Priya by making them speak on the phone. In the end, both reveal their love through the phone and get united in the end.

Cast

as Azhagappan *

Bhanupriya Bhanupriya (born Mangabhanu; 15 January 1967) is an Indian actress, Kuchipudi dancer, and voice artist. In a career spanning over 4 decades, Bhanupriya has appeared in 155 feature films- predominantly in Telugu & Tamil, in addition to occasiona ...

as Priya Ranjan * Madhoo as Swapna * Geetha as Kanmani *

Babloo Prithiveeraj Babloo Prithiveeraj (born 29 November 1965) is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Career Prithveeraj made his acting debut as a child artiste and featured in films including ''Naan Vazhavaippen'' (1 ...

as Azhagappan's servant *

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telug ...

as Doctor * K. S. Jayalakshmi as Swapna's teacher * Sujitha as Baby (Azhagappan's daughter) *

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

as Anand (Azhagappan's son) *

Vikranth Vikranth is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. He was first introduced in the film ''Karka Kasadara'' (2005) directed by R. V. Udayakumar and later appeared in other romantic drama films. Following his participation in th ...

as Azhagappan's son *Tinku as Durai (Azhagappan's son) *

Charle Velmurugan Thangasamy Manohar (born 6 March 1960), professionally credited as Charle, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. He has acted in more than 800 Tamil films as a comedian and supporting actor. He was named after the English co ...

as Television Anchor * Peeli Sivam as Inspector Selvaraj *Suresh Chakravarthi as Agarapattanam Sokku * Sonia as Kanmani's sister * Kavithalaya Krishnan *

Ramya Krishnan Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970), also credited as Ramya Krishna (in the Telugu and Kannada film industries) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in over 260 films in five languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. Ramy ...

in cameo appearance *

R. Sundaramoorthy R. Sundaramoorthy is an Indian make-up artist and actor known for his work in Tamil films apart from some Hindi and Telugu films. He is best known for his work in the film ''Padayappa'' (1999). Sundaramoorthy is notably the first make-up artist ...

as Manoharan *

Yuvarani Yuvarani (born 30 November 1974) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in several Tamil films in the female lead role while she has also featured in television serials. She played Rajinikanth's sister in ''Baashha'', Prabhavathy in the Tamil ...

* Gowtham Sundararajan as dancer in song "Kozhi Koovum"

Production

Madhoo, niece of actress Hema Malini made her acting debut with this film. The song "Kozhi Koovum" was choreographed by Kala and was picturised within two days.

Soundtrack

The music was scored by

Maragadha Mani Koduri Marakathamani Keeravani (born 4 July 1961; credited as M. M. Keeravani) is an Indian film composer, playback singer, and lyricist, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema along with other languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Ma ...

. The song "Thathithom" is based on Dharmavati raga, "Sangeetha Swarangal" is based on

Kharaharapriya Kharaharapriya is a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 22nd ''melakarta'' rāga (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāga system. It is possible that the name of the ragam was originally ''Harapriya'' but it was changed to conform to the K ...

, and "Jaadhi Malli" is based on

Maand Mand or Maand ( hi, मांड गायकी) is a style of singing in Rajasthan, used in folk songs. It is similar to the thumri and the ghazal. Well known Mand singers include Allah Jilai Bai from Bikaner (awarded Padma Shri-1982 and Sange ...

Reception

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' wrote, "Balachander while charting out a script bristles with very lifelike characters acting out their hopes and fears with much credibility does not miss out on smaller details." The film was both a critical and commercial success. At the

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, Maragathamani won the award for Best Music Director, while Raghunatha Reddy won for Best Cinematographer.

References

External links

* {{K. Balachander 1990s Tamil-language films 1991 drama films 1991 films Films about widowhood in India Films directed by K. Balachander Films scored by M. M. Keeravani Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Indian drama films