''Bharathi'' is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

based on the life of Subramania Bharati starring

Sayaji Shinde Sayaji Shinde (Marathi pronunciation: əjaːd͡ʒiː ʃin̪d̪eː born 13 January 1959) is an Indian actor who has acted in Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Bhojpuri films and several Marathi Plays. Sayaj ...

, Devayani and

Nizhalgal Ravi Ravichandran Samanna (born 16 April 1956), known professionally as Nizhalgal Ravi, is an Indian film, television and voice actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films and television series. He st ...

. The film was directed by

Gnana Rajasekaran Gnana Rajasekaran (born 23 January 1953) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, playwright and Retired IAS Officer. His directional debut was '' Mogamul'' (1994) won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director. His other works i ...

and won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several aw ...

for the year 2000.

Plot

It is a

based on the life of Tamil poet Subramania Bharati.

Cast

as Subramania Bharathi ** Pushpaak Ramesh as Childhood Subramania Bharathi * Devayani as Chellamal * Ramesh Kumar as Subramania Bharathi's friend *

as S. P. Y. Surendranath Arya * T. P. Gajendran as Kuvalai * Srikanth *

Junior Balaiah Raghu Balaiah, popularly known as Junior Balaiah (born 28 June 1953) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. The son of actor T. S. Balaiah, Junior Balaiah has primarily featured in supporting roles throughout his career, w ...

Delhi Kumar Delhi Kumar (born 19 December 1955) is a former Indian actor known for playing various roles in teleserials like '' Chithi'', '' Metti Oli'', ''Anandham'', '' Malargal'', ''Enge Brahmanan'' & '' Bommalattam''. He has also acted in a few Tamil ...

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sin ...

Ganesh Babu E. V. Ganesh Babu is an Indian film director, writer and actor who works in Tamil-language films. He made his acting debut with '' Bharathi'' (2000) and played Vijay's friend in four films including ''Sivakasi'' (2005). He worked as an assistant ...

as Bharathi's son-in-law

Production

Gnana Rajasekaran had initially wanted to cast

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

in the lead role, but the film's budget did not allow it. So he chose Marathi actor

, who made his debut in Tamil films. The female lead role was initially offered to actress

Suvalakshmi Suvaluxmi (born 19 August 1977) is a former Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She also appeared in Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada films. Career As a child, Suvaluxmi was passionate about Indian classical and folk d ...

, whose refusal prompted the team to sign on Devayani.

Soundtrack

Reception

Malathi Rangarajan of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' said, "THE MAJESTIC GAIT, the intimidating, piercing eyes that sparkle with a mix of eccentricity, anger, defiance and passion – Shayaji Shinde is indeed a remarkable choice for the role of Bharati" and "It is another fantastic break for Devyani as Chellamma, the wife of Subramania Bharati. Her soft, vulnerable docility and her helpless effete submission to her husband's impractical way of life have been beautifully portrayed". ''

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' said, "Sayaji Shinde as Bharati is simply splendid. His is an impressive performance, with nary an inkling of the trepidation that he is enacting Bharati's role -- he, a Maharashtrian and Tamil, an alien tongue". ''Thiraipadam.com'' said, "This is a good biography, but in the end, it seems like it's more a collection of stories than a continuous film. Which is unfortunate because the film had great potential to be absolutely stunningly excellent".

References

External links

* {{Sujatha 2000 films Indian biographical drama films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja 2000s Tamil-language films 2000 biographical drama films Films whose production designer won the Best Production Design National Film Award Films that won the Best Costume Design National Film Award Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners 2000 drama films Films directed by Gnana Rajasekaran