''En Jeevan Paduthu'' () is a 1988 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, nativ ...

-language

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by R. Sundarrajan. The film stars Karthik and

Saranya Sanjna (Sanskrit: संज्ञा, IAST: ''Saṃjñā''), also known as Saranyu ( sa, सरन्यू, IAST: ''Saraṇyū''), is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of Surya, the Sun god. She is mentioned in the ''Rigveda'', and also a ...

, supported by Sudha,

Captain Raju Raju Daniel (27 June 1950 – 17 September 2018), better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian army officer and Indian actor. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannad ...

and Kapil Dev. It was released on 23 June 1988.

Plot

Narmada joins a new college, as she feels so bored sitting alone in her house. Her father is a businessman. In college, she happens to see the paintings and books written by Surendran. She is very much fascinated by him, but unable to find him in college. She is shocked when she finds Surendran has already committed suicide. Narmada frequently visits his grave in the following days, and the ghost of Surendran appears, advising her to cease visiting his grave. Those around Narmada suspect that she is mentally ill, as nobody else can see Surendran. Surendran tells Narmada he was duped into love by his colleague Philomina. He genuinely loved her, even converting to Christianity; Surendran's father dies, shocked at the conversion. Philomina proves unfaithful, and marries Dr. Vijay, which results in Surendran committing suicide. Later it is revealed that Philomina dies during delivery. Anand, a rich businessman, becomes attracted to Narmada and asks for her hand in marriage. Narmada's father approves of this marriage proposal, but Narmada is against this alliance as she is in love with Surendran. Narmada's father forcefully announces the marriage, but she escapes from marriage hall and commits suicide to join with Surendran in the afterlife.

Cast

* Karthik as Surendran *

as Narmada *Kapil Dev as Anand * Sudha as Philomena * A. R. Srinivasan as Jagannatham Narmada Father *

Pratap Pothan Pratap Pothen (13 August 1952 – 15 July 2022) was an Indian actor and filmmaker who acted in about 100 films and directed 12 films. He appeared in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu as well as Hindi films. He also worked as a scriptwriter and produ ...

as Dr. Vijay *

Ennathe Kannaiah Ennathe Kannaiah (1925 - 7 August 2012) was a comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. In the Ravichandran-Jayalalita starrer Naan, as he spoke his dialogues, he frequently used the word Ennathe and this became his nickname. Decades later, ...

as Chakravarthy *

Chinni Jayanth Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular televisio ...

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

in Guest appearance *

Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...

as Surendran Father * Manorama as SeethaaTamil Professor *

Thyagu Thozhar Thiyagu (born 30 January 1950), also known as Comrade Thiyagu, is a social activist, politician, writer from Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is also the General Secretary of Tamil National Liberation Movement and is well known for his ...

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who prominently plays supporting roles in Tamil and Telugu films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi'' (1995), '' ...

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

. The lyrics were written by Ilaiyaraaja and

Panchu Arunachalam Panchanathan Arunachalam (22 March 1941 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a lyricist in the Tamil cin ...

Reception

N. Krishnaswamy of ''

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, "Though director R. Sundarrajan is on very fragile ground and has to do some skating on thin ice playing the girl-ghost card as the audience sometimes tends to turn ghostbusters with catcalls, it is the humorous line — girl talking away to an invisible ghost to the incomprehension of her friends and these same friends in shivers when things seem suspended in thin air while the ghost is in fact holding them — that saves the day."

References

External links

* {{R. Sundarrajan (director) 1980s Tamil-language films 1988 films Films directed by R. Sundarrajan Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films shot in Ooty Indian ghost films