''Guru Paarvai'' is a 1998 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

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by

Manoj Kumar Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...

. The film stars

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

Khushbu Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian actress, politician, film producer and television presenter. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, besides Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is a rec ...

and

Anju Aravind Anju Aravind is an Indian actress who has acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada films. In early 2000's she shifted her focus to Malayalam TV serials and shows. Personal life Anju Aravind is born to Aravindan and Kanchana on 23 July 1978. Sh ...

, while

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992), ...

Manivannan S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a care ...

Easwari Rao Easwari Rao is an Indian actress who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada cinema. She played the lead roles from 1990 to 1999. She started to play supporting and character roles from 2000 onwards. Personal life She married di ...

and

Ramesh Khanna Ramesh Khanna (also spelt as Ramesh Kanna) is an Indian actor and film director who has worked in Tamil cinema. He has acted in a number of supporting and comedian roles. Early life Khanna was born on 12 June 1954 in Chennai and third child to ...

play the supporting roles. It was released on 14 November 1998. The film was remade in Telugu as ''Veedu Samanyudu Kaadu'' (1999) with Prakash Raj reprising his role, and in Hindi as ''Bhairav'' (2001).

Plot

The film begins with Guru Moorthi who follows Pooja. Guru Moorthi claims to be Mahendra Boopathi in his past life and he was in love with Alamelu. According to him, Pooja looks like his lover Alamelu and Guru Moorthi finally seduces her. They decide to get married but the day before their wedding, he foists prostitution charges on her and she is arrested. Guru Moorthi, in fact, is a mechanic living in both

Vishakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museum, ...

and

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Shanti, a petty thief, steals money to bring up her two nephews. She befriends Guru Moorthi and he accommodates her in his house. They both fall in love and Shanti is renamed Sonali by Guru Moorthi. They get married at the register office and Shanti signs under the name Sonali. One day, Guru Moorthi cancels the wedding of a woman named Sonali (Madhu Sharma) and he claims to be her husband, to prove it, he shows his marriage certificate. His wife Shanti doesn't understand why he behaves like a sadist and she was ready to leave him. Guru Moorthi ultimately tells her about his bitter past. In the past, Mahendra Boopathi, despite being a young gold-medalist graduate, was unable to find a work. He lived with his mother, his sister Kalyani and his maternal uncle Nagarajan. His neighbour Priya fell in love with him and she decided to live in his house without getting married. Boopathi had a chance to get a job in a bank if he passed an exam. On the day of the exam, he inadvertently lost his hall-ticket. In the meantime, Pooja, Sonali and Indhu (Indhu) were attacked by the rowdy Kaali (

) and they killed his younger brother accidentally. The police pressured them to tell the truth, they then found Boopathi's hall-ticket at the crime scene and they blamed him for killing Kaali's younger brother. Guru Moorthi was immediately arrested. Later, Kaali's elder brother Vijay killed Guru Moorthi's entire family and his lover Priya. Guru Moorthi was sent in jail for seven years and Kaali fled to

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

. Kaali changed his appearance, his name and he became a successful businessman. Hence, only Guru Moorthi and his uncle Nagarajan were the people to survive the attack on his family. Back to the present, Shanti feels sorry for her innocent husband and decides to help him in seeking his revenge and calming himself. Guru Moorthi thus now searches for Kaali and Indhu. Kaali is now married to Indhu and they have a girl. In the end, Guru Moorthi tricks Indhu into shooting Kaali to death for which she gets arrested and Guru ends up adopting Indhu's daughter as his own.

Cast

as Guru Moorthi alias Mahendra Boopathi *

as Shanthi, Mahendra's wife *

as Priya, Guru Moorthi's deceased lover *

as Pooja *

Madhu Sharma Madhu Sharma (born 13 December 1984) is an Indian cinema actress and producer. She has produced two Marathi and four Bhojpuri movies. She basically known for Bhojpuri cinema. She worked with all top actors of Bhojpuri such as "Ghulami" with Di ...

as Sonali *Indhu as Indhu *

as Kaali alias Vijay, the main antagonist *

as Nagarajan, Guru Moorthi's maternal uncle *

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 Priya's father *

Mohan V. Ram Mohan Raman, also known as Mohan V. Ram (born 3 April 1956), is an Indian actor and writer. In 2017 and 2019, he was a Jury member for the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema. Raman is a film historian and writes for ''The Hindu''. He ...

as Pooja's father *Baby Akshaya as Akshaya *

as Lingam *

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

as Joseph *

Pandu In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Pandu ( sa, पाण्डु, Pāṇḍu, pale) was a king of the Kuru Kingdom. He was the foster-father of the five Pandava brothers, who were the boons bestowed upon his wife Kunti by a number of deities ...

as Vignesh *

Singamuthu Singamuthu (born 8 December 1958) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films as a comedian. Career Singamuthu has primarily appeared in comedy roles in films as a supporting actor debuting in ''Neram Nalla Irukku'' (1987). He ...

as a tea vendor *

T. P. Gajendran T. P. Gajendran (1955 – 5 February 2023) was an Indian film director and actor who played minor roles. He directed more than 15 films and acted in more than 100 films. He was the son of Tuticorin MR.Perumal. Actress T. P. Muthulakshmi, his s ...

as a comic inspector *

Sriman Sriman () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It refers to the deity being the possessor of Sri, both referring to his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, as well as the material and non material aspects of fortune. Literature Sri ...

in a guest appearance *

S. Ve. Shekher Sattanathapuram Venkataraman Shekher (born 26 December 1950) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, politician and a playwright of Tamil-language plays. In 2006, he was elected as an MLA for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIA ...

as Police Inspector (guest appearance)

Production

The film was initially supposed to be produced by

Bharathiraja Bharathiraja (born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of rural life in his films. ...

who later opted out due to the FEFSI strike; due to this many actors created confusions in call sheets which was later sorted.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

Reception

Kala Krishnan Ramesh of ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

'' wrote "All in all, a bad film that drags and leaves you with a heavy feeling." ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' wrote this is a film based solely on a superb performance by Prakash Raj. There is some strength in the story as well. The director has won by persistently trying to ruin what should have been a good thriller. D. S. Ramanujam 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 ...

'' wrote, "The vengeful acts of the hero are focussed on a different dimension and the cause for that attitude keeps the viewers guessing ..The semi-villain role fits Prakashraj like a glove and he revels in it" He also appreciated the cinematography. Two years after release, the producers were given a subsidy by the Tamil Nadu government along with several other films.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title 1990s Tamil-language films 1998 films 1998 thriller films Films scored by Deva (composer) Indian films about revenge Indian thriller films Tamil films remade in other languages