''Idaya Kovil'' () is a 1985 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 film directed by

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

, starring Mohan,

Ambika Ambika may refer to: Mythology * Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti * Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess * Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, th ...

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

and

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated t ...

. The score and soundtrack were 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 ...

which went on to become huge hits. The film, released on 14 September 1985, did well at the box office.

Plot

Suriya, a college girl, wishes to get popular singer Shankar to sing in her college festival. Initial attempts to meet Shankar prove futile as he is a recluse. Nonetheless, she breaks into his home to meet him but is shocked to discover him in an inebriated state. She makes efforts to make him sober and come to the festival. It works as Shankar performs at the festival. Over time, as they become friends, Shankar stops drinking and Suriya falls in love with him but he has a dark past which is then revealed. Before becoming famous, Shankar grew up in a village where he used to sing in the festivals. He loved a woman named Gauri and, with encouragement from her, wishes to become a famous singer and leaves for

Madras 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 ...

. He soon gets an opportunity to sing for a radio program but unknown to him, Gauri arrived at Madras on the same day. Without Shankar to receive her at the bus stop, she gets lost in the city when trying to find Shankar and is chased by a group of thugs and finds refuge in a temple, where she commits suicide. At the same time Shankar sings for the program and later finds her body in the temple. This incident drives Shankar into an alcoholic recluse. Meanwhile, Suriya's parents arrange for her to be married to her friend. Although Suriya wants to marry Shankar, he refuses stating that his only true love is Gauri even though he cares about her. On the day of the wedding, just before the ceremony, Suriya collapses and dies, having consumed poison prior to the marriage. The film ends as Shankar looks over the graves of both Gauri and Suriya.

Cast

* Mohan as Shankar *

as Suriya *

as Gowri *

as Logidhasan Bhagavathar * Kapil Dev as Suresh *

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 ...

as Suresh's friend *

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 Charle *

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.G. Srinivasan as Reddiar (Gowri's father) *

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 ...

as Suresh's friend *

Ilavarasu Ilavarasu is an Indian cinematographer and actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a cinematographer and worked for 13 films, winning a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for one of them. He, however, became better known ...

as Shankar's Friend *

Oru Viral Krishna Rao Oru Viral Krishna Rao was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani award, Rao got the nickname ''Oru Viral ''Oru Viral'' () is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language mystery fil ...

as Kanagasabai *

Meesai Murugesan Meesai Murugesan (13 January 1930 - 8 November 2014) was a veteran actor and musician who appeared in Tamil films. He starred in more than 100 films and has done supporting roles in various films. Music career He started his career by playing t ...

as Petti Shopper *

Omakuchi Narasimhan Narasimhan (c. 1936 - 12 March 2009), popularly known as Omakuchi, was an Indian stage and film actor. He acted in over 1,500 films in 14 Indian languages, predominantly in Tamil. Early life Born in Kumbakonam in 1936, Narasimhan made his ...

as Violinist *

Typist Gopu Gopalarathnam, known by his stage name Typist Gopu, was an Indian actor known for comedy and supporting roles. He acted in over 600 stage plays and 400 films. Career A native of Manakkal, Lalgudi in Trichy district, Gopalarathnam was active ...

as Kadam Player *

Pasi Narayanan Narayanan, better known as Pasi Narayanan, was an Indian stage and film actor known for performing comedic roles alongside actor Goundamani. Narayanan acted in over 500 Tamil-language films and is known for the catchphrase, Early life Narayan ...

as Ponnabalam * Kaaja Sheriff *

Madhan Bob S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...

as Music conductor (uncredited)

Production

Producer

Kovaithambi Kovaithambi (born 28 November 1940) is an Indian film producer and politician who was active primarily in the 1980s, in Tamil cinema. Early life Kovaithambi was born on 28 November 1940 to Perumal Udayar and Sunthayi Ammal, a farming couple bel ...

of Motherland Pictures had the dates of

and

, as well as a story ready for a potential film. He sent over the narration of his story in an audio cassette to

, who he wanted to direct the script. Mani Ratnam was busy finishing work on ''

Pagal Nilavu ''Pagal Nilavu'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language gangster film directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Murali, Revathi and Sathyaraj. It is about a carefree youth caught between his loyalty to a mafia don and his love for a cop's sister. The f ...

'' (1985) at the time and initially turned down the opportunity to work on the film. Kovaithambi subsequently called up the managers of Radha and Ambika and postponed their schedules, and stated that he would wait for Ratnam to finish work on ''Pagal Nilavu'' and was adamant that Ratnam should direct his script. After finishing his other film, Ratnam returned and narrated a script titled ''Divya'', which later went on to become ''

Mouna Ragam ''Mouna Ragam'' (; ) is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Mohan and Revathi, with Karthik (guest appearance), V. K. Ramasamy, Ra. Sankaran ...

'' (1986), to Kovaithambi, but he refused and insisted that Ratnam worked on his original script with Radha and Ambika. Ratnam initially wrote a screenplay for the film, inspired from the American film ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when ...

'' (1952), with the plot being narrated from the perspective of a star. Kovaithambi was unimpressed with the idea and demanded that Ratnam solely concentrate on the technical work of the film. The producer also insisted on inserting a comedy track written by Veerapan featuring

into the film. Ratnam wanted

P. C. Sreeram P. C. Sreeram ISC (born 26 January 1956) is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works in Indian films. He is also the president of Qube Cinemas, a digital cinema technology company. He is an alumnus of the Madras Film Institute. ...

to be the cinematographer, but that position instead went to Raja Rajan. Despite the film's commercial success, Ratnam told film critic

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu'' ...

that the filming process had made him "miserable", and that he understood that the reason he came into cinema was not to make films like ''Idaya Kovil'', and was adamant to not make any more commercial compromises to his films. Irked by Ratnam's remarks on ''Idaya Kovil'', Kovaithambi stated that he regretted providing an opportunity for him. He also said Ratnam spent the amount equivalent to making three films while making ''Idaya Kovil''.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

. Ratnam said the song "Naan Paadum Mouna Raagam" was his homage to the 1957

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

film ''

Pyaasa ''Pyaasa'' (; ) is a 1957 Indian Hindi drama film directed and produced by Guru Dutt, who stars alongside Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman, Rehman, and Johnny Walker. Set in Calcutta, it focuses on the disillusioned Urdu poet Vijay (Dutt), whose ...

'' and the inspiration for the title of ''Mouna Ragam'' came from the song. The song was written by

Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...

, in his first collaboration with Ratnam. "Idhayam Oru Kovil" is Ilaiyaraaja's debut as a lyricist. He dedicated the song to his wife Jeeva, and it was written in such a way that her name would be repeated throughout the song.

Reception

The magazine ''

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 ...

'' critic appreciated the film for the cinematography and music.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Mani Ratnam 1980s Tamil-language films 1985 films Films directed by Mani Ratnam Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja