''Kadal Pookkal'' () is a 2001 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

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

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. ...

which stars Murali,

Manoj Bharathiraja Manoj K. Bharathi (born 11 September 1976 as Manoj Bharathiraja) is an Indian actor. He is most noted as the son of director Bharathiraja. Manoj made his acting debut with ''Taj Mahal'' in 1999. He has been the part of few Tamil movies like ''S ...

Umashankari Uma Shankari is an Indian actress who appeared in regional Indian language films. Career In 2006, she appeared in Sakthi Chidambaram's ''Kovai Brothers'' opposite Sibiraj, featuring as Sathyaraj's niece and also featured in ''Thodamaley'' al ...

Pratyusha Prathyusha (29 August 1981 – 23 February 2002) was an Indian actress who appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. Early life and film career Pratyusha was born in Bhongir of present-day Telangana into a middle-class family. Her mother, M ...

and

Sindhu Menon Sindhu Menon is an Indian actress, who has starred in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. Early life Sindhu Menon was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, India into a Malayali family. She has an elder brother, Karthik, who worked as a Kanna ...

. The film was delayed several times before release but opened to critical acclaim with Bharatiraja winning the

National Film Award for Best Screenplay The National Film Award for Best Screenplay is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one o ...

and Murali has won

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor The Tamil State Film Awards for Best Actor is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. List of winners {, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! colspan="5" , Lis ...

Plot

Karuthayya and Peter are best friends, sharing with each other their hopes and dreams. Karuthayya's plan to get his beloved sister Kayal married elsewhere is thwarted when he learns that she is in love with Peter. He hears this from Uppili, who has a soft corner for Karuthayya and vice versa. For his sister's sake, Karuthayya approaches Peter with the marriage proposal. A shocked Peter, who had all along shared an easy relationship with Kayal, consents for the sake of friendship. Peter then makes a counter proposal that Karuthayya marry his sister Maria. Peter however withholds the fact that Maria had been seduced by a man from the city and was carrying his child. Family honor being uppermost in his mind, friendship takes a back seat. But Peter does not know that Karuthayya was already aware of his sister's affair, though not of her pregnancy. Karuthayya, knowing his friend's aggressive nature, had not told Peter about the matter earlier. Karuthayya now throws the ball back in Peter's court, asking him to first get Maria's consent. Sure that Maria would not give her consent for the marriage. But to his shock Maria agrees. Forced by her mother and Peter to toe the line, she had no other option. The two pairs get married. While Peter and Kayal are blissfully happy, Karuthayya and Maria have their own crosses to bear. A guilt-stricken Maria finally confesses to Karuthayya about Peter's treacherous act. A shocked and hurt Karuthayya goes to confront Peter. The man from the city appears on the scene. A furious Peter takes the unsuspecting youth on a boat ride, ties a stone on him, and dumps him into the sea. Karuthayya, who reaches the place, tries to save the guy.

Cast

* Murali as Karuthaiya *

as Peter (

Voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

by Ranjith) *

Uma Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

as Kayal *

Sindhu The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

as Mariyam *

as Uppili * Puthu Kavithai Jyothi as Peter's mother *Shyam Ganesh as Fernandes *

Vaiyapuri Vaiyapuri (born 23 October 1968 as Ramakrishnan) is an Indian actor who has worked in Tamil-language films. He rose to fame by appearing in supporting roles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, often portraying supporting comedic characters. His ...

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 ...

*Sridhar as Susai

Production

The film set in the backdrop of sea and was shot completely in Nagercoil.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Deva and lyrics were 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 ...

. ''Chennai Online'' called it "A lovely sea breeze by Deva".

Critical reception

''Rediff'' wrote that director "shows no sign of being able to change his storytelling style to match the times". ''Chennai online'' wrote "it is a well-crafted script, the tale well told, the narration moving smoothly, and the scenes emotion-charged."

References

External links

* {{Bharathiraja 2001 films Films scored by Deva (composer) Films directed by Bharathiraja 2000s Tamil-language films Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay National Film Award