''Kallazhagar'' is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language

action 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-gen ...

directed by Bharathi starring Vijayakanth and

Laila Leila ( fa, لیلا, ar, ليلى, he, לילה) is a feminine given name primarily in the Semitic (Arabic, Hebrew) and Iranian languages. In Latin alphabet the name is commonly spelled in multiple ways, including Laela, Laelah, Laila, La ...

. Nassar, Sonu Sood and Manivannan play other supporting roles, while

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 ...

composed the score and soundtrack for the film. This is the Tamil debut of

and Sonu Sood. The song ''Vaararu Vaararu Azhagar Vaararu'' is played every year at the Chithirai fest in Madurai. The song in the movie also takes place in the Chithirai festival.

Cast

* Vijayakanth as Kamaluddin /Kamalakannan *

as Aandaal * Manivannan * Nassar as Peter *

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

as Iyer * Thilakan as Kamal's father * Sonu Sood as Narayana *Ashwini ( Rudra) *

Sumithra Sumitra ( sa, सुमित्रा, IAST: Sumitrā) is a princess of Kashi in Hindu mythology. The wise Sumitra is the third queen consort of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala, who ruled from Ayodhya. She is the mother of the twins Lakshman ...

as Kamal's mother * S. N. Lakshmi as Aandaal's grandmother *Melanie * Riyaz Khan as Jamal * Vaiyapuri as Govindankutti *

Crane Manohar Crane Manohar (born 4 October 1965) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films, mostly in comedy roles. He appeared in many Vadivelu and Vivek comedy tracks. Career Manohar initially worked as a crane technician for films and when he start ...

R. N. R. Manohar R. N. R. Manohar (died 17 November 2021) was an Indian actor and director. He directed films like ''Maasilamani'' (2009) and ''Vellore Maavattam'' (2011). Career RNR Manohar started his career as a child artist, having played roles in films suc ...

Scissor Manohar Scissor Manohar is an Indian comedian and actor. Career Manohar began to work as a production assistant working on films such as ''Puthiya Vaarpugal'' (1979). Manohar earned the name Scissor for his character in '' Gokulathil Seethai'' (1996 ...

*Sarath *Napoleon *Saravanan *John Babu *R. R. Sheela *Bharathi * Rocky Rajesh *V. M. Mani *Mohandass *Kripa

Production

, who had appeared in other regional Indian films, opted to make her debut in Tamil films with ''Kallazhagar'' after she had famously rejected a string of other Tamil offers including '' VIP'' (1997). The actress also turned down a role in

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil N ...

's '' Unnai Thedi'' (1999), insistent that ''Kallazhagar'' should be her first release. Early reports had suggested that Hindi actor Dilip Kumar would also be a part of the cast, but he eventually did not feature. An elephant called Appu was brought in from Thrissur in Kerala, where the elephant formed one of a stable maintained by the famed Paaramekaavu temple, which forms the venue of the yearly Thrissur Pooram festival. A few scenes from the film were filmed at the Kallazhagar temple in Madhurai, but crowd trouble meant that the makers chose to finish the shoot in sets. For a particular song in the film, Russian dancers imported to dance alongside Laila. As the film marked music composer

's 250th album, the film industry felicitated him with a ceremony at the Kamarajar Arangam.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

. The song "Varraru Varraru" became hugely popular and is still played during Chithirai festival at Madurai.

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release on 14 January 1999 coinciding with the festival of Thai Pongal though became delayed due to problems at the censor. The film was rejected by Indian censors, because of its potential to spark religious conflicts - with particularly a scene in which some Muslim extremists masquerade themselves as religious Hindus and join in the celebration of a major festival in a temple - being highlighted as a concern. The team subsequently had to adapt the concept partially. wrote, "Vijay Kanth, Purathchi Kalainjan’ is quite awful. Nazir as the bomb expert is okay. Major Soundar Rajan as the chief priest is quite good". Ila Ganesan, general secretary of BJP reviewing for ''Kalki'' praised the film for speaking against terrorism, Mahendran's dialogues and called it a film which can be watched by everyone from different religions. The success of the film prompted the producer Henry to sign Vijayakanth for his next film. The film also created demand for Laila as a lead heroine and she shortly after signed on to appear in a role in '' Mudhalvan'' (1999).

References

{{Reflist 1990s Tamil-language films 1999 films Films shot in Madurai Films with screenplays by Mahendran (filmmaker)