''Katta Panchayathu'' is a 1996

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

film directed by

R. Raghu R. Raghu is an Indian film director and television producer who has worked on Telugu and Tamil films and serials. In 2015, he changed his name to David Nathan. He is the son of veteran actor V. K. Ramasamy. Career Raghu is an active director ...

and written by T. K. Bose. The film stars Karthik and Kanaka, with

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 ...

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.Radha Ravi Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi (born 29 July 1952) is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika. He is a ...

Ponvannan Ponvannan (born Shanmugam; 23 September 1963) is an Indian actor and director who has worked in Tamil cinema and television. After beginning his career as an artist (painter), Ponvannan apprenticed as a director and writer under Bharathiraja. H ...

, V. K. Ramasamy,

Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include: * Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011) * Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971) * N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad * N. Ravichandran, I ...

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), also known as Sreevidya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, ...

, and

Bharathi Vishnuvardhan Bharathi Vishnuvardhan (born 15 August 1950), also known mononymously as Bharathi, is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in Kannada cinema and television serials. She began her career in 1966, as a lead actress, with the Kannada mov ...

playing supporting roles. It was released on 7 June 1996.

Plot

Shenbagam is a

Koothu Koothu or Therukoothu (jwalith) ( ta, கூத்து), is an ancient art, where artists play songs with dance and music in storytelling the epics, performed in Tamil; it is a folk art originated from the early Tamil country. More precisel ...

actress in a remote village, and she lives with her little sister Mallika. Ponnazhagi Naachiyar is a panchayathu chief since the death of her husband Ramadurai. She has two sons: Kathirvel and Chinnadurai. Kathirvel, the elder, is an uneducated brute who woos his relative Shenbagam, whereas Chinnadurai studies in the city. One day, at the village court, a poor woman claims that the rich Sidambaram and she are in love with each other and she is now pregnant. Ponnazhagi clears Sidambaram due to a lack of evidence and states that the poor woman is greedy. The poor woman later tries to commit suicide, but the kind-hearted Rajadurai saves her on time. Rajadurai later beats up Sidambaram and he admits its mistake, so Rajadurai arranges their wedding, dismissing Ponnazhagi's judgement. Rajadurai was adopted and brought up by the Muslim man Rowther. Thereafter, Shenbagam's sister Mallika reaches puberty. Kathirvel, who was supposed to arrange the puberty ceremony as per the custom, is in the city with his brother Chinnadurai. Considering the circumstances, Rajadurai arranges the ceremony. When Kathirvel becomes aware of this matter, he and Rajadurai fight. Kathirvel then threatens Shenbagam and Mallika to kill them if the two sisters break the village customs once again. Shenbagam cannot bear Kathirvel's mental torture, so Rajadurai promises Shenbagam that he will marry her. Ponnazhagi, meanwhile, had expected her son Chinnadurai to be a kind-hearted person, but he is, in fact, a rude womanizer. Ponnazhagi decides to let her son become the panchayat chief all the same, but during the ceremony of the transfer of power, Rowther claims that Rajadurai is the only one who can be the next panchayat chief, and then Rajadurai's mother Parvathi arrives determined to confirm it. Many years back, the panchayat chief Ramadurai and Parvathi were a happily married couple and lived with their baby son Rajadurai. One day, Parvathi caught her husband Ramadurai and his relative Ponnazhagi having sex, so Parvathi arranged the wedding between Ramadurai and Ponnazhagi. She then left his home with her son. Shortly before Ramadurai died, he whispered "Parvathi" multiple times in his bed, and it irked Ponnazhagi. The villagers went to Parvathi's house to inform her about this. There, a half naked-man ran away from the house. The villagers suspected the innocent Parvathi for having an affair with another man and locked her in her house until the end of the death ceremony. Later, Ponnazhagi plotted to kill Parvathi and Rajadurai. Rowther then adopted Rajadurai, and Parvathi disappeared. Rowther and Rajadurai left the village and then came back many years later. It is later revealed that Kathirvel was adopted and he was the son of the man who ran away from Parvathi's house. Back to the present, the villagers support Rajadurai, who is the first son of Ramadurai. Afterwards, Kathirvel and Chinnadurai attempt to murder their mother Ponnazhagi and want to blame the innocent Rajadurai, but Rajadurai saves Ponnazhagi on time. Ponnazhagi then realises her sins and apologizes to Rajadurai and Parvathi in front of the villagers. Kathirvel and Chinnadurai kidnap Shenbagam, Ponnazhagi, and Parvathi, but Rajadurai finally saves them. During the fight, Kathirvel and Chinnadurai accidentally stab each other to death. The film ends with Rajadurai becoming the new village panchayat chief with the blessings of Ponnazhagi and Parvathi.

Cast

* Karthik as Rajadurai * Kanaka as Shenbagam *

as Toddy man *

as Kathirvel *

as Chinnadurai * V. K. Ramasamy as Rowther *

as Ramadurai *

as Ponnazhagi Naachiyar *

as Parvathi * Anusha as Mallika * R. K as Sidambaram *Raviraj as Kathirvel's father *Rajkrishna as Toddy man's co-brother *

Karuppu Subbiah Karuppu Subbiah was an Indian actor who had acted over 300 Tamil language films in comedy roles and minor roles. He also has another name 'Mottai' Subbiah. He is notable for his comedian roles along with actor Goundamani. And also he acted alon ...

as Subbiah *Tirupur Ramasamy as Ramasamy *

Joker Thulasi ''Joker'' Thulasi (15 March 1950 – 10 May 2021) was an Indian actor, who worked in Tamil film and television industry. Thulasi made his acting debut in the Tamil film ''Ungalil Oruthi'' directed by Devaraj-Mohan released on 11 April 1976, and ...

as Village doctor *

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

Kovai Senthil Kumarasamy, known by his stage name, Kovai Senthil, was a Tamil film character artist who appeared in Tamil films starting with Bhagyaraj's ''Oru Kai Osai''. He appeared in over 400 Tamil films. Career During his career, Kovai Senthil made ...

as Toddy man's father-in-law *

Chelladurai Chelladurai (1941 - 7 February 2015) was an Indian comedian who worked in Tamil-language films. He acted in over 350 films. Career Chelladurai made his film debut with ''Thooral Ninnu Pochchu'' (1982). He is known for his comic sequences w ...

as Villager *Vijay Ganesh as Krishnamoorthy *Chandrakala as Sarasu *Kavithasri in a special appearance

Soundtrack

The film score and the 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 ...

. The soundtrack, released in 1996, features five tracks with lyrics written by Vaali, Muthulingam, Kamakodiyan,

Mu. Metha Muhammed Metha (born 5 September 1945) is a Tamil poet and songwriter. He was born in Theni in 1945. He popularised modern poetry (''Pudukavithai'') in the 1970s and has written more than 30 books, including novels, short stories and essays. ...

and Ponnadiyan.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0317813 1996 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films directed by R. Raghu