''Kaviya Thalaivan'' () is a 1992 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 ...
co-written and directed by
K. S. Gopalakrishnan
K. S. Gopalakrishnan was an Indian screenwriter, director, producer, and lyricist, who worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. Since the early 1960s, he directed 70 films. He spent most of his career directing and producing movies with soc ...
. The film stars
Vijayakanth
Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...
and
Bhanupriya. It was released on 25 October 1992,
Diwali day.
Plot
Priya and Saradha are twins. Priya is a spoiled brat, while Saratha is very traditional and calm-natured. Their mother Subha is a party lover and spends all their money on her luxury life. She married their father for his wealth, but the twins' grandfather Damodaran, an industrialist, declines to give a single penny to Subha after his son's death because of her nature. Priya grows up with Damodaran, and Saradha is with Subha in Singapore. Saradha longs for her grandfather and the life in India, while Priya despises it.
Manikkam is a good-natured man who goes to jail for the crime committed by his friend Chandru. Upon release, he travels in a ship back to India. Damodaran and Priya travel in the same ship after winning a court battle with Subha on their wealth. Manikkam saves Damodaran from Subha's goons. Damodaran hires Manikkam as a manager in his factory. Priya hates Manikkam right from the start and makes several attempts to kick him out. She accuses him of trying to rape her on her birthday, and Damodharan uses this as a chance to get them married, believing only Mannikkam can love and put up with her behaviour. She continues to hate him, but she changes her behaviour when she learns about her grandfather's will. She cannot spend a penny from his wealth if she doesn't lead a family life with Manikkam, and she will be eligible to become the owner of his properties only if she becomes a mother. She tries to get pregnant but with no success. Her friends criticise her for not becoming a mother and they go to a doctor for treatment. The doctor reveals to Manikkam that his wife is sterile, and Manikkam decides to take the blame as Priya will be broken if she knew the truth.
Priya asks for the divorce, but Manikkam disagrees. she treats him with disrespect and runs off to Singapore. Saradha advises her to go back, but she challenges her to take her place for a month and then she will agree with her. Saradha uses this chance and travels to Chennai to be with her grandfather. Manikkam showers her with love, and she struggles to maintain distance. She almost ends up in his bed and somehow manages to fall herself from stairs to keep him at distance. They decide to go on a leisure trip where she drinks a drug unknowingly, and end up in Manikkam's bed. She decides to kill herself but she is stopped by Damodaran, who knew from first that she is Saradha. Damodaran plays a drama and gets Saradha and Manikkam married. Saradha gets pregnant and travels to Singapore for delivery.
Meanwhile, Subha is in debt. The rich businessman Pradeep is attracted to Priya and wants her in his bed. Subha sees this as a way to pay her debts and agrees to send Priya to him for an exchange of 10 lakh rupees. Priya has frequent stomach pain and collapses while escaping from Pradeep. At the hospital, she finds out that she has
uterine cancer
Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the ut ...
and is sterile. She sees a very pregnant Saradha in the same hospital and realises the truth, that Manikkam was not sterile. Saratha learns of her sister being admitted to the same hospital, and she leaves the newborn with sleeping Priya and leaves the hospital but was kidnapped by Pradeep's men. Manikkam follows them and rescues Saradha.
At home Priya confronts Saradha, and a shocked Manikkam says he only loves Priya and not Saradha, and that he doesn't care if Priya hates him. Priya apologises to him and dies in his feet by uniting him and Saradha.
Cast
*
Vijayakanth
Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...
as Manikkam
*
Bhanupriya as Saradha / Priya
*
M. N. Nambiar as Damodaran
*
Manorama as Vellaiamma
*
Manjula Vijayakumar
Manjula Vijayakumar (4 July 195423 July 2013) was an Indian actress. She acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Personal life
She and actor Vijayakumar got married in 1976. The couple ...
as Subha
*
Chandrasekhar Chandrasekhar, Chandrashekhar or Chandra Shekhar is an Indian name and may refer to a number of individuals. The name comes from the name of an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this form he married the goddess Parvati. Etymologically, the nam ...
as Chandru (Guest appearance)
*
Nassar as Pradeep (Guest appearance)
*
Charle (Guest appearance)
*
C. R. Saraswathi
C. R. Saraswathi is an Indian actress and politician who has predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She is currently acting as spokesperson of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, a split group from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Caree ...
as Priya's friend
*Jayakala
*Usha Priya
*
A. R. Srinivasan as a doctor
*
Neelu
R. Neelakantan (20 July 1936 – 10 May 2018), best known by his stage name Neelu, was an Indian actor known for his comedy and supporting role performances in Tamil cinema, television and theatre. He has acted in over 7,000 plays and 160 fil ...
as Ranga Bashyam
*Singapore Manimaaran
*Mottai Seetharaman
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Aravind Siddhartha, with lyrics written by Aabaavanan.
Release and reception
''Kaviya Thalaivan'' was released on 25 October 1992,
Diwali day. Malini Mannath of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...
'' wrote that with the collaboration of Gopalakrishnan and Aabavanan, "the result has been disastrous.
.There is none of the finesse of producer's earlier films or the sentiment value and strong screenplay of the director's earlier ventures." K. Vijiyan of ''
New Straits Times'' wrote, "This is a family movie which all married couples will take great pleasure in watching". Maaya Krishnan of ''
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 ...
'' called Nambiar's performance as the film's only saving grace, but concluded that anyone who has patience enough to watch this film is a "Kaaviya Thalaivan".
References
External links
*
{{K. S. Gopalakrishnan
1990s Tamil-language films
1992 drama films
1992 films
Films directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan
Films set in Singapore
Films shot in Singapore
Films with screenplays by K. S. Gopalakrishnan
Indian drama films
Twins in Indian films