''Manamagale Vaa'' () is a 1988 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

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film written and directed by

Panchu Arunachalam Panchanathan Arunachalam (22 March 1941 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a lyricist in the Tamil cin ...

, his directorial debut. The film stars

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...

and

Raadhika Raadhika Sarathkumar is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, producer and politician who works predominantly in Tamil cinema along with Telugu cinema as well as a few Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. She is the founder and CP of the Radaan Media ...

. It was released on 25 November 1988. The film was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as '' Idem Pellam Baboi'' (1990) and in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

as ''

Halli Rambhe Belli Bombe ''Halli Rambhe Belli Bombe'' is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed by M. S. Rajashekar, written by Panju Arunachalam based on his own 1988 Tamil film ''Manamagale Vaa'' and produced by M. P. Shankar. The film stars Malashri an ...

'' (1991).

Plot

Balu is an eligible bachelor, looking for a wife. With a picture perfect woman in mind, he insults and rejects many women. Meanwhile, Chitra is looking for a way to reconcile her sister Geetha's marriage with her husband. Geetha has been sent to her parents' home for no fault of hers. Chitra figures that the most appropriate way to settle scores with her sister's in-laws is by marrying Balu, as Geetha is married to Balu's brother. She disguises herself as a village belle, Rajathi and enters Balu's life. After marriage, Balu is traumatised by her ignorance, but Rajathi falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Rajathi's suitor from the village hatches a plan to bring her back from her husband and marry her forcibly. Balu, on the other hand, decides to divorce Rajathi. Chitra decides to unveil her mask now, but will her plan succeed or boomerang?

Cast

as Balu *

as Chitra and Rajathi *

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 ...

as Gounder *

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 ...

P. R. Varalakshmi P. R. Varalakshmi is an Indian actress. She was active in movies during the 1970s and 1980s. She was a prominent lead actress during the 1980s in Malayalam film, Malayalam, Tamil film, Tamil, Kannada film, Kannada, and Telugu film, Telugu films. ...

* V. K. Ramasamy *

S. S. Chandran S. S. Chandran (25 September 1941 – 9 October 2010) was an Indian comedy actor, producer, and politician from Tamil Nadu. He belonged to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and was a Member of the Parliament representing Tamil N ...

Kanthimathi Ganthimathi (30 August 1940 – 9 September 2011) was a Tamil stage and film actress. She acted in over 500 films. Early life Kanthimathi was born in Manamadurai in the then Ramanathapuram district of India. She started acting in dramas and ...

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who prominently plays supporting roles in Tamil and Telugu films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi'' (1995), '' ...

as Ponni *

Vennira Aadai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

Soorya Soorya is an Indian actress who appeared in Malayalam and Tamil films. She was a prominent actress in 1980s. She was well noted for her glamorous roles. She debuted with the film '' Parankimala'' in 1981. Filmography Malayalam *'' Parankimal ...

as Geetha *

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 ...

Idichapuli Selvaraj Idichapuli Selvaraj ( – 30 January 2012) was a veteran Tamil comedy actor. He acted in more than five hundred films. He acted along with lot of actors. He also worked as an assistant director for the M. G. Ramachandran films like ''Idhayakkani ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Manorama * Sudha * Mannangatti Subramaniam

Production

''Manamagale Vaa'' is the directorial debut of Panchu Arunachalam, and was initially titled ''Kothandarama Reddi''.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the lyrics for the songs were written by Panchu Arunachalam, except the song "Tell Me", which was written by Vaali.

Reception

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 betw ...

'' appreciated the film for reversing the "Taming of the shrew" formula. P. S. S. 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 ...

'' appreciated the film for its comedy.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0319806 1980s Tamil-language films 1988 directorial debut films 1988 romantic comedy films 1988 films Films directed by Panchu Arunachalam Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by Panchu Arunachalam Indian romantic comedy films Tamil films remade in other languages