''Mani Rathnam'' is a 1994

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, nati ...

-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 K. Jayabalan. The film stars

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Anand Babu Anand Babu is an Indian actor who was known for his works in Tamil films. He is the son of legendary comedy actor Nagesh. Career He first entered the film industry with Tamil films and also played leading roles in Telugu as well as supporting ...

, Mohana and newcomer Chandini, with

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...

Babloo Prithiveeraj Babloo Prithiveeraj (born 29 November 1965) is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Career Prithveeraj made his acting debut as a child artiste and featured in films including ''Naan Vazhavaippen'' (1 ...

, Jafar Azad and Vittal Prasad playing supporting roles. The film, produced by A. Suresh, had musical score by

Sirpy Narayanan, known by his stage name Sirpy ( ta, சிற்பி; born 25 May 1962), is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films apart from working in Telugu and Malayalam films. He has als ...

and was released on 2 November 1994. The film failed at the box office.

Plot

Rathnam (

) is a potter in his village and he is a short-tempered person. He has a sister Kavitha (Mohana) studying in the city. Rathnam finally marries his relative Thangamani (Chandini) who has been in love with Rathnam since her childhood. Sivalingam (Jafar Azad) is a wealthy and wicked man in his village, his son Nadarajan (

) is mentally ill. Sivalingam wants absolutely to build a factory in the village. Sivalingam already bought all the lands he needed in his village, he needs only one land : Rathnam's land which is near the temple. Rathnam refuses : he does not want to see the village temple being demolished by Sivalingam. When Sivalingam sends his henchmen to demolish the temple, Rathnam intervenes and beats them all. In the meantime, Kavitha and Mani (

) fall in love with each other in the city. Actually, Nadarajan is in love with Kavitha since school days and Sivalingam asks Thangamani to marry his mentally ill son to Kavitha but Thangamani rejects and insults him. Later, Rathnam picked his sister up at the railway station, at their return to home, they see Thangamani hanged. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

as Rathnam *

as Mani *Mohana as Kavitha *Chandini as Thangamani *

as Chappani/Chappani Samiyar *

as Nadarajan *Jafar Azad as Sivalingam *Vittal Prasad as Kanakku *

Loose Mohan Arumugam Mohanasundaram (8 February 1928 – 16 September 2012), popularly known as Loose Mohan and Raja Gopalakrishnan, was an Indian actor who had acted as a comedian in over 1000 Tamil films. He is credited with popularizing Madras Bash ...

*K. K. Soundar as Thangam's father *Raja as Raja *Thillai Rajan *

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 ...

as wine shop customer *

Vellai Subbaiah Vellai Subbaiah was an Indian actor who had appeared in more than 500 films and 1000 stage plays. He featured mostly in comedy roles and also minor roles. He is well known for his dialogue, "Thirumba Thirumba pesura nee..." in the movie Nesam ...

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 wine shop customer *

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 ...

Kullamani Kullamani (1952–2013) was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in South Indian films. He acted over 500 films. He is known for films like ''Karagattakaran'', '' Apoorva Sagodharargal'', ''Panakkaran'', ''My Dear Marthandan'', and many more ...

Vichithra Vichithra is an Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She has also appeared in a few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. Career Her breakthrough came in the form of a glamorous role in Selva's ''Thalaivasal'' (1992), w ...

*Anuja *Thayir Vadai Desigan as Armstrong, wine shop customer *Premi as Thangam's mother *

Pasi Sathya Pasi Sathya is an Indian actress who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema and television. She has worked in popular movies like ''Veedu'', '' Magalir Mattum'', ''Pudhupettai''. She made her debut in the National award-winning Tamil film, '' ...

*Ramya *

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 conductor * Mahendran *Marthandan as Chinna Thambi *

Dhamu Dhamu is a retired Indian actor and comedian who mainly acts in Tamil films. He is known for his role as Otteri Nari in ''Ghilli'' (2004). He was a part of Gaana Galata Group, a popular touring and acting comedy troupe. Since then, he has appe ...

(uncredited role) *

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 ...

(uncredited role)

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by

. The soundtrack, released in 1994, features 6 tracks with lyrics 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 ...

, Thamizhmani, Neeraja and Ravi.

Reception

Malini Mannath of ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

'' gave the film a positive review and called the film "fairly engaging".

References

{{reflist 1994 films 1990s Tamil-language films Indian drama films