''Moonravathu Kann'' () is a 1993 Tamil-language

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by

Manivannan S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a car ...

and produced by M. Rajarathinam. The story is inspired from Alfred Hitchcock's ''

Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...

''. The film stars

Sarath Kumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards S ...

, Nizhalgal Ravi,

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

and

Monisha Monisha Unni (24 January 1970 – 5 December 1992) was an Indian actress, known for her works in Malayalam, Tamil cinema. Monisha was 16 when she became the youngest actress ever to receive the National Film Award for Best Actress for ''N ...

, while Mansoor Ali Khan,

Vinu Chakravarthy Vinu Chakravarthy (15 December 1945 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director who is known for acting in more than 1000 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Badaga and Malayalam mostly as a comedian, supporting actor or i ...

, Sridivya, Yuvasri, and

Ganeshkar Ganapathi credited as Ganeshkar is a Tamil comedian actor who prominently plays supporting roles. Appearing in many Tamil films (Kollywood), he is also a host for ''Super 10'' on Sun TV in Chennai. He took part in Kalaignar TV's dance sho ...

play supporting roles. The film had musical score by Deva, cinematography by S. Sankar, and editing by P. Venkateswara Rao. The film was released on 18 September 1993. It was dubbed and released in Telugu as ''Secret Killers''.Archived a
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Plot

The rich woman Priya (

) and the poor man Sundar (

) fall in love with each other. One day, Priya tries to elope with her lover Sundar but she fails, and her parents (

and

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, ...

) lock her in her bedroom. That night, from her bedroom, Priya witnesses the murder of Shanthi (Yuvasri) by her husband Sabapathy ( Nizhalgal Ravi) in the opposite building. She takes photos of this murder with her camera, and Sabapathy notices this act. Priya even shouts from her room, but her parents ignore her, thinking she is shouting because she has been locked up in her room. The next day, all friends and relatives come for Shanthi's death. Shanthi's parents arrive and ask Sabapathy about what happened to her. He lies to them that Shanthi complained of chest pains, and before he could call the doctor, she died. Gopi (

), Shanthi's brother, only knows that his brother-in-law tortured his sister for a long time. In the past, Shanthi used to tell Gopi that her husband behaves like a caring and loving husband in public, but in private, they used to fight a lot. She also tells Gopi that she suspects that her husband has an affair with someone. Remembering this, Gopi shouts that Sabapathy killed his sister, but all others subdue him since they consider Sabapathy as a perfect gentleman. Gopi requests his parents to conduct an autopsy on his sister's body, but his parents ignore this plea and cremate her body. The desperate Gopi then secretly files a complaint against Sabapathy. However, the honest police officer Sarath ( R. Sarathkumar) gives up the case due to lack of evidence. Sabapathy starts to pressure Priya to give him the negative. In the meantime, Priya's parents decide to marry Priya to their relative. Priya tells about the murder's scene to her maid Sornakili (Pasi Sathya), and Priya gives her the negative. Sornakili later gives the negative to a photographer (Sudhangan) who then blackmails Sabapathy to get money from him. Thereafter, Sabapathy kills Sornakili and the photographer, and he burns the proofs. Sarath then investigates these two murders and he finds out that Sabapathy is the killer. Thereafter, Sabapathy tries to kill Priya, but Sarath tracks them down and shoots Sabapathy dead.

Cast

as Inspector Sarath * Nizhalgal Ravi as Sabapathy *

as Sundar *

as Priya * Mansoor Ali Khan as Subbarayan *

as Shanmuganathan, Priya's father *

as Priya's mother *Yuvasri as Shanthi *

as Gopi *

Vasu The Vasus () refers to a group of deities in Hinduism associated with fire and light. They are described to be the attendant deities of Indra, and later Vishnu. Generally numbering eight and classified as the Ashtavasu, they are described in the R ...

as Thulukanam *

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, ' ...

as Sornakili *Sudhangan as Photographer * Sundar C as Studio Assistant *Veeraraghavan as Shanthi's father *Sharmili as Sabapathy's mistress *

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 ...

as Corporation Worker * Karuppu Subbiah as Corporation Worker *Sounder *

Thideer Kannaiah ''Thideer'' Kannaiah was an Indian film and stage actor. He has acted in more than 500 films. His debut film was Aval Oru Thodarkathai. He is notable for his comedian roles along with actors Goundamani and Vadivelu. While he was in the dram ...

*S. N. Vasanth as Groom (guest appearance) *

Silk Smitha Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati (2 December 1960 – 23 September 1996), better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. Smitha was part of ...

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Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by film composer Deva. The soundtrack, released in 1993, features 2 tracks with lyrics written by Kalidasan.

References

{{Manivannan 1993 films Films scored by Deva (composer) Indian thriller films 1990s Tamil-language films Films directed by Manivannan 1993 thriller films