''Moovendhar'' () is a 1998

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 P ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Suraj (credited as C. G. Suraaj). 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 ...

and Devayani. The film, produced by N. Vishnuram, had musical score by Sirpy and was released on 12 January 1998 to positive reviews.

Plot

Manimaran (

), his father Poochi (

S. V. Ramadas S. V. Ramadas (1921-2004) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films, most often as a villain. He acted in more than 700 films in a career spanning over four decades. Film career Among popular movies, he acted in Aayirathil Or ...

), and his grandfather Nagappan ( M. N. Nambiar) are short-tempered persons who beat the villagers for a simple quarrel. Only Manimaran's mother, Sivagami (

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

), can control them. Uma (Rajeswari), Manimaran's sister, marries a man from another village. Manimaran falls in love with Vaidehi ( Devayani), a Brahmin girl. Manimaran takes his father and grandfather to Vaidehi's house to ask her to marry him. Vaidehi's father (

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

) refuses that marriage proposal because of caste differences. Manimaran wants Vaidehi to be his wife somehow, for which his father and grandfather tell him an idea. Vaidehi goes to the temple for a prayer and Manimaran comes there. When the prayer is over and she opens her eyes, Manimaran stands in front of her and takes a

thaali A mangala sutra (), or thaali (ISO: ''tāḷi''), is a necklace that the groom ties around the bride's neck in the Indian subcontinent, in a ceremony called ''Mangalya Dharanam'' (). The necklace serves as a visual marker of status as a ma ...

and ties it around Vaidehi's neck. Thus, Manimaran marries Vaidehi unexpectedly and she suddenly faints in shock. Vaidehi's father went to the police station to complain but to no avail. Manimaran's mother Sivagami welcomes Vaidehi, who has come home to live as a daughter-in-law, and changes her mind. That same night Manimaran and Vaidehi start their married life together on the first night. Vaidehi was not easily acquainted with her husband's house. In a fight against Manimaran, the antagonist becomes blind in one eye and decides to take revenge on Manimaran. When Manimaran drives his pregnant sister, the antagonist stops him but Manimaran beats the antagonist and his henchmen. Uma arrives too late at the hospital and dies with her baby. Vaidehi leaves their house because of her husband's behaviour who brings Uma's death. Manimaran changes his behaviour and tries to convince Vaidehi to come back home.

Cast

as Manimaran * Devayani as Vaidehi *Rajeswari as Uma *

as Sivagami *

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 ...

as Velu Nayakan * Anandaraj as Velliangiri * M. N. Nambiar as Nagappan * S. V. Ramadoss as Poochi *

as Vaidehi's father *

Anu Mohan Anu Mohan (born 24 August 1990) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam films. Career He made his debut in the 2011 film, ''Orkut oru Ormakut''. He also played the antagonist in Roopesh Peethambaran's '' Theevram''. Anu Mohan is the young ...

as Dharmidasan *

Vichu Vishwanath Vichu Vishwanath is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films and serials. He has worked in comedy and supporting roles, often associating with director Sundar C. Career Vichu Vishwanath was born in Coimbatore, India and atten ...

as Vichu *MLA Thangaraj as Vichu's father * Suryakanth *Anwar Ali Khan *

Halwa Vasu Vasu, popularly known as Halwa Vasu, (died 17 August 2017) was a comedian in the Tamil film industry in India. He worked in around 900 films. Career Vasu who hailed from Madurai district, came to Chennai to work in cinemas after his graduat ...

as Vettu (Housemaid) * Chelladurai * Pasi Narayanan as Iyer *

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 Iyer * T. K. S. Natarajan as Iyer * Bonda Mani as Iyer *

Sabitha Anand Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress who has performed in Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of Jacoob Abdu Rahman Anand, an Indian actor in Malayalam movies during the 1960 ...

as Vaidehi's sister *

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 Astrologer *Premi *Radha Bhai as Vaidehi's grandmother * Monica as Vaidehi's sister *

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 Gurukkal *

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 ...

*Thiruppur Ramasamy as Irulappan 'Iyerkai Vaithiyer' *G. K. as Velliangiri's uncle *

Theni Kunjarammal Theni Kunjarammal (died 18 April 2008) was an Indian actress and playback singer who has worked in the Tamil film industry. As a playback singer, she has worked extensively with A. R. Rahman during the late 1990s and early 2000s for folk songs, ...

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 Nurse *Vijay Ganesh as Bus passenger *Kavithasri (special appearance) *

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) of Thane district ...

(special appearance) * Manorama (guest appearance)

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Sirpy. The soundtrack, released in 1998, features 7 tracks with lyrics written by Arivumathi,

Palani Bharathi Palani Bharathi is an Indian writer and lyricist who works in Tamil cinema. Early life Palani Bharathi was born in Karaikudi to Sami Palaniappan, a poet, and Kamala. He has a brother and four sisters. Palaniappan was an assistant of orator/w ...

and Thavasimani.

Reception

Sureshbabu of ''indolink.com'' gave 3.5 out to 5 and described the film as family entertainment

References

{{Suraj (director) 1998 films Indian action drama films 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by Sirpy 1990s action drama films