''Mounam Sammadham'' () is a 1990 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

legal thriller The legal thriller genre is a type of crime fiction genre that focuses on the proceedings of the investigation, with particular reference to the impacts on courtroom proceedings and the lives of characters. The courtroom proceedings and legal a ...

film written by S. N. Swamy, directed by

K. Madhu K. Madhu is an Indian film director and producer who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with '' Malarum Kiliyum'' and has directed over 30 feature films in various languages (Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu & Kann ...

and produced by

Kovai Chezhiyan Kovai Chezhiyan was an Indian senior leader of the Dravidian movement, leader of the Kongu Nadu, Kongu vellala gounder community and film producer who worked in the 1950s up to late 1990s. He was also the vice-chairman of the Tamil Nadu State pla ...

. The film stars

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

(in his Tamil film debut) and

Amala Amala may refer to: People * Amala Akkineni, South Indian actress * Amala Chebolu, playback singer in the Telugu film industry, also known as Tollywood * Amala Paul (born 1991), South Indian actress * Amala Shankar (1919–2020), Indian dancer * ...

. It revolves around a lawyer representing a wrongfully convicted man. The film was released on 15 June 1990. The film went on to become a commercial and critical success. This film along with ''

Azhagan ''Azhakan'' () () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Balachander and produced by Kovai Chezhiyan. It stars Mammootty, in lead role with an ensemble supporting cast. The film, released on 25 August 1991, was critically ...

'' (1991), ''

Thalapathi ''Thalapathi'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Rajinikanth and Mammootty with Arvind Swamy in his feature-film debut, Jaishankar, Amri ...

'' (1991), ''Kilipetchu Ketkava''the (1993) and ''

Makkal Aatchi ''Makkal Aatchi'' () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language political thriller film written by E. Ramdoss, directed by R. K. Selvamani and produced by Thirupur A. Selvaraj under Aarthi International. The film stars Mammootty, Roja and Ranjitha, while ...

'' (1995) established Mammootty as a superstar in Tamil Nadu. This film was dubbed into Telugu as ''Lawyer The Great'', released on 15 February 1991.

Plot

The plot revolves around the wrong conviction of a business man and the efforts taken by a lawyer to find the truth.

Cast

as Adv. K.C. Raja

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, B.L.,

Bar-at-law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

as Dr. Hema (Sundaram's sister) *

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

as Sundaram *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...

as Paramasivam *

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

as Balu (Sundaram's brother) *

Sathyapriya Sathyapriya is an Indian actress. She has acted in over 350 films, and played the heroine in a few of them. She made her debut in ''Manjal Mugame Varuga'' opposite Vijayakumar in Tamil. Her notable films include ''Besuge'', ''Dharmasere'', ''H ...

as Savitri, Sundaram's wife *

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, Tam ...

as Sundaram's mother-in-law *

Kumarimuthu Kumarimuthu (20 December 1940 – 28 February 2016) was a Tamil film character actor, comedian and politician of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He was known for his unique comical laugh. Career Kumarimuthu starred in 728 films in his car ...

as Munusamy *Srikanth as public prosecutor chandran * Y. G. Mahendran as Adv. J.Shekar *

Thyagu Thozhar Thiyagu (born 30 January 1950), also known as Comrade Thiyagu, is a social activist, politician, writer from Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is also the General Secretary of Tamil National Liberation Movement and is well known for his ...

as Gundan, Raja's friend Cameo role *Suresh Chakravarthy as Raja's friend Cameo role *

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 ...

as Mani, Servant *

Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh (1946 – 11 February 2001) was an Indian Tamil film actor. He had supporting roles in the films ''Aval Oru Thodar Kathai'' and ''Attukara Alamelu'', among others. His most popular roles have been as a supporting actor or as a villa ...

as Kalyanam Sundaram's Partner *

R. S. Shivaji R. S. Shivaji (born 26 October 1956) is an Indian actor, who is known for his work in Tamil films. He has often collaborated in films involving Kamal Haasan and Raaj Kamal Films International, working as an assistant director, sound designer an ...

as Guest House Caretaker * Sreeja as Vijayalakshmi * M. S. Thripunithura as Palghat, Paramasivam's Manager *

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film, Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in o ...

as Sessions Court Judge Srinivasan *S. R. Veeraraghavan as Madras High Court Sr Judge *

Peeli Sivam P.L. Sivanappan known by his stage name credited as Peeli Sivam (5 July 1938 – 25 September 2017) was an Indian actor who featured around 400 Tamil-language films and plays from 1958–2017. He has featured in several films such as ''Muhamma ...

as Circle Inspector * Nagarajacholan as Muthu, Vijayalakshmi's Bro *

T. S. Raghavendra T. S. Raghavendra (19 September 1945 – 30 January 2020) was an Indian actor, playback singer and occasional music director who concentrated on Tamil language, Tamil-language films. As an actor, he was known as the father character of actress ...

as Makkal Kural Editor *

Cochin Haneefa Muhammed Haneefa (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010), better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to ...

as Kallupatti Rangan, Paramasivam's Henchman *Appa Haja as Natarajan *

Y. Vijaya Yenigandla Vijaya (born 8 February 1957) is an Indian actress and classical dancer. She has appeared in more than 1000 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. Early life and education Y. Vijaya was born on 8 February 1957 in Ku ...

as Prostitute Rani *S. K. Rajavelu as High Court Judge *Vani as Janaki, Vijayalakshmi's Mother

Production

''Mounam Sammadham'' was the first Tamil film of

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

actor

. It took inspiration from his own film ''Oru CBI Diary Kurippu''.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

and the lyrics were written by

Pulamaipithan Pulavar Pulamaipithan (6 October 1935 – 8 September 2021) was an Indian scholar, poet and lyricist who got recognition through the song "Naan yaar nee yaar" which was featured in the Tamil film ''Kudiyirundha Koyil'' in 1968. He briefly serve ...

and

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...

. “Kalyaana Thaen Nilaa" is set in

Darbari Kanada Darbari Kanada, or simply Raga Darbari, (pronounced darbāri kānada), is a raga in the Kanada family, which is thought to have originated in Carnatic music and brought into Hindustani classical music by Miyan Tansen, the legendary 16th-c ...

raga. ;Telugu version Lyrics for the dubbed Telugu version ''Lawyer The Great'' were written by

Rajasri Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telug ...

Reception

N. Krishnaswamy 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 betw ...

'' praised the film, particularly Mammootty's performance. C. R. K. 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 ...

'', however, was less positive, saying the film was like an ordinary novel. The film was both a critical and commercial success.

References

External links

* {{S. N. Swamy 1990 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films about capital punishment Films directed by K. Madhu Indian courtroom films Indian legal films Legal thriller films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films about miscarriage of justice