''Maruthu Pandi'' is a 1990 Indian

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 Pudu ...

action drama 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-gen ...

film directed by

Manoj Kumar Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...

. The film stars

Ramki Ramakrishnan, better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in ''Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He was known for his per ...

Seetha Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

and

Nirosha Nirosha is an Indian film and television actress. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. After her debut in Tamil in the film ''Agni Natchathiram'' (1988, directed by Mani Ratnam), Nirosha went ...

, with

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

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 ...

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.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), '' ...

, Raghavi and

Pradeep Shakthi Pradeep Shakthi (25 July 1954 – 20 February 2016) was an Indian Telugu actor, director and businessman. Pradeep Shakthi, born as Raja Vasireddy, was from the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. He was introduced to Telugu cinema by director ...

playing supporting roles. The film, produced by S. Selvarethinam, had musical score 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 was released on 27 April 1990. The movie was a huge hit at box office. The film was remade in Kannada as ''

Kollur Kala ''Kollur Kala'' is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language action film, directed by Om Sai Prakash. The story was penned by Thirunavukkarasu. The film stars Shashikumar and Malashri, with Vidyashri playing a key supporting role. The film's music was c ...

'' (1991) and in Hindi as '' Aag'' (1994).

Plot

In the village Ammapatti, Maruthu Pandi is a

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the West Country and in Ireland, particularly the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used of s ...

operator in the day and the village protector at night. The villagers give him food in exchange for his work. Maruthu Pandi has a mentally ill sister Lakshmi who is pregnant and he takes care of Lakshmi like a mother. Kanagavalli is a dancer performing in a dance troupe. After performing their dance in Ammapatti, the dancers leave Kanagavalli alone. The villagers help Kanagavalli to stay in the village : they build a house for her. Kanagavalli slowly falls in love with Maruthu Pandi. Kanagavalli is, in fact, a police officer who wants to arrest Maruthu Pandi. Maruthu Pandi's real name is Manickam. In the past, Manickam was a poor tailor, where he lived happily with his only sister. Manickam was in love with Kavitha, daughter of a rich

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

. Her father Jagannathan refuses to let his daughter marry Manickam; instead he wants to get her married to a zamindar like him : Inspector of Police Thiagarajan. On the day of the wedding, Kavitha drinks poison and dies. That same night, Jagannathan, Thiagarajan and Thiagarajan's friend Pradeep beat up Manickam and abduct Lakshmi and she is brutally raped by Thiagarajan. Manickam manages to beat up them while Jagannathan,Kavitha's father is killed in the process and Lakshmi becomes mentally unstable. He flees the village with his sister from that village. Thiagarajan and his police team come to Ammapatti to arrest Manickam. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

as Maruthu Pandi / Manickam *

as Kanagavalli *

as Kavitha *

as Thiagarajan *

as Nattamai *

*Raghavi as Lakshmi *

as Pradeep *

Singamuthu Singamuthu (born 8 December 1958) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films as a comedian. Career Singamuthu has primarily appeared in comedy roles in films as a supporting actor debuting in ''Neram Nalla Irukku'' (1987). He ...

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, ...

*Srilekha *K. Kannan as Vellaisamy *Mohan Babu *Veera Raghavan *K. K. Soundar *Senji Krishnan *MLA Malliah *

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 ...

Pasi Narayanan Narayanan, better known as Pasi Narayanan, was an Indian stage and film actor known for performing comedic roles alongside actor Goundamani. Narayanan acted in over 500 Tamil-language films and is known for the catchphrase, Early life Narayan ...

*Balambika

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by

. The soundtrack, released in 1990, features 5 tracks with lyrics written by Vaali,

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 ...

, Na. Kamarasan,

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 ...

and

Piraisoodan Piraisoodan (6 February 1956 – 8 October 2021) was a Tamil poet and lyricist. He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist for his songs in movies like ''Thayagam'', '' En Rasavin Manasile'' and ''Neeyum Naanum'' in 1996, 1991 and ...

Reception

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 ...

'' wrote that the director managed to narrate a gripping screenplay out of an age old plot.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 1990 films 1990s action drama films 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action drama films Indian films about revenge Tamil films remade in other languages