''Navarathinam'' () is a 1977 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

road film A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

, written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan, his final film. It stars

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

, Latha,

Jayachitra Jayachitra is an Indian actress films who works mostly in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Early life Jayachitra was born in 1957. Her father Mahendra was a veterinary doctor, who had earlier worked as a lawyer. Her mother Ammaji (a.k.a. Ja ...

and

Zarina Wahab Zarina Wahab is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Hindi and Malayalam films. Known for critically acclaimed roles in ''Chitchor'' and '' Gopal Krishna'' in Hindi and Malayalam cinema with films like ''Madanolsavam'', ''Chamaram'', ...

. The film was released on 5 March 1977, and failed commercially.

Plot

Cast

;Lead actor *

as Thangam ;Lead actresses * Latha as Manikkam *

as Pushpa *

P. R. Varalakshmi P. R. Varalakshmi is an Indian actress. She was active in movies during the 1970s and 1980s. She was a prominent lead actress during the 1980s in Malayalam film, Malayalam, Tamil film, Tamil, Kannada film, Kannada, and Telugu film, Telugu films. ...

as Maragadam * Shubha as Muthamma * Jaya as Gomaidi *

Sripriya Sripriya is an Indian actress, film director and politician from Tamil Nadu. She has acted in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages. She has also directed films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages, includin ...

as Vairam *

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 Neela *

as Pavalai *

Kumari Padmini Kumari Padmini (Tamil: குமாரி பத்மினி), born as Padmini (died 1980), was an actress who was active in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam industry during the 1960s and 70s. Bio Kumari Padmini acted mainly in Tamil films. She ...

as Vayiduriyam ;Supporting actresses *

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

as Thangam's mother * C. K. Saraswathi as Sagunan *

S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...

as Pangajethamma * Puspalatha as Pavalai's sister ;Supporting actors * A. V. M. Rajan as Raja * M. N. Nambiar as Dharmaseelan *

P. S. Veerappa P. S. Veerappa (10 September 191111 September 1998) was an Indian actor and a producer of Tamil cinema. Early life Born in 1911, Veerappa belonged to Kangeyam, then part of Coimbatore District in Madras Presidency. But he grew up in his gra ...

as Manaru *

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 Ratnam *

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language, Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coco ...

as Muthamma's father *

C. R. Parthiban C. R. Parthiban (1 July 1931 – 25 January 2021) was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was best known for his performance as Jackson Durai in ''Veerapandiya Kattabomman'' (1959). Biography Parthiban was born ...

as IG of Police * K. Kannan as Gunaseelan * M. B. Shetty as Djagou *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor) Senthamarai was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil cinema and theatre. Career Senthamarai was born on 13 April 1935 at Kancheepuram. His family included his father Thiruvenkadam, his mother Vedamm ...

as Police inspector *

Isari Velan Isari Velan was an Indian actor, politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. His daughter Azaghu Tamil Selvi is a doctor who is also an educationist. His son Ishari K. Ganesh is an educationist who acted in few films ...

as Pavalai's uncle *

Shanmugasundari Shanmugasundari (23 September 1937 – 1 May 2012) was a Tamil actress. she acted in more than 750 films. Her daughter T. K. Kala is also an actress and playback singer. She also appeared in comedy roles along with Vadivelu in many films. Ca ...

as Tripurasundari / Pimpstress *

Ennathe Kannaiah Ennathe Kannaiah (1925 - 7 August 2012) was a comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. In the Ravichandran-Jayalalita starrer Naan, as he spoke his dialogues, he frequently used the word Ennathe and this became his nickname. Decades later, ...

as Villager *

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 ...

as The worker of teashop *

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 ...

as House broker * T. K. S. Natarajan as Housekeeper

Production

''Navarathinam'' was A. P. Nagarajan's final film, as well as his only film with

. Considering the poor financial plight of Nagarajan, Ramachandran acted in the film without taking any remuneration and concentrated on minimal budget, by shooting all the scenes in his Sathya Studios, without outdoor shoots.

initially suggested her friend Vijaya for one of the female lead roles, but Ramachandran refused; Wahab herself was chosen.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother ...

. The song "Ladke Se Mili Ladki", written by

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

lyricist P. L. Santoshi, consists predominantly of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

lyrics.

Release and reception

''Navarathinam'' was released on 5 March 1977. Kanthan 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 ...

'' negatively reviewed the film, criticising Nagarajan's execution of an innovative story. ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'' called the film a "a march of nine gems", noting that though the story was subpar, there was amusement. The film failed commercially; according to historian

Sachi Sri Kantha Sachithanantham Sri Kantha (born 8 May 1953) is a Sri Lanka-born scientist, historian and bilingual author. He has been residing in Japan since 1986, and became a naturalised Japanese citizen in 2016. Education A native of Point Pedro, Sri ...

, a potential reason was that the plot was strung around "national unity" as a political propaganda for Ramachandran's newly formed party and it's then ally

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

's Congress Party, prior to the

1977 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 16 and 20 March 1977 to elect the members of the 6th Lok Sabha. The elections took place during the Emergency period, which expired on 21 March 1977, shortly before the final results were announced ...

References

External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1970s Tamil-language films 1977 films Films directed by A. P. Nagarajan Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Films scored by Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Indian road movies