''Neenga Nalla Irukkanum'' () is a 1992

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 film written and directed by

Visu Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan (1 July 1945 – 22 March 2020), best known by his stage name Visu, was an Indian writer, director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host. Visu initially worked as an assistant to director ...

. It stars Nizhalgal Ravi and Bhanupriya in the lead with Visu,

Chandrasekhar Chandrasekhar, Chandrashekhar or Chandra Shekhar is an Indian name and may refer to a number of individuals. The name comes from the name of an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this form he married the goddess Parvati. Etymologically, the nam ...

and Manorama forming the supporting cast. Produced by

G. Venkateswaran G. Venkateswaran (died 3 May 2003), popularly known as G.V., was an Indian film producer and chartered accountant. He was the elder brother of director and screenwriter Mani Ratnam and G. Srinivasan. Venkateswaran was the promoter of GV Films, ...

under his banner G. V. Films, the film won the award for Best Film on Other Social Issues at the

40th National Film Awards The 40th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1992. Ceremony took place in 199 ...

. The film was the first to be sponsored by the

Tamil Nadu Government Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

and had

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

in a pivotal role as a

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

(her real-life political profession at the time) in a brief appearance; making her unofficial comeback to films after a decade.

Plot

Anjalai, a village woman marries a drunkard Manickam, with a hope of changing his behavior post marriage. But Manickam continues drinking and goes to a level where he steals Anjalai's jewels before losing his job. During this time, his mother dies in a fire accident after which he vows not to drink anymore. Meanwhile, Manickam falls sick after damaging his liver as a result of excessive drinking. In order to safeguard his life, Anjalai collects money by begging in the streets and donation from the chief minister of the state. Manickam is sent to the United States for treatment. When the couple return to India after Manickam gets cured, he starts drinking again and gets addicted to it. Unable to tolerate his change in behaviour, Anjalai ends her life. This forces all the women in the village join to protest against alcohol.

Cast

* Nizhalgal Ravi as Manickam * Bhanupriya as Anjalai *

* Manorama * Major Sundarrajan *

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, ...

as herself (

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, bu ...

)

Production

Actress-turned politician

who was the then

played herself in the film. This was also her final film as an actress.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and lyrics for all songs were written by Vaali. *"Poongathu" –

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

*"Aasapattu" – S. P. B *"Mangalyam" –

K. S. Chitra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various I ...

*"Shivashankari" – Chithra *"Varugiraar" –

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 fi ...

*"Aalagi" –

Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan (15 June 1944 – 20 February 2011), known as Malaysia Vasudevan, was a Malaysian-Indian playback singer and actor in Tamil cinema. Early life Malaysia Vasudevan's parents were from Palakkad. Chattu Nair of Ottappalam and Amma ...

, Swarnalatha

Reception

Released on 2 October 1992, coinciding with

Gandhi Jayanti Gandhi Jayanti is an event celebrated in India to mark the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. It is celebrated annually on 2 October, and is one of the three national holidays of India. The UN General Assembly announced on 15 June 2007 that it adop ...

, ''Neenga Nalla Irukkanum'' focused on

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

and was the first Tamil film to be sponsored by the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, l ...

. The film was budgeted at a cost of 8.5 million (about 0.277 million in 1992–93). Despite being launched with much "fanfare" and media acclaim, the film did not make any impact among the audience as it turned out to be a box-office failure. It won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

and a

Tamil Nadu State Film Award Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

. The jury noted the film for its "effective and purposeful plea for prohibition". K. Vijiyan of '' New Straits Times'' wrote "This is not the usual Visu fare were are used to ..Visu has made sure this is not just an educational movie with an anti-alcohol message. There is an Indian saying that it is difficult to straighten a dog's tail and the story seems to subscribe to the fatalistic view that drunkards cannot quit". 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 ...

'' also said the same. However Ayyappa Prasad for ''

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 be ...

'' wrote that the film "fails to impress" and "The director in a bid to do propaganda-cum-commercial has ended up with a product that is neither".

Notes

References

External links

* {{Visu 1990s Tamil-language films 1992 films Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award winners Films about alcoholism Films directed by Visu Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films with screenplays by Visu