''Neengal Kettavai'' () is a 1984 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

masala film Masala films of Indian cinema mix multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. They also tend to be ...

written and directed by

Balu Mahendra Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (19 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan-born Indian cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. Widely regarded as ...

. It stars

Thiagarajan Thiagarajan Sivanandam (born 21 June 1946) is an Indian actor, director and producer in Tamil cinema. Beside Tamil, he has also acted in several Malayalam and Kannada films and a few Telugu films. He is the father of Tamil actor Prashanth and t ...

, Bhanu Chander, Archana and

Silk Smitha Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati (2 December 1960 – 23 September 1996), better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. Smitha was part of seve ...

in major roles, while

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 '' ...

had an extended cameo as the antagonist. The film was released on 28 June 1984, and was commercially successful.

Plot

Poornima Bhagyaraj Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Jayaram) is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married director K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy ...

, a widow living in

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

, leads a peaceful life with her two sons. Jaishankar, a tourist who visits the place rapes her. In the act, Poornima dies leaving her two sons who witness the murder. The eldest son (Bhanu Chander) is raised by his maternal uncle while the younger brother (Thiagarajan) joins a blind music teacher as he has great interest in music. Years later he becomes a great singer. Meanwhile, his brother is trained effectively by his uncle learning martial arts with the intention of avenging the death of his mother as he very well remembers the culprit's face. With a turn of events leading to both sons joining together and take revenge for their mother's death forms the rest of the story.

Cast

as Arun * Bhanu Chander as Ramu * Archana as Radha *

Smitha Smita (born Smita Vallurupalli on 4 September 1980) is an Indian pop singer, playback singer and actress known for her works in Tollywood, Telugu Music Industry, Bollywood, Kollywood and Kannada cinema. She has appeared in films such as '' Malli ...

as Arun's girlfriend *

as Ramu and Arun's mother * Y. G. Mahendran as James *

Vanitha ''Vanitha'' () is an Indian magazine published fortnightly by the ''Malayala Manorama'' group. It is the largest magazine in India by circulation according to Audit Bureau of Circulations, with average qualifying sales of 687,915 copies (as of D ...

* Somayajulu as music teacher *

Balan K. Nair Balakrishnan Nair, more popularly known as Balan K. Nair (4 April 1933 26 August 2000) was an Indian actor known for his roles in Malayalam cinema. Although he appeared as a villain in most films, he was also noted for his performances in stron ...

as Stunt Master's friend./Uncle of Ramu and Arun *

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 Stunt Master, Radha's father. *

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 Director (Cameo) *

as Muthulingam

Production

Archana made her

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

debut with the film. The film, unlike Balu Mahendra's previous offbeat ventures, was an "outright commercial picture". He later claimed that he made the film to prove his critics that he could make commercial films. Hence he titled the film ''Neengal Kettavai'' (What you asked for). A few scenes were shot at the VGP golden beach. The song "Oh Vasantha Raja" was shot at

Brihadisvara Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram The Brihadisvara Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva in Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Jayankondam, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Completed in 1035 AD by Rajendra Chola I as a part of his new capital, this Chola dynasty era temple ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack 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 ...

. The song "Kanavu Kaanum" is based on "Kasme Vaade" from ''

Upkar ''Upkar'' () is a 1967 Indian Hindi film directed by Manoj Kumar. The film held the top spot at the box office in 1967. It was Manoj Kumar's directorial debut film. Then India's prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri suggested Kumar to make a film b ...

'' (1967). For the dubbed Telugu version ''Kodama Simhalu'', the lyrics were written by L. Aathma Rao and

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 ...

Release and reception

''Neengal Kettavai'' was released on 28 June 1984. ''

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 ...

'' caustically commented, "Balu Mahendra, idhaiyaa kettom?" (Balu Mahendra, did we ask for ?). Despite the film's box-office success, Mahendra opted to continue making offbeat films.

References

External links

* {{Balu Mahendra 1980s masala films 1980s Tamil-language films 1984 films Films directed by Balu Mahendra Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films shot in Ooty Indian films about revenge