''Panakkaran'' () 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

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 ...

directed by

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

. A remake of the

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 ...

film '' Lawaaris'' (1981), it stars

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

and

Gautami Gautami Tadimalla (born 2 July 1969), known mononymously as Gautami, is an Indian actress and politician who has worked mainly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films in addition to Hindi, and Kannada films. She was one of the leading South India ...

. The film was released on 14 January 1990,

Pongal Pongal may refer to: * Pongal (festival), an annual Tamil festival * Pongal (dish) Pongal, also known as pongali or huggi, is an Indian rice dish. In Tamil, "pongal" means "boil" or "bubbling up". The two varieties of pongal are ''chakarai pong ...

day, and ran for more than 175 days in theatres.

Plot

Sumithra is a famous singer and she is in love with Vijayakumar, a leading business man. She gets pregnant before wedding but Vijayakumar wants it to be aborted. Sumithra, who doesn't want to abort her child, decides to break up with Vijayakumar and she leaves with her brother Radharavi without informing Vijayakumar. Sumithra gives birth to a baby boy but Radharavi takes away the baby and gives it to Senthamarai asking him to kill the baby and lies to Sumithra that the baby was a stillborn. Sumithra leaves the hospital without informing anyone and even Radharavi doesn't know her whereabouts. Meanwhile, Senthamarai, a drunkard decides to raise the baby On his own instead of killing it with the intention of making some money with the help of baby. He names the baby as Muthu. Muthu gets a job in a factory which is owned by Saranraj, who happens to be the son of Vijayakumar and Sathyapriya. It is shown that Vijayakumar leads an unhappy life with his wife Sathyapriya in an estate. He feels guilty about his betrayal to Sumithra thinking she is dead and Radharavi uses this opportunity to make some money out of it. Muthu understands that workers are not paid properly in Saranraj's factory and decides to fight against it which angers Saranraj and Radharavi. Latha, who happens to be Radharavi's only daughter falls in love with Muthu without knowing his true identity. One day, Muthu breaks the liquor bottles as Senthamarai buy dozens of alcohol bottles in Muthu's first salary. Senthamarai gets furious seeing this and reveals that Muthu is an orphan which makes Muthu worry and he leaves Senthamarai's home. Later Saranraj transfers Muthu to work in his estate present at a hill station with the plan of killing him. Muthu meets Vijayakumar in the estate and gets into his good books. During a function, Saranraj plans to kill Muthu but accidentally Vijayakumar gets hurt and is in need of a rare blood group for surgery. Now it is revealed that Sumithra is alive and she stays in an ashram. Seeing the advertisement for blood requirement, she comes forward to save Vijayakumar. On the way, Saranraj and Radharavi tries to kill her so that Vijayakumar will also die. But Muthu saves her. Now it is revealed that Muthu is the son of Sumithra and they are united. Vijayakumar is saved and he marries Sumithra with the consent of Sathyapriya.

Cast

as Muthu *

as Charulatha/Latha * Vijayakumar as Viswanath * Sumithra as Bhuvaneswari *

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 Puspha *

Radha Ravi Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi (born 29 July 1952) is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika. He is a ...

as Rao Bhathur *

Charan Raj Charan Raj is an Indian actor, director, film producer, and writer who works in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia and Hindi movies. Career Charan Raj is a versatile actor who is popular for his villainy and character roles in South Indian ...

as Shankar * Devisri as Lakshmi *

Achamillai Gopi Gopalakrishnan (born 9 May 1955), known professionally as Achamillai Gopi, is an Indian actor, singer, dramatist, and a Dubbing (filmmaking), voice over & dubbing artist. He has acted in a number of films and TV serials and has also given his v ...

as Gopi *

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 Aarumugam *

Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...

as Samiyar *

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthul ...

as Sabapathy *

Pandu In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Pandu ( sa, पाण्डु, Pāṇḍu, pale) was a king of the Kuru Kingdom. He was the foster-father of the five Pandava brothers, who were the boons bestowed upon his wife Kunti by a number of deities ...

as Ponnusamy *

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 Estate Manager *

Mayilsamy Mayilsamy (born October 2, 1965) is an Indian actor and comedian who prominently plays supporting roles. Appearing in many Tamil films, he is also a regular guest judge on '' Asathapovathu Yaaru'' on Sun TV in Chennai. Career He is a popular ...

as Factory Workers *

Kullamani Kullamani (1952–2013) was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in South Indian films. He acted over 500 films. He is known for films like ''Karagattakaran'', '' Apoorva Sagodharargal'', ''Panakkaran'', ''My Dear Marthandan'', and many more ...

as Guest Appearance *

Usilai Mani Usilai Mani (உசிலை மணி) was an Indian film actor. He worked predominantly in Tamil movie industry. He has acted over 1000 films and stage plays. His popular movies include ''Enga ooru Kavalkaran'' and '' Ayul Kaithi''. His dial ...

as Guest Appearance

Production

''Panakkaran'' is a remake of the

film '' Lawaaris'' (1981), and marked the first of several collaborations between

and

. While filming the song "Nooru Varusham", Rajinikanth dressed in drag.

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 "Nooru Varusham" is frequently played at wedding receptions in Tamil Nadu.

Release and reception

''Panakkaran'' was released on 14 January 1990,

day. ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote, "A well chalked out screenplay with effective penmanship coupled with ideal situations to suit Rajinikanth contribute to make Sathya Movies ''Panakkaran'' one of the good release of Pongal". 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 the only worthy thing to remember was Rajinikanth's acting, while praising the humour and found the music to be okayish. The film ran for more than 175 days in theatres.

References

External links

* {{P. Vasu 1990 films 1990s masala films 1990s Tamil-language films Cross-dressing in Indian films Films directed by P. Vasu Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Tamil remakes of Hindi films