''Periyar'' is a 2007 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

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

, made about the life of the social reformer and rationalist

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Fa ...

with

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...

who himself is a rationalist in the lead role. This movie was partly funded by the then Tamil Nadu government headed by

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

. The film was dubbed in Telugu and released as ''Periyar Ramaswamy Naicker''.

Plot

The film details the life of Periyar right from childhood to his marriage to Nagammal to his pilgrimage to

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a cit ...

which changed his life where he understands the cruelty of the Caste System that only

Brahmins Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru o ...

are welcomed and he was refused meals at choultries which exclusively fed Brahmins forbidding other Hindu castes. Having starved severely, Periyar found no other better way than to enter a choultry disguises himself with the appearance of a Brahmin wearing a thread on his bare chest but it is found out and is disgusted with life in Kashi. Periyar returns and joins his father's business and later becomes the Chairman of the Erode Municipality. Later, which he resigns from this post and joins the freedom struggle. He becomes the President of Congress party of

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

. Later he quits the Congress party and joins the Justice Party. He goes on to format the DK. His role in the Anti-Hindi agitation and Vaikom struggle. His second marriage and the formation of the DMK. It covers his entire life till death.Periyar: New attempts in Tamil cinema
/ref>

Cast

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 ...

as Ramanathan, Periyar's friend *

Jyothirmayi Jyothirmayi is an Indian actress, television presenter, and former model, who works in Malayalam cinema. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into television, working as an anchor and later starring numerous Television show. Career Jy ...

Nagammai Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy Nagammai (1885 – 11 May 1933) was an Indian social activist and women's rights activist. She was known for her participation in the Temperance movement in India and the Vaikom Satyagraha. She was the first wife of Peri ...

Khushbu Sundar Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian actress, politician, film producer and television presenter. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, besides Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is a rec ...

as Maniammai * Manorama as Chinnathayamma, Ramasamy's mother *

Kaikala Satyanarayana Kaikala Satyanarayana (25 July 1935 – 23 December 2022) was an Indian actor, producer, director, and politician who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He appeared in over 750 films and served as the Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok S ...

as Venkatappa Nayakkar, Ramasamy's father * S. S. Stanley as

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

* Mohan Ram as

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

Vasu Vikram Vasu Vikram is an Indian actor and stage director who has worked on Tamil-language films and in television dramas. Career Vasu Vikram is the son of actor M. R. R. Vasu, and the grandson of M. R. Radha. Several other members of his family are al ...

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

Vijay Adhiraj Vijay Adhiraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada films and serials. He was introduced in the NFDC & Doordarshan produced ''Sahashraphan'' in Hindi, written by then Prime Minister of India Shri. P. V. Narasi ...

K. Veeramani Krishnasamy Veeramani (born 2 December 1933 in Cuddalore) is an Indian politician. Personal Veeramani was born in Cuddalore, South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu, his original name was Sarangapani. He had his primary education at Cuddalore and ...

Vennira Aadai Nirmala Vennira Aadai Nirmala (born as A. B. Shanthi in Kumbakonam) is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She was a prominent lead actress from 1960s and 70s. She is credited as Ushakumari in Malayalam film indust ...

Moovalur Ramamirtham Moovalur Ramamirtham ( ta, மூவலூர் ராமாமிர்தம்) (1883–1962) was a Tamil social reformer, author, and political activist of the Dravidian Movement, who worked for the abolition of the ''Devadasi'' system in t ...

* Swarnamalya as a Thanjavur Dancer *

Typist Gopu Gopalarathnam, known by his stage name Typist Gopu, was an Indian actor known for comedy and supporting roles. He acted in over 600 stage plays and 400 films. Career A native of Manakkal, Lalgudi in Trichy district, Gopalarathnam was active ...

as a reporter *

Madhan Bob S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...

as a musician performing Kathakalakshepam * Lavanya *

Nizhalgal Ravi Ravichandran Samanna (born 16 April 1956), known professionally as Nizhalgal Ravi, is an Indian film, television and voice actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films and television series. He st ...

Ajay Rathnam Ajay Rathnam is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil films and serials. He is known for his supporting and negative roles and has acted in over 300 movies. Standing at 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), Rathnam is one of the t ...

Ilavarasu Ilavarasu is an Indian cinematographer and actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a cinematographer and worked for 13 films, winning a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for one of them. He, however, became better known ...

Production

The film's budget was funded by ₹95 lakh (worth ₹3.9 crore in 2021 prices) grant by Government of Tamil Nadu.

Music

The music for the film has been scored by Vidyasagar.

References

External links