''Pillai Nilla'' () is a 1985 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

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequent ...

film directed by

Manobala Manobala (born 8 December 1953) is an Indian film director, producer, actor and comedian who predominantly plays supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He started his career in Tamil cinema in the early 1970s and with Kamal Haasan's referen ...

, and written by P. Kalaimani. The film stars Mohan,

Raadhika Raadhika Sarathkumar is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, producer and politician who works predominantly in Tamil cinema along with Telugu cinema as well as a few Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. She is the founder and CP of the Radaan Media ...

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 '' ...

, Nalini, and

Baby Shalini Shalini (born 20 November 1979), also known as Baby Shalini, is a former Indian child artist and actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil language, Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in the ...

. It was released on 14 April 1985 and emerged a commercial success.

Plot

Dolly is the young sister of a widowed rich man named David. She falls in love with Mohan, who works in her office. When she tries to express her love, she flies abroad for an office matter. Meanwhile, in India, Mohan's mother arranges his marriage with his cousin Bhuvana, and he marries her. When Dolly returns from abroad on her birthday, she expresses her love to Mohan, but he rejects her because his wife is pregnant. Dolly's obsession causes her to commit suicide in front of him at the hospital. At the same time, as his wife is giving birth. Their daughter, Shalini, is imbued with Dolly's evil spirit as Dolly takes revenge. What happens next is the rest of the story.

Cast

* Mohan as Mohan *

as Dolly *

as David * Nalini as Bhuvana *

as Shalini *

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 ...

as Saint Cromeo (guest appearance) *

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 Dolly's secretary *

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 Kanagasabapathy Principal *

Chinni Jayanth Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular televisio ...

as Sekar *

Peeli Sivam P.L. Sivanappan known by his stage name credited as Peeli Sivam (5 July 1938 – 25 September 2017) was an Indian actor who featured around 400 Tamil-language films and plays from 1958–2017. He has featured in several films such as ''Muhamma ...

Pasi Narayanan Narayanan, better known as Pasi Narayanan, was an Indian stage and film actor known for performing comedic roles alongside actor Goundamani. Narayanan acted in over 500 Tamil-language films and is known for the catchphrase, Early life Narayan ...

as Oomaithurai

Production

After his directorial debut ''

Agaya Gangai Agaya Gangai waterfalls are located in Kolli Hills of the Eastern Ghats, in India. Panchanathi, a jungle stream, cascades down as the Agaya Gangai (English: Ganges of Sky), near Arapaleeswarar temple atop the Kolli Hills in Namakkal district, Ta ...

'' (1982) failed,

did not get any further offers to direct which left him depressed and he contemplated suicide. P. Kalaimani approached Manobala to direct a film for him which was titled ''

Muthal Vasantham ''Muthal Vasantham'' () is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language masala film, directed by Manivannan and produced by P. Kalaimani, who also wrote the film's story. It stars Pandiyan, Chandrasekar, Ramya Krishnan and Mahalakshmi. The film, released on ...

''; however the partners of Kalaimani were uninterested in having Manobala as director and replaced him with

Manivannan S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a care ...

. Despite this Kalaimani promised Manobala to direct a film which eventually became ''Pillai Nila''. The film took inspiration from various horror films such as ''

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

'' (1983), ''

Poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...

'' (1982), ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...

'' (1976) and ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...

'' (1973). The makers sought to avoid clichéd horror film tropes such as

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

s, "sex-charged teenagers" and "unrealistic monsters in rubber masks".

Soundtrack

The music 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 ...

with lyrics by Vaali,

Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...

, Muthulingam and Mu. Metha. It took Ilaiyaraaja six days to finish the film's re-recording.

Release and reception

''Pillai Nila'' was released on 14 April 1985,

Puthandu Puthandu (), also known as Puthuvarudam, and the Tamil New Year, is the first day of year on the Tamil calendar, traditionally celebrated as a festival by Tamil Hindus. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu cal ...

. Despite facing competition from other films released in the same week including Mohan's own films ''

Udaya Geetham ''Udaya Geetham'' (; ) is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by K. Rangaraj. The film stars Mohan, Lakshmi and Revathi, with Goundamani, Senthil, Anand Babu, and Prathapachandran in supporting roles. It revolves around a sing ...

'' and '' Deivapiravi'', it emerged a commercial success. Jayamanmadhan 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 first half was not so boring, but the second half did not test his patience at all. He praised Ashok Kumar's cinematography, performances of Mohan, Nalini and Shalini but felt the climax was absurd.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0316404 1980s psychological horror films 1980s Tamil-language films 1985 films 1985 horror films Films about reincarnation Films directed by Manobala Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films set in Bangalore Films set in Chennai Indian psychological horror films