''Pirappu'' ( ''Birth'') is a 2007
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
romantic drama film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...
directed by L. V. Ilangovan. The film stars newcomer Prabha,
Karthika and newcomer Priya Mohan, with
Mahadevan,
Saranya Ponvannan
Saranya Ponvannan (born Sheela Christina) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam language films. Saranya made her debut in a lead role in Mani Ratnam's ''Nayakan'' (1987) and went on to play lead roles from ...
,
Vijay Krishnaraj
Vijay Krishnaraj, also known as R Krishnan, is an Indian actor, writer, director, who is working in Tamil Films and Television industry. He made his debut in Tamil cinema as story writer and dialogue writer of ''Rosappu Ravikkaikari'' film in ...
,
Sulakshana,
Shanmugarajan
Shanmugarajan is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films.
He is an alumnus of The American College in Madurai and National School of Drama
National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It i ...
, Anjali Devi,
Ganja Karuppu
Ganja Karuppu is an Indian actor who has predominantly appeared in comedy roles in Tamil cinema. After making his debut in Bala's '' Pithamagan'' (2003), Ganja Karuppu experienced success in the late 2000s with his roles in '' Raam'' (2005), ...
and
George Maryan
George Maryan (born 23 March 1963) is an Indian actor and comedian, who has appeared in Tamil cinema. He started his career in theatre, before working in Tamil cinema and has often collaborated with film-makers A. L. Vijay, Sundar C and Priyada ...
playing supporting roles. It was released on 1 June 2007.
Plot
Marudhu (
Mahadevan) and Kaliammal (
Saranya Ponvannan
Saranya Ponvannan (born Sheela Christina) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam language films. Saranya made her debut in a lead role in Mani Ratnam's ''Nayakan'' (1987) and went on to play lead roles from ...
) are a rich but childless couple. They adopt Kannan (Prabha), a young man from a lower caste. However, Kannan feels depressed to leave his parents and little sister for his new family. Kannan, Marudhu and Kaliammal then leave their place for Kaliammal's native village.
In Kaliammal's village, some villagers start to talk ill about Kannan's caste. Kaliammal's brother Shankarapandi (
Shanmugarajan
Shanmugarajan is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films.
He is an alumnus of The American College in Madurai and National School of Drama
National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It i ...
), a politician and caste fanatic, hates Kannan and fears that Kannan would receive his sister's inheritance. In the meantime, Shankarapandi's daughter Padma (Karthika Adaikalam) falls in love with Kannan, whereas Kannan and Meera (Priya Mohan) fall in love with each other. Thinking that his daughter and Kannan were in love with each other, Shankarapandi now wants Kannan to be his son-in-law. When Shankarapandi visits their home for the engagement, Kannan refuses to marry her; thus Shankarapandi felt humiliated. Padma's suicide attempt makes the situation worse.
Shankarapandi has a bad name among his caste people. To win the local election, he needs their support, and only Marudhu can help him. However, Marudhu refuses to help him and hates his view about the caste system. Meanwhile, Kannan is sick of this situation and leaves his home without informing his adoptive parents. A few days later, Marudhu and Kaliammal go to Meera's home to bring Kannan home, but he was not there. That night, Marudhu and Kaliammal are killed in a car explosion. Meera witnesses it, but she is hit by a car.
When Kannan returns home to perform the last rites for his adoptive parents, Shankarapandi humiliates him and is hell bent on performing the rites, thus receiving his sister's inheritance. Meera, who was in the hospital, tells Padma about the whole incident and blames Shankarapandi for the murders. Padma then orders Kannan to punish her father. An angry Kannan beats Shankarapandi up and tells him that money and caste do not matter to him. Meera takes a burning stick and gives it to Padma (Meera symbolically sacrifices her love). Padma then cremates the dead bodies. The film ends with Kannan leaving the place in tears and Padma following him.
Cast
Production
L.V. Ilangovan, who worked as an assistant to the director
Bala, made his directorial debut with ''Pirappu''. New face Prabha, who is from
N. Lingusamy
Nammalvar Lingusamy, (born 14 November 1967), is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and film producer in Tamil cinema based in Chennai. Lingusamy made his directorial debut with ''Aanandham'' in 2001 and followed by ''Run'' (2002), ''Sandak ...
's family, was chosen to play the hero while
Poornima Indrajith
Poornima Indrajith ( née Poornima Mohan; born 13 December) is an Indian actress and television presenter who works in mainly in Malayalam cinema. Apart from that, she is a fashion designer. She is married to actor Indrajith Sukumaran.
Early ...
's sister Priya Mohan (credited as Mayuka) and Karthika Adaikalam were selected to play to play the female lead roles. Actress
Nanditha Jennifer
Jennifer is an Indian actress who has appeared in the Tamil film industry. The actress won critical acclaim for her performance in '' Eera Nilam'' (2003) and later appeared in other Tamil and Telugu language films.
Career
The daughter of film c ...
signed to perform for a
Koothu
Koothu or Therukoothu (jwalith) ( ta, கூத்து), is an ancient art, where artists play songs with dance and music in storytelling the epics, performed in Tamil; it is a folk art originated from the early Tamil country. More precisel ...
song shot near
Pollachi
Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Located about to the south of Coimbatore, it is the second largest town in the district after Coimbatore. Pollachi is a popular Marketplace for ja ...
.
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 ...
's son Shanky Mahendran was chosen to handle the camera.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Bharadwaj, with lyrics written by
Mu. Metha
Muhammed Metha (born 5 September 1945) is a Tamil poet and songwriter. He was born in Theni in 1945. He popularised modern poetry (''Pudukavithai'') in the 1970s and has written more than 30 books, including novels, short stories and essays. ...
, Kamakodiyan, Pazhani Bharathi and
Pa. Vijay
Pa. Vijay is an Indian actor, poet, writer, director, producer and film lyricist for Tamil cinema. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in India for his song '' Ovvoru Pookalume'' in Cheran's ''Autograph'' (2004).
Career
Vijay is a na ...
. The audio was released on 18 January 2007 in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
K. Bhagyaraj
Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor, ...
,
K. R. Gangadharan,
Ameer and
N. Lingusamy
Nammalvar Lingusamy, (born 14 November 1967), is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and film producer in Tamil cinema based in Chennai. Lingusamy made his directorial debut with ''Aanandham'' in 2001 and followed by ''Run'' (2002), ''Sandak ...
attended the audio function.
The song "Ulaga Azhagi Naan Thaan" became a chartbuster.
Release
Initially, the film had its release date fixed on 14 April 2007 (coinciding with
Tamil New Year
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 ...
), but it was released on 1 June 2007. A reviewer wrote, "Nothing new shown in the movie except new faces, the song scored by Bhardwaj sounds Ok. Debutant director able to cover the film with allotted money and time, new faces had cleared the screen without much difficulty" and called it "below average".
References
{{reflist
2007 films
2000s Tamil-language films
2007 romantic drama films
Indian romantic drama films
Films scored by Bharadwaj (composer)
2007 directorial debut films