''Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran'' () is a 1988 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

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

directed by

Senthilnathan Senthilnathan Jambulingam is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and television actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and serials, based in Chennai. He is best known for his action-masala films. As of 2013, he has directed mo ...

, in his directorial debut. The film stars

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

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 ...

, Anand,

Vani Viswanath Vani Viswanath (born 13 May 1971) is an Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Telugu films. In 2000, Vani won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her performance in '' Susanna'', directed by T. V. Chandra ...

and

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. the movie was a blockbuster hit and ran more than 150 days in many theatres. The film's score 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 ...

and was released on 10 June 1988. It was remade in Sinhala as ''Ran Hadawatha'' and in Telugu as ''

Dharma Teja ''Dharma Teja'' is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language film directed by Perala and produced by Sainath. It stars Krishnam Raju, Sharada, Raadhika and Vani Viswanath. The music was composed by Vidyasagar. The film was a remake of Tamil film ''Poontho ...

''.

Plot

Like a gardener with all his tenderness for his flowers, an old vigilante takes under his wing a young couple of runaway lovers. He lavishes them with love and safety. The father of the young woman tries to eliminate the lover who is none other than the sworn enemy of the upholder of the law. It is because of him, that the woman of the hero lost their unique heir and cannot give birth anymore from now on. Horrible memories surface and put the old upholder of the law on a war footing, for his ultimate confrontation.

Cast

as Anthony *

as Sivagami * Anand as Anand *

as Vidhya *

as Ramkumar *

S. S. Chandran S. S. Chandran (25 September 1941 – 9 October 2010) was an Indian comedy actor, producer, and politician from Tamil Nadu. He belonged to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and was a Member of the Parliament representing Tamil N ...

as M.L.A. * Pandiyan as Muthu Batcha * M. N. Nambiar as D.S.P. *

Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan (15 June 1944 – 20 February 2011), known as Malaysia Vasudevan, was a Malaysian-Indian playback singer and actor in Tamil cinema. Early life Malaysia Vasudevan's parents were from Palakkad. Chattu Nair of Ottappalam and Ammalu ...

as Sivagami's Father (Guest Appearance) *

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 Ramkumar's Assistant *

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...

as Anand's Grandma *

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 ...

K. S. Jayalakshmi K. S. Jayalakshmi is an Indian actress who works in the Tamil film and television industries. She has acted in comedy roles in movies. Jayalakshmi made her acting debut in the Tamil film ''Etharkum Thuninthavan'' released in 1976. Career Sh ...

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 ...

as Minister * Kokila as Susheela *Subhala

Production

Senthilnathan, son of Jambulingam who directed '' Nam Naadu'' with

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

and erstwhile assistant of S. A. Chandrasekhar and V. Azhagappan made his directorial debut with this film.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

. "Sindhiya Venmani" song is set to Srothaswini raaga and "Adi Kaana Karunkuyile" is set to HariKhamboji raaga."En Uyire Vaa" was set in Shankarabaranam ragam and "Paramal Partha nenjam" set in Sudhadhanyasi ragam while "Padatha Themangu" set in Natabhairavi ragam.

Reception

Raadhika won the

Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil The Cinema Express Best Film Award is given as a part of its annual Cinema Express Awards for Tamil (Kollywood Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tam ...

References

External links

* {{Senthilnathan 1980s action drama films 1980s Tamil-language films 1988 directorial debut films 1988 films Films directed by Senthilnathan Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action drama films Tamil films remade in other languages