''Rajakumaran'' () is a 1994 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 R. V. Udayakumar. The film stars

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

and

Nadhiya Zareena Moidu, known by her stage name Nadhiya, is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her debut in the Malayalam film '' Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu'' (1984), alongside Mohanlal and Pad ...

. It was released on 14 January 1994, coinciding with

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 ...

. The film was Prabhu's 100th film and was produced by

Sivaji Productions Sivaji Productions was an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. Established in 1958, it was involved mainly in Tamil and Hindi-language films until 2010. History Sivaji Productions company is owned by Prabhu and h ...

Plot

The kindhearted Rajakumaran is the son of the village chief in Sundharapuri. Selvi and Vaidehi are in love with their cousin Rajakumaran but he chooses Vaidehi and Selvi decides to sacrifice her love. During a

Jallikattu (or ), also known as and , is a traditional event in which a bull ('' Bos indicus''), such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull's b ...

spectacle in Sundharapuri, Yuvaraj, who is from the neighbouring village Palipattu, insults the villagers of Sundharapuri for not being able to tame his bull. A brave Rajakumaran then tames his bull and he humiliates him back. Selvi's father Selvaraj refuses to give his property to the village people as promised. To give away the property, his only request is that Rajakumaran marry his daughter Selvi. Selvi convinces Rajakumaran to lie for the good of all, so he lies to her father and acquires the property. Vaidehi, who learns about it, is heartbroken and decides to kill herself by jumping into a well. Later, Vaidehi is found dead when Rajakumaran finally reveals his lie. One day, some goons decide to put a bomb in Sundharapuri but Rajakumaran beats up the goon and saves the village. The villagers think that the culprit was Selvi's brother Thangaraj because he wanted to take revenge on Rajakumaran for his lie. An angry Thangaraj then insults Rajakumaran's father in a wedding function and Rajakumaran's father dies of a heart attack due to the humiliation. Yuvaraj asks the permission of Selvaraj and Thangaraj to marry Selvi, and they accept. On the day of the marriage, the villagers are against the marriage and beg Rajakumaran to save Selvi from the heartless Yuvaraj. A man then says that a deaf-mute girl was the witness of Vaidehi's murder by Yuvaraj. Yuvaraj cancels the marriage and decides to humiliate Selvi in his village. Rajakumaran saves her and decides to marry her.

Cast

as Rajakumaran *

as Selvi *

as Vaidehi *

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

as Yuvaraj * Vijayakumar as Rajakumaran's father * Sujatha as Rajakumaran's mother *

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated t ...

as Maarusamy, the milkman *

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.Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...

as 'Vicharuva' Veerasamy *

Captain Raju Raju Daniel (27 June 1950 – 17 September 2018), better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian army officer and Indian actor. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannad ...

as Selvaraj, Selvi's father * Kavitha as Selvi's mother *Rajmadhan as Vaidehi's father *

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 Vaidehi's mother *

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 Thangaraj *

Kaka Radhakrishnan T. V. Radhakrishnan, better known as Kaka Radhakrishnan ( – 14 June 2012) was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil language films from the year 1940. He is also notable for having introduced his childhood friend, Sivaji Ganesan, into films. Car ...

Oru Viral Krishna Rao Oru Viral Krishna Rao was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani award, Rao got the nickname ''Oru Viral ''Oru Viral'' () is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language mystery fil ...

Periya Karuppu Thevar Periya Karuppa Thevar (1936 - 18 September 2012) was a Tamil film character artiste and folk singer who appeared in Tamil-language films. Film career PKT was part of the drama troupe floated by veteran Sankaradoss Swamigal more than fifty year ...

Kovai Senthil Kumarasamy, known by his stage name, Kovai Senthil, was a Tamil film character artist who appeared in Tamil films starting with Bhagyaraj's ''Oru Kai Osai''. He appeared in over 400 Tamil films. Career During his career, Kovai Senthil made ...

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 ...

Chelladurai Chelladurai (1941 - 7 February 2015) was an Indian comedian who worked in Tamil-language films. He acted in over 350 films. Career Chelladurai made his film debut with ''Thooral Ninnu Pochchu'' (1982). He is known for his comic sequences w ...

* R. V. Udayakumar in a cameo appearance

Production

''Rajakumaran'' is the 100th film of Prabhu as an actor.

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 ...

, with the lyrics written by the director himself, R. V. Udayakumar.

Reception

''Rajakumaran'' was released on 14 January 1994 coinciding with Pongal. The film received negative reviews and became a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

. ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' wrote, "Udayakumar seems to have exhausted his stock of ideas ..''Rajakumaran'' is nothing but a rehash of his earlier film '' Ejaman''".

References

External links

* {{R. V. Udayakumar 1990s action drama films 1990s Tamil-language films 1994 films Films directed by R. V. Udayakumar Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action drama films