''Rudhra'' is a 1991

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

comedy thriller Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers. Criteria They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor. List of comedy thriller films * '' The Big Fix'' (1978) * ''Charad ...

film written and directed by Sasi Mohan. It stars

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, ...

Gautami Gautami Tadimalla (born 2 July 1969), known mononymously as Gautami, is an Indian actress and politician who has worked mainly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films in addition to Hindi, and Kannada films. She was one of the leading South India ...

and

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

. The film was one among the Deepavali releases of 1991. The bank robbery scenes of the movie were inspired from that of the Hollywood movie ''

Quick Change ''Quick Change'' is a 1990 American crime comedy film directed by Bill Murray and Howard Franklin (in their directorial debuts) and written by Franklin. Based on the novel of the same name by Jay Cronley, the film stars Murray, Geena Davis, Ra ...

'' (1990). The core plot of the movie was inspired from the French film ''Nikita''.

Plot

Mayaandi, a dreaded criminal, escapes from prison and guns down Rudhra's entire family. Rudhra learns the truth but the police can do nothing because Mayaandi returns to jail after the murder and has an alibi. She receives a letter her police officer father, sent before his death. He uncovered links between Mayaandi and several powerful prominent people—including police officers and politicians. Rudhra discovers a video cassette with the proof and gives it to the DSP only to discover he is part of the cabal. He attacks Rudhra and she kills him in self-defence. The police arrest her and the incorruptible DSP Lalitha investigates the case. The cabal again pursues Rudhra upon realizing that the video cassette they took from her was not the incriminating one. She doesn't know the location of the original cassette but shares the entire story with Lalitha. The two women collaborate when they realize the police department can't be trusted. They also bring in thief Madurai to help them uncover the conspiracy.

Cast

as Madurai *

as Rudhra *

as DSP Lalitha * Mansoor Ali Khan as Kedi Mayandi *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor) Senthamarai was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil cinema and theatre. Career Senthamarai was born on 13 April 1935 at Kancheepuram. His family included his father Thiruvenkadam, his mother Vedamm ...

as DSP *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

as DCP Sundararajan *

Nalinikanth Nalinikanth is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam films. He debuted in the 1980 film Kadhal Kadhal Kadhal and has appeared in over 100 films. Nalinikanth was once a po ...

as ACP Mohan *

Kamala Kamesh Kamala Kamesh is an Indian actress in Tamil movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actress in late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in Tamil movies. She has acted nearly 480 movies in Tamil. She is often seen in all of Visu's movies. Biography S ...

as Rudhra's neighbor * T. S. Raghavendar as Rudhra's father *

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

as Judge (guest appearance)

Music

The music was composed by

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...

. The lyrics were written by Vaali and

. *"Vittu Vittu" -

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

K. S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various In ...

*"Enrootu" - SPB *"Aadadu" - K. S. Chithra

Reception

''The Indian Express'' wrote the film "beguiles you .with its quickpaced narration". Sundarji of ''Kalki'' wrote "despite having so many opportunities for providing thrills and twists, is this how you ruin them ?".

Legacy

Sasi Mohan later made a similar themed film ''

Sivantha Malar ''Sivantha Malar'' () is a 1992 Tamil-language drama film directed by Sasi Mohan and written by Selva. The film stars Sarathkumar and Gautami, while Vijayakumar and Srividya play supporting roles. The film, produced by K. R. Gangadharan, had ...

'' inspired from ''Nikita'' again with Gauthami in lead role.

References

1991 films 1990s Tamil-language films Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films set in prison Indian crime thriller films Indian crime comedy films 1990s crime comedy films {{comedy-crime-film-stub