''Raja Paarvai'' () is a 1981 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, na ...

-language

romance 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

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

. The story was written by

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

, for whom the film was his 100th as an actor and first as a producer. The score and 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 o ...

. Loosely based on the 1972 film ''

Butterflies Are Free ''Butterflies Are Free'' is a 1972 American comedy-drama film based on the 1969 play by Leonard Gershe. The 1972 film was produced by M. J. Frankovich, released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Milton Katselas and adapted for the screen by Ger ...

'', it was simultaneously made and released as ''Amavasya Chandrudu'' () in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

. Despite being a box office failure, the film received critical acclaim, and Haasan's performance won him the

Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, a ...

Thota Tharani Thota Tharani is an Indian film art director and production designer who has predominantly worked in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam cinema and Bollywood. As of 2013, he has won two National Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and four Tamil ...

made his debut as an art director with the film.

Plot

Raghu is a blind violinist oppressed since infancy. Nancy, a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

, is keen on chronicling Raghu's inspiring life as a visually impaired but independently living person. Their relationship blossoms into a romance that is supported by Nancy's grandfather. Nancy is eventually due to be married to another man selected by her father, but aided by her grandfather, escapes from the church and elopes with Raghu.

Cast

Production

''Raja Paarvai'' was the 100th film for

as an actor, and first as producer. He also worked as a screenwriter. He produced the film along with his brothers

Charuhasan S. Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian actor, director and retired lawyer who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He won the National Film Award for Best ActorSubha J Rao,Entertainment for a cause, The Hin ...

and

Chandrahasan S. Chandrahasan (6 March 1936 — 18 March 2017) was an Indian film producer and actor from Tamil Nadu, India. Early life Born to advocate Srinivasan and Rajalakshmi, Chandrahasan was the second of four children. His elder brother Charuhasan ...

under the banner Haasan Brothers. The film also marked the debut of art director

in Tamil cinema. It was simultaneously shot in

as ''Amavasya Chandrudu'', with

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

for both versions taking place in 55 days. Among other locations, the film was also shot in Venus Studios. While the film is loosely based on the 1972 film ''

'', the final scene which features Madhavi's character escaping from church in her wedding dress and joining Haasan, was inspired by ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

'' (1967).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

, while the lyrics were written by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

, Vairamuthu and

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 Ra ...

. The song "Andhi Mazhai" is set in the

Carnatic raga Carnatic raga refers to '' ragas'' used in Carnatic music. A Carnatic raga has several components - primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system ('' swara''), pitch ('' śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka'') and important tones. Origins and hi ...

known as Vasantha, and "Vizhi Oraththu" is set in

Shubhapantuvarali Shubhapantuvarali (pronounced , meaning ''the auspicious moon'') is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 45th ''melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is ca ...

. For the instrumental "Modern Concerto", Viji Manuel was the keyboardist (playing the piano on

arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

mode), while

V. S. Narasimhan V. S. Narasimhan (born 1943) is an Indian violinist and composer. Life Narasimhan is the son of the violinist Gottuvadyam Srinivasa Iyengar. He studied Carnatic music from age four under his father. Narasimhan also learnt Western classical mus ...

was the violinist.

Release

''Raja Paarvai'' was released on 10 April 1981, and ''Amavasya Chandrudu'' on 29 August 1981. Despite receiving critical acclaim, the film was a box office failure, and Haasan had to work seven to eight years to recover from the loss he incurred. The 100 days celebration of the film was held at Chettiar Bungalow in AVM studio.

Reception

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 ...

'', in its review of the Tamil version, called the story ordinary, but said the dialogues and Rao's direction polished the film and lauded Haasan's performance, adding that Prasad outshined everyone else. S. Shiva Kumar wrote in ''

Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore editions wer ...

'', "Some breath taking photography, slick editing and lilting music contribute in making ''Raja Parvai'' a clean and enjoyable movie". Reviewing the Telugu version, Gudipoodi Srihari of the magazine ''Sitara'' wrote that barring a few sequences, the film was fairly enjoyable yet inspirational. Haasan won the

Legacy

''Raja Paarvai'' attained

cult status A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

in Tamil cinema. In ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema'', Ashish Rajadhyaksha and

Paul Willemen Paul Willemen (17 August 1944 – 13 May 2012) was a Belgian-born British professor, author and essayist. According to the British Film Institute, he was regarded as "a pioneering figure in the revolution in thinking about the cinema that be ...

described Srinivasa Rao's direction and Haasan's performance as "unabashedly melodramatic, milking the hero's disability for all its worth" and that Rao's zooms and cutaways underlined by "rapid and awkward editing" were "fully in evidence". In 2010, ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' included ''Raja Paarvai'' in its list, "Kamal's most memorable romantic films", where it praised Haasan and Madhavi's onscreen rapport, the visuals and the climax. In 2017, Haasan named ''Amavasya Chandrudu'' (the Telugu version of the film) as one of his 70 most favourite films and considered it superior to ''Raja Paarvai''.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{RaajKamalFilmsInternational 1980s romance films 1980s Tamil-language films 1980s Telugu-language films 1981 films 1981 multilingual films Films about blind people in India Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by Kamal Haasan Indian multilingual films Indian romance films