''Thaai Mookaambikai'' is a 1982 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

devotional film This is a list of genres of literature and entertainment ( film, television, music, and video games), excluding genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of a ...

directed by

K. Shankar Kannan Shankar (17 March 1926 - 5 March 2006) was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as well as in Hindi. Film career Shanka ...

, starring

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than five decades in South Indian cinema. ...

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

Sivakumar Palaniswamy, better known by his stage name Sivakumar (born 27 October 1941), is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has portrayed a wide range of leading and supporting roles onscreen in Tamil cinema and television. He made his actin ...

, Sujatha and other leading actors. The film had musical score 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 9 July 1982.

Plot

Cast

as Raakayi / Mookayi / Thaai Mookambigai *

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language, Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coco ...

as Village President *

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 Bhattar * Sujatha as Poorani *

as Senthil, Raakayi elder son *

Poornima Bhagyaraj Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Jayaram) is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married director K. Bhagyaraj, who directed one ...

as Durga *

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema, known mostly for his villain roles in an eight decade long career. He has also appeared in a few Malayalam films. ...

as Durga's Father *

Saritha Saritha is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu languages. She was one of the popular and critically acclaimed lead actresses during the 1980s. She also appeared in a television serial, ' ...

as Vellayamma, Raakayi daughter * Manorama as Ranjani *

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 ...

as Kaambothi *

Nizhalgal Ravi Ravichandran Samanna (born 16 April 1956), known professionally as Nizhalgal Ravi, is an Indian film, television and voice actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films and television series. He st ...

as Sarangan * Karthik as Muthu, Raakayi second son *

Jai Shankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

as Kannappan *

Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh (1946 – 11 February 2001) was an Indian Tamil film actor. He had supporting roles in the films ''Aval Oru Thodar Kathai'' and ''Attukara Alamelu'', among others. His most popular roles have been as a supporting actor or as a villa ...

as Mani, Bhattar's Son *

Gundu Kalyanam Gundu Kalyanam is an Indian actor and director in Tamil film industry and active and hardcore member at AIADMK party. He entered cine field in the year 1967 and his first movie was Mazhalai Pattalam in 1979. He also had his hands on direction ...

* V. Gopalakrishnan as Inspector Gopi *

M. Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

as Singer *

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

as Singer *

Sirkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day May ...

as Singer

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

, with lyrics by Vaali. The song "Janani Janani" from this film remains one of the famous devotional songs in Tamil. The song is set in Kalyani raga. The song Isai Arasi (Isaiyarasi), one of the most complex compositions in Film Music, is based on a rare Carnatic raga, Surya. Ilayaraja said he "was running out of time while composing the tune for the song. I was under hectic pressure from the film producer, who had planned to perform the ‘puja’ for the film the next day with the song" Initial tune which he had composed did not suit the character Sri Adi Sankarar. He said with a chance to have a glimpse of the portrait of Adi Sankarar, he was inspired to compose the tune which was similar to Bhaja Govindam.

References

External links

* {{K. Shankar 1980s Tamil-language films 1982 films Films directed by K. Shankar Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Hindu devotional films