''Thanikattu Raja'' () 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

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

V. C. Guhanathan V. C. Guhanathan is a film screenwriter, director and producer who has worked on Indian Tamil films. He made his directorial debut in the 1970s, before proceeding to make successful films like ''Thanikattu Raja'' (1982) and ''Michael Raj'' (1987 ...

, and Produced by

D. Ramanaidu Daggubati Ramanaidu (6 June 1936 – 18 February 2015) was an Indian film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. He founded Suresh Productions in 1964 which became of one of the largest film production companies in India. He was placed i ...

. It stars

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female ...

and Sripriya, with

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 '' ...

, Vijayakumar,

Sathyakala Sathyakala is an Indian actress in South Indian movies. She was a prominent lead actress during the late 1970s and 1980s in Malayalam films. She had acted in few Tamil films as well. Now she is busy with Tamil telefilms and soap operas. Biogra ...

and Y. G. Mahendran in supporting roles. the film had music by

Ilayaraja 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 cinematography handled by P. S. Nivas.

Plot

Soori is a rebellious young man who works as a mechanic and often lands in trouble fighting for justice. He falls in love with a rich girl Vaani, but Vaani's father plots to break their relationship through his manager Vasu. In the ensuing melee, Soori murders the manager to save Vaani's honour. Soori is about to be sentenced to death and Vaani finds that the only way she can save Soori is by marrying a rich, roguish man Ethiraj who uses his money to get Soori's death penalty commuted to a prison term. After his release, Soori is distraught at losing Vaani and takes to drinking. He moves to his village where he becomes immensely popular among the villagers due to his righteous work and progressive activities. He offers protection to a village damsel Vidhya to escape from being forced to be a prostitute and later marries her but still remains alcoholic. Vaani meets and advises him to stop drinking and turn over a new leaf. Despite being abused by her husband and falsely accused of hobnobbing with Soori, Vaani maintains the sanctity of her marriage. Whether Soori and Vaani's lives return to normal forms the rest of the story.

Cast

as Soori (Sooriya Prakash) *

as Vani * Sripriya as Vidhya *

as Ethiraj *

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 Jayaprakash *

Sangili Murugan Sangili Murugan, is an Indian actor, screenwriter and producer. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was an actor doing negative and supporting roles in Tamil films. He has also worked as production controller in a number of films. His birth name is M ...

as Vadivelu * Y. G. Mahendran as Ravi * Vijayakumar as Vasu *

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 Landlord * V. K. Ramasamy as 'Salaiyur' S.K.R *

Vennira Aadai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

as Kannisamy *

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 Siva (Kanakkupillai) *

R. S. Manohar Rasipuram Subramaniyan Iyer Manohar was an Indian actor who performed roles ranging from hero to villain to comedic characters. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He acted in over 200 films. He is known for his versatility and dominating personal ...

as Rajasekhar *

as Seetha *

Rajesh Rajesh is a given name of Indian and Nepali origin. Given name * Rajesh (actor), South Indian actor * Rajesh (Kannada actor), Kannada actor * Rajesh Bishnoi, Indian cricketer * Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer * Rajesh Gangwar, Indian social ...

as Ethiraj's brother * K . Kannan as Paranthaman *

Master Haja Sheriff ''Master'' Haja Sheriff (born Khaja Sheriff) is an Indian actor, who primarily worked in Tamil cinema (Kollywood). He has worked in popular movies like Uthiripookkal, Suvarilladha Chiththirangal, Andha 7 Naatkal. He debuted in the 1979 film Pu ...

K. Natraj K. Natraj is an Indian actor and director who primarily worked in Tamil-language films and serials. Personal life In film industry circle, he is popular as a close friend of actor Rajinikanth. His daughter, Rajini, was married actor Vishn ...

as Village people * C. L. Anandhan as Henchman *

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 Tea shop owner *

M. R. R. Vasu Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Vasudevan was an Indian actor who was active in Tamil cinema and theatre during the latter half of the 20th century. He was known for playing negative roles, but he was also a successful character actor. He acte ...

as Uncle of Vidya *

Usilai Mani Usilai Mani (உசிலை மணி) was an Indian film actor. He worked predominantly in Tamil movie industry. He has acted over 1000 films and stage plays. His popular movies include ''Enga ooru Kavalkaran'' and '' Ayul Kaithi''. His dial ...

as Village people *

Y. Vijaya Yenigandla Vijaya (born 8 February 1957) is an Indian actress and classical dancer. She has appeared in more than 1000 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. Early life and education Y. Vijaya was born on 8 February 1957 in Ku ...

as Madhavi *

Idichapuli Selvaraj Idichapuli Selvaraj ( – 30 January 2012) was a veteran Tamil comedy actor. He acted in more than five hundred films. He acted along with lot of actors. He also worked as an assistant director for the M. G. Ramachandran films like ''Idhayakkani ...

as Ponnusamy * Jr. Manohar as Friend of Soori * I. S. Ramachandran as Ramu * V. Gopalakrishnan as Sangaralingam *

Silk Smitha Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati (2 December 1960 – 23 September 1996), better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. Smitha was part of seve ...

as (Special Appearance)

Themes

According to ''

Jump Cut A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera posit ...

'', ''Thanikattu Raja'' "explores the connections between landlords and politicians, who together oppress the rural population".

Soundtrack

;Tamil 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 ...

and had six songs. "Mullai Arumbe" did not feature in the film but was part of the album. The lyrics for the songs were written by Vaali and

Panchu Arunachalam Panchanathan Arunachalam (22 March 1941 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a lyricist in the Tamil cin ...

. ;Hindi Brij Bihari wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the Hindi dubbed version.

Release

The film was released on 12 March 1982.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0187547 1980s Tamil-language films 1982 action films 1982 films Films directed by V. C. Guhanathan Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action films Suresh Productions films