''Thanippiravi'' () is a 1966 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, nati ...

-language film, directed by M. A. Thirumugam. It stars

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

and

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

. The film, produced by

Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar "''Eugen Sandow, Sandow''" Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Thevar (28 June 1915 – 8 September 1978) was a producer of Tamil cinema, Tamil films in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his films featuring a ...

, was released on 16 September 1966, and was not commercially successful, having run for ten weeks in theatres.

Plot

Cast

as Muthaiya *

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 Sub-inspector Soundharam * S. A. Ashokan as Rathnapuram *

C. L. Anandan Anandan (15 June 1933 – 25 March 1989), born as C. L. Anandan, was an Indian actor and producer who was active in Tamil cinema as well in Malayalam cinema during the second half of the 20th century. He was well known for his hero, supportin ...

as Ravi *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...

as Chowry * V. K. Ramasamy as Doreracy * Athithyan as Singaram * Tiruchi Selandhar Rajan as Madhasamy *

as the boss *

as Radha * Revathi as Sivagami * Manorama as Gowry * P. K. Saraswathi as Meenatchi

Production

In the film, Ramachandran's character initially sports a beard and

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...

, taking inspiration from the Argentine revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Malayalam cinema, Malayalam, and Kann ...

, with lyrics 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 ...

. The song "Uzhaikkum Kaigale" conveys Ramachandran's

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

beliefs, and highlights "the role of the worker in building society".

Release and reception

''Thanippiravi'' was released on 16 September 1966 in most centres, and on 18 September in Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

). ''

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 ...

'' said the film stood out compared to other Tamil films with regards to action and romance sequences. The film was not commercially successful, having run for ten weeks in theatres. Since Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa appeared as the gods

Murugan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

and

Valli Vaḷḷi ( ta, வள்ளி) ("Creeper, Sweet potato plant") is a Hindu goddess, and the second consort of the deity Murugan. An incarnation of the goddess Sundaravalli, daughter of Vishnu, Valli is born on earth as the daughter of a chiefta ...

in a dream sequence, many of the actors' fans worshipped pictures of the actors in their goddess avatars as if worshipping the actual gods.

References

External links

* {{Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar 1960s Tamil-language films 1966 films Films directed by M. A. Thirumugam Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan