''Ulavuthurai'' is a 1998

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 crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Ramesh Selvan Ramesh Selvan is an Indian film director, who has made Tamil films. Career Ramesh Selvan made his debut as a film maker with the action film ''Ulavuthurai'' (1998) starring Vijayakanth in lead role before making the revenge drama ''Jananam'' ( ...

. The film stars

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

and

Sanghavi Sanghavi (born Kavya Ramesh) is an Indian actress and a model known for her work predominantly in Telugu and Tamil language films. She was one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema for a decade from 1993 to 2004. In her career spannin ...

, with

Radha Ravi Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi (born 29 July 1952) is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika. He is a ...

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthul ...

, Carlos, Jassi Singh, and

Hemanth Ravan Hemanth Ravan or Hemanth G Nag is a male Indian actor who has appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi films, including ''Raasaiyya'' (1995), '' Sher-E-Hindustan'' (1998), ''Maanthrikam'' (1995) and ''Sathyameva Jayathe ''Sathyameva Jayathe' ...

, among others, play supporting roles. The film, produced by Vijay Prabhakaran, had musical score by newcomer Shah and was released on 14 January 1998. The film was Vijayakanth's 125th film.

Plot

Several people die mysteriously in the sea, so the navy looks for its best officer Vasanth Periyasamy (

) to investigate the case. Vasanth Periyasamy changes his identity into Krishnamoorthy. He is now a car driver and lives in disguise for his family's sake. In the past, he was married to the illiterate Meena (

) and has a daughter named Priya (

Baby Jennifer Nancy Jennifer, previously credited as Baby Jennifer, is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil language films. After making her debut as a child artiste, Jennifer has also featured in supporting and lead roles. Career Nancy Jennifer bega ...

). One day, a terrorist (Hemanth Ravan) kidnapped Meena and threatened to kill her if Vasanth Periyasamy does not release his partners in jail. Meena was then killed in the rescue mission, and the terrorists were released because of corrupt naval officers. The Department of the Navy then sent Vasanth to jail, so Vasanth Periyasamy decides to forget the navy and becomes a simple car driver in disguise. The navy then finds Vasanth Periyasamy and compels him to join them. He finally accepts to solve this odd affair and investigate the sea murders.

Cast

as Commodore Vasanth Periyasamy (Krishnamoorthy) *

as Meena *

as Sangeetha *

as Home Minister Jaidev *

as Duraisamy *

as Terrorist *Carlos as Terrorist *Jassi Singh as Terrorist *Chitti as Terrorist * Sumithra as Vasanth Periyasamy's mother *

as Priya, Vasanth's daughter *

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 Hind ...

as Sangeetha's grandfather *

Fathima Babu Fathima Babu is a South Indian actress, former newsreader and socialite based out of Chennai who hails from Puducherry. Born in a Muslim family, Fathima began her public career as a newsreader for more than 25 years with DD Podhigai, the Tamil ...

as Sangeetha's mother *

Mohan Raman Mohan Raman, also known as Mohan V. Ram (born 3 April 1956), is an Indian actor and writer. In 2017 and 2019, he was a Jury member for the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema. Raman is a film historian and writes for ''The Hindu''. He ...

as Venkatraman *

Ajay Rathnam Ajay Rathnam is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil films and serials. He is known for his supporting and negative roles and has acted in over 300 movies. Standing at 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), Rathnam is one of the t ...

as Ajay *

Balu Anand Balu Anand (1954 – 3 June 2016) was an Indian actor and director who worked in Tamil-language films (Kollywood). He appeared in over 100 films as an actor and directed several films, such as ''Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri'', ''Annanagar Mudhal T ...

as Neurotic *

Sethu Vinayagam Sethu Vinayagam was an Indian stage and film actor who worked in Tamil films. He is the member of Visu's drama troupe and mostly seen in all Visu's movies. He has acted more over 100 films and plays and has made his mark as a villain, supportin ...

as Krishnamoorthy's boss *

Pasi Narayanan Narayanan, better known as Pasi Narayanan, was an Indian stage and film actor known for performing comedic roles alongside actor Goundamani. Narayanan acted in over 500 Tamil-language films and is known for the catchphrase, Early life Narayan ...

P. C. Ramakrishna P. C. Ramakrishna is a veteran theatre actor and voice artist based in Chennai, India. He has acted in several plays, such as '' Anna Weiss'', '' Dance Like A Man'', '' The Good Doctor'' and provided voice-overs to numerous advertisements, docume ...

Prathapachandran Prathapachandran (1941–2004) was an Indian actor, who worked predominantly in Malayalam film, Malayalam film industry, though he acted in a few Tamil and Telugu movies as well. He known for the portrayal of villainous and character roles in o ...

*Laxmi Rattan as Sharma *Vincent Roy as Police inspector *Kallukkul Eeram Ramanathan as Marimuthu * K. Rajan (producer) as Rajaram * Rajan

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Shah. The soundtrack, released in 1998, features 6 tracks with lyrics written by

Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...

References

{{reflist 1998 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films set on ships Indian Navy in films Underwater action films Indian action films Films about terrorism in India Films directed by Ramesh Selvan 1998 action films