''Unarchigal'' () is a 1976 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 co-written and directed by R. C. Sakthi in his directorial debut. The film stars

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 l ...

and

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), also known as Sreevidya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, ...

. It is a highly sensuous film which deals with

sexually transmitted diseases Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral sex ...

, and subsequently the film ran into trouble with the

censor board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

prompting a delay in its release. The film story written by R. C. Sakthi and Kamal Haasan. The same film was later remade in Malayalam as ''

Raasaleela ''Raasaleela'' is a 1975 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by N. Sankaran Nair and produced by Carmel Johny for RJD Films, starring Kamal Haasan and Jayasudha in her Malayalam debut. It is a remake of the Tamil film '' Unarchigal'', w ...

'' and released in 1975, before the original had come out.

Plot

Muthu (

) is an 18-year-old simpleton who works in a small village. He is sexually harassed by his landlord's sister, a widow. Unable to bear it any longer, Muthu goes to

Madras 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 ...

. However, he is again harassed in a similar way by people whom he meets. He finds work at a hotel as a room boy where he meets Maragadham (

), a prostitute. He then rescues her once from a raid. After he saves her, she develops a soft spot towards him. He lives in Maragadham's house as a servant but later is thrown away from her home. In the end Muthu gets affected by an STD and is shown in a hospital being treated by a doctor and eventually dies.

Cast

as Muthu * L. Kanchana as Kamala *

as Maragadham *

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 Doctor *

Lalithasree Lalithasree (born 30 October 1957) is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in more than 450 films. She acts mainly in supporting roles. She is known for her comedy roles with Jagathy Sreekumar. Personal ...

as Prostitute *

S. V. Ramadas S. V. Ramadas (1921-2004) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films, most often as a villain. He acted in more than 700 films in a career spanning over four decades. Film career Among popular movies, he acted in Aayirathil Or ...

as Bhoopathy * V. Gopalakrishnan as Balu *

K. K. Soundar K.K. Soundar (1925-2003) was a Tamil people, Tamil film film actor, actor. He has done character roles in many Tamil movies from the 1950s till the 1990s. Filmography ''This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.'' 1930s 1950s 196 ...

as Police Inspector *

Vellai Subbaiah Vellai Subbaiah was an Indian actor who had appeared in more than 500 films and 1000 stage plays. He featured mostly in comedy roles and also minor roles. He is well known for his dialogue, "Thirumba Thirumba pesura nee..." in the movie Nesam ...

as Subbiah

Production

The film story was written by R. C. Sakthi and

. Additionally, Haasan worked as assistant director also. The film was initially supposed to be Haasan's first film as a lead actor after being launched in 1972, however delays meant that the film was only released 4 years later. The same film was later remade in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

as ''

'' and released in 1975, before the original had come out.

Soundtrack

All Songs are 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 ...

, Pattukottai Dhandayuthapani, Velavendhan, Muthulingam

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=9244928 1970s Tamil-language films 1976 films Films about sexually transmitted diseases Films directed by R. C. Sakthi Tamil films remade in other languages