''Varusham 16'' (read as "Varusham Padhinaaru"; ) is a 1989 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 film, directed by Fazil. The film stars Karthik and

Khushbu Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian actress, politician, film producer and television presenter. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, besides Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is a rec ...

, with

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, Tam ...

, V. K. Ramasamy,

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 ...

Charle Velmurugan Thangasamy Manohar (born 6 March 1960), professionally credited as Charle, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. He has acted in more than 800 Tamil films as a comedian and supporting actor. He was named after the English co ...

and

Vadivukkarasi Vadivukkarasi is an Indian actress. She made her acting debut in the Tamil film ''Sigappu Rojakkal'' (1978) and has acted in more than 350 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and 40 television serials in Tamil. Film director A. P. Nag ...

in supporting roles. It is a remake of Fazil's own

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 ...

film ''

Ennennum Kannettante ''Ennennum Kannettante'' () is 1986 Indian Malayalam-language romance film, written and directed by Fazil, starring newcomers Sangeeth and Sonia . The film won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value for ...

''. Karthik won the

Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil The Filmfare Best Actor Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil film lead actors. The Filmfare Awards South Awards were extended to "Best Actor" in 1972. Film world, p 43 The year indicates the year ...

for his performance in the film. It was dubbed into

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''Premanjali'' and released on 21 April 1989.

Plot

Kannan, a convict, is released from prison after sixteen years. Rajamani, his grandfather's servant is there to receive him. Kannan enquires Rajamani about the past sixteen years. After entering into the house, he recollects his memories. Kannan is the eldest grandson of the family. Kannan arrives at the village for his family temple festival. Kannan is loved by all the family members. Kannan's maternal uncle's daughter also arrived for the festival after sixteen years. In the beginning, both of them tease each other but later both of them fall in love. This is opposed by her maternal grandmother and cousin. On the day of festival, in a fight between Kannan and Moorthy, Radhika was shot dead by her cousin. An enraged Kannan get into a brawl with Moorthy and in that, Moorthy dies. Kannan was imprisoned for sixteen years. Kannan asked Rajamani to inform his arrival to his family and the ritual has to be performed every year.

Cast

* Karthik as Kannan *

as Radhika * V. K. Ramasamy as Sundaramoorthy *

Poornam Viswanathan Poornam Viswanathan (15 November 1921 – 1 October 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil films. He started performing on stage at age 18. He worked as a reader for All India Radio and went on to act in films such as ''C ...

as the patriarch *

as Rajamani *

as Narayana *

Tinku Tinku, a Bolivian Aymara tradition, began as a form of ritualistic combat. In the Quechua language, it means “meeting-encounter". During this ritual, men and women from different communities will meet and begin the festivities by dancing. The w ...

as Tabu * Vijay as Moorthy *

as Parvathi *

as Maheshwari *

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

as Sundari

Production

The role of the lead actress was offered to

Nirosha Nirosha is an Indian film and television actress. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. After her debut in Tamil in the film ''Agni Natchathiram'' (1988, directed by Mani Ratnam), Nirosha went ...

; due to her clash of dates, the director choose to cast Khushbu.

Soundtrack

The music 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 ...

, with lyrics by Vaali. The song "Gangai Karai Mannanadi" is set in

Todi Todi () is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction. I ...

, a

Hindustani raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

, "Hey Aiyasamy" is set in

Dharmavati Dharmavati is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 59th '' Melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called ''Dhaamavati'' in Muthuswami Dikshitar school ...

, a

Carnatic raga Carnatic raga refers to ''ragas'' used in Carnatic music. A Carnatic raga has several components - primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system (''swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka'') and important tones. Origins and histo ...

, "Karayatha Manamum" is set to Hema Bhushani, "Pazhamuthir Cholai" is set in

Harikambhoji Harikambhoji (pronounced harikāmbhōji) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 28th ''Melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. One of the first scales employed b ...

, and "Poo Pookum Masam" is set in

Keeravani Keeravani (pronounced ) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 21st ''Melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. The 21st ''melakarta'' rāgam as per Muthuswami D ...

Release and reception

''Varusham 16'' was released on 18 February 1989. N. Krishnaswamy of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' wrote that Karthik "puts much life and energy into his role", Khushbu "looks just out of school" and Viswanathan was "great as the head of the family", while also appreciating Jayabharathi, Vadivukkarasi and Charle's performances. P. S. S. of ''

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 could be watched for the cast performances. Karthik won the

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Fazil (director) 1980s Tamil-language films 1989 films Films directed by Fazil Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Tamil remakes of Malayalam films