''Vidukathai'' is a 1997

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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Agathiyan Agathiyan (born 18 August 1952; ) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, and actor. He was the first director in Tamil cinema to win the National Film Award for Best Direction for ''Kadhal Kottai'' (1996). For the film, he ...

. The film stars

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

and

Neena Neena may refer to: People * Neena (Tamil actress) * Neena Beber, American television producer * Neena Cheema, Indian TV and film actress * Neena Gill, Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands * Neena Gupta, Indian film and televis ...

, while

Manivannan S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a care ...

and

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 ...

portray supporting roles. The music for the film was composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

and the film opened to positive reviews in October 1997.

Cast

as Neelakandan *

as Anandhi *

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor *Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films *Vi ...

* Balu Anand * Suthangan * Ramji * Jegadeesh * Akash

Production

, a former child actress in ''

Keladi Kanmani ''Keladi Kannmanii'' (; also spelt ''Keladi Kanmani'') is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film that marked the directorial debut of Vasanth. The film stars S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Raadhika, Ramesh Aravind and Anju. It revolves aro ...

'' (1991), was selected to portray the lead role in ''Vidukathai'' when she was still at school and had to work on her schedules around exams. The production of the film was hampered by the FEFSI strike of 1997 and the makers had to postpone the venture from its original scheduled release date of June 1997.

Subbu Panchu Subramaniam Panchu Arunachalam, credited as Subbu Panchu or P. Ar. Subramaniam (born 16 February 1973) is an Indian actor and film producer. Son of noted writer-producer Panchu Arunachalam, Subbu first appeared as a child artist in the Malayala ...

, son of producer

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 ...

worked as a dance choreographer for the film.

Music

The soundtrack was composed by Deva and lyrics were written by director Agathiyan himself along with Vaasan and Kalidasan.

Release

The film released in October 1997 to positive reviews with a critic from Indolink.com noting there is "excellent stylization of the characters, superior performance by all actors and a great story with a great ending". The site later listed the film amongst their top Tamil films for 1997, also praising Prakash Raj's portrayal of his character. New Straits Times praised the film's plot and the performances of lead actors.

References

External links

1997 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by Deva (composer) Films directed by Agathiyan {{1990s-Tamil-film-stub