''Engal Thangam'' () is a 1970 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

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by

Krishnan–Panju R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi. Early life R. Krishnan was born on 18 ...

. The film 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 ...

. It was released on 9 October 1970 and became a success, besides winning three

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

Plot

Thangam, a truck driver comes to the rescue of Sumathi, his blind younger sister, by putting on (by assuming) the offences of Moorthy, her husband. Moorthy is a childhood friend of Thangam. Today, Moorthy fell to the hands of a mysterious group of burglars, because he is the best professional safe-cracker in the city. Thangam wants at all costs to save him from this gang and to stop them. Thangam will be helped in his quest by Kaladevi, his lover.

Cast

as Thangam ** Ramachandran also briefly appears as himself at the beginning of the film * A. V. M. Rajan as Moorthy *

as Kaladevi * Pushpalatha as Sumathi * S. A. Ashokan as Selvaraj * Cho as lorry cleaner * Thengai Srinivasan as Pidhambar

Production

On learning that M. Karunanidhi and

Murasoli Maran Murasoli Maran (17 August 1934 – 23 November 2003) was an Indian politician and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party which was headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 3 ...

were bankrupt,

acted in ''Engal Thangam'' without taking any remuneration.

Themes

The colours of the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

(DMK) flag – red and black – are featured in the attire Ramachandran frequently wears in the film as his character. The song "Naan Sethu Pulachavanda", where he sings that he has risen from the dead, is a reference to Ramachandran having survived a gunshot wound inflicted on his throat by M. R. Radha in 1967.

Soundtrack

Music is composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Vaali. The song "Don't Touch Mr X" includes English lyrics. "Thangapadhakkathin Mele" was remixed in '' Vetrivel Sakthivel'' (2005).

Release and reception

''Engal Thangam'' was released on 9 October 1970, and distributed by Venus Movies. The film ran for over 100 days in theatres. It won the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film is given by the Government of Tamil Nadu as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. It includes prizes for three top places. Key List of winners Reference ...

– Second Prize, Vaali won the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. ...

, and Pushpalatha won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Character Artiste (Female).

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Krishnan–Panju 1970 action films 1970 films 1970s Tamil-language films Films directed by Krishnan–Panju Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Indian action films