''Ethirum Puthirum'' () is a 1999 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 action-drama film directed by

Dharani Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as ''Parittas'', are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the Bud ...

under his real name V. C. Ramani. Produced by G. S. Madhu, the film stars

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Sangita Sangita (Devanagari: , IAST: ), also spelled Samgita or Sangeeta, refers to "music and associated performance arts" in the Indian traditions. According to Guy Beck, the root "saṃ-" implies "combining, coming together, convergent wholesome blendi ...

, and Manorama, while Goundamani,

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

play supporting roles. The music was composed by

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People * Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) *Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director *C ...

with editing by B. S. Nagarajan and cinematography by A. Karthik Raja. The film released on 4 March 1999.

Plot

Kannan is a sincere district collector. A female leader of a major political party is kidnapped by terrorist Veeraiyan, and he promises to return her back if his injured brother Arasappan is treated well and brought back safely. The government agrees to this condition and asks Kannan to look after Arasappan. At first, Arasappan hates Kannan and his family as Kannan works for the government against whom his brother's group is rebelling, but the kindness showed by Kannan's wife Selvi and mother change his attitude. Just when he was about to turn over a new leaf, a bad thing occurs. The police team, without taking the necessary orders from Kannan, go to the forest and attack Veeraiyan's gathering. This angers Arasappan, but he was restrained by Kannan. the police accuses Kannan of having links with the terrorists as Arasappan ran away from his house and Kannan condemned the police action; hence, they arrest Kannan's wife and mother (Kannan ran away to find Arasappan). Hearing this sad news, Arasappan himself surrenders to the police as he did not want them to suffer for him, but the police do not spare him despite his surrender.

Cast

as Collector Kannan *

as Arasappan *

as Selvi * Manorama as Kannan's mother * Goundamani as Auto Driver *

as Veeraiyan *

Charan Raj Charan Raj is an Indian actor, director, film producer, and writer who works in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia and Hindi movies. Career Charan Raj is a versatile actor who is popular for his villainy and character roles in South Indian ...

as Devaraj *

Raadhika Raadhika Sarathkumar is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, producer and politician who works predominantly in Tamil cinema along with Telugu cinema as well as a few Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. She is the founder and CP of the Radaan Media ...

as Dr. Jayanthi * Sangili Murugan as Panchayat Thalaivar *

Uday Prakash Uday Prakash (born 1 January 1952) is a Hindi poet, scholar, journalist, translator and short story writer from India. He has worked as administrator, editor, researcher, and TV director. He writes for major dailies and periodicals as a freelance ...

as Inspector *

Perarasu Perarasu (born 8 January 1967) is an Indian film director who works primarily in Tamil film industry. As a director, he is best known for his commercial Tamil movies with actors Vijay and Bharath Srinivasan. He has also been credited as an act ...

as Doctor * Shanmugasundaram *

Madhan Bob S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...

* Kumarimuthu *

Pushpavanam Kuppusamy Pushpavanam Kuppusamy is a Tamil folk singer, lyricist, writer and music composer of Tamil folk art. He has been credited for reviving the Naatupura Paatu a Tamil folk art. Together with his wife Anitha Kuppusamy, he has conducted several music c ...

Raju Sundaram Basuva Raju Sundaram is an Indian dance choreographer, actor and director, who works primarily in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. He appeared as an actor in films such as but not limited to: ''Jeans'' (1998), '' 123'' (2002), ''I Love You Da' ...

(special appearance in "Thottu Thottu") *

Simran Simran (Gurmukhi: ਸਿਮਰਨ; hi, सिमरण, सिमरन ; from Sanskrit: , ''smaraṇa'', 'to remember, reminisce, recollect'), in spirituality, is a Sanskrit word referring to the continuous remembrance of the finest aspect of ...

(special appearance in "Thottu Thottu")

Production

The film was initially titled ''Master'' and production delays postponed the film's release by a couple of years. Soundarya was the original choice for the female lead role, while the

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Be ...

done by Simran was initially offered to actress Rambha, who wanted better pay.

Soundtrack

Music of the movie was composed by

and the Lyrics were penned 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 ...

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release on 19 October 1998 to coincide with Diwali, but was delayed by five months. Prior to the theatrical release of the film, pirated copies were released and streamed on television, which ultimately affected the profitability of the film.

Reception

''The Hindu'' wrote "Though the crux of Maharajan’s story is simple, the director, with his screenplay, ably supported by E. Ramdass’s dialogue, has worked out enough absorbing situations."

References

External links

Review by thenisai
* {{TamilNaduStateFilmAwardBestFilm 1999 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by Vidyasagar Indian action drama films 1999 directorial debut films Films directed by Dharani 1999 action thriller films