''Gayathri'' is a 1977 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 R. Pattabhiraman and written by

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 ...

. It stars

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

, Rajinikanth and Sridevi. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Sujatha. It was released on 7 October 1977.

Plot

Rajarathnam is a rich man who lives with his sister Sarasu and a young house maid in Madras. His sister arranges a marriage for him with Gayathri, a sixteen-year old who lives in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bei ...

. Soon after they marry, Gayathri moves to Rajarathnam's house and realises that the family has dark secrets. Rajarathnam is actually a blue-film producer who records pornographic movies - he secretly records himself and his new wife in their bedroom scenes without her knowledge, and sells the movies on the black market. Gayathri initially gives Rajarathnam the benefit of the doubt, but later discovers that Rajarathnam is already married to another woman, who is now insane.

Ganesh Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...

, a friend of the writer Chellappa, tries to free Gayathri from the hands of Rajarathnam, without avail.

Cast

* Rajinikanth as Rajarathnam * Sridevi as Gaayathri *

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

as Sarasu * M. N. Rajam as Gaayathri's mother *Rajee as Indra *Rajeshwari as Lalitha * S. A. Ashokan as Shama Iyer *

Venniradai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

as Chellappa *

Delhi Kumar Delhi Kumar (born 19 December 1955) is a former Indian actor known for playing various roles in teleserials like '' Chithi'', '' Metti Oli'', ''Anandham'', '' Malargal'', ''Enge Brahmanan'' & '' Bommalattam''. He has also acted in a few Tamil ...

as Gaayathri's father

Production

''Gaayathri'' is based on Sujatha's novel of the same name, and was conceived during the Emergency. The screenplay was written by

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Panchu Arunachalam. Singer Sujatha Mohan made her debut as a singer through this film.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Sujatha 1970s Tamil-language films 1977 films Films based on Indian novels Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by Panchu Arunachalam Indian black-and-white films