''Kaatrukkenna Veli'' () is a 2001 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

war 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

Pugazhendhi Thangaraj Pughazhendhi Thangaraj is an Indian film director and screenwriter who has worked on Tamil films. He often makes films set in the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Career Pughazhendhi began his career with ''Kaatrukkenna Veli'' (2001), bef ...

. The film stars

Sujitha Sujitha (born 12 July 1982) is an Indian actress who works in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam TV serials. She is known for portraying "Dhanam" in ''Pandian Stores'' and in Kerala she is popular for portraying "Unnimaya" in the Asianet TV serial ''H ...

and

Sriman Sriman () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It refers to the deity being the possessor of Sri, both referring to his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, as well as the material and non material aspects of fortune. Literature Sri ...

, with

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 ...

, C. Arun Pandian,

Chandrasekhar Chandrasekhar, Chandrashekhar or Chandra Shekhar is an Indian name and may refer to a number of individuals. The name comes from the name of an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this form he married the goddess Parvati. Etymologically, the nam ...

, Sudhangan, Sakthi Kumar, Arulmani,

Kalairani Kalairani Indian actress who has worked in many Tamil films and as a performer with the Koothu-P-Pattarai theatre group. Filmography Serials * ''Panchavan Kaadu'' (2014) (Tamil) * ''Unarchigal'' (2014) (Tamil) * ''Nandini Nandini is a f ...

, Diana and Premi playing supporting roles. The film, produced by T. Vellaiyan, had musical score 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 ...

and was released on 27 April 2001.

Plot

Manimekalai is a young

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

rebel fighter. During a battle in

Valvettithurai Valvettithurai ( ta, வல்வெட்டித்துறை, translit=Valveṭṭittuṟai; si, වල්වෙට්ටිතුරෙයි, translit=Valveṭṭitureyi), sometimes shortened as VVT or Valvai, is a coastal town of Jaffna ...

(northeast coast of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

), she is seriously injured in the leg. A small group of rebels take her on a boat and are headed to India. They land in

Point Calimere Kodiakkarai also called Point Calimere or Cape Calimere, is a low headland of the Coromandel Coast, in the Nagapattinam district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Cape is located about south of Vedaranyam in the delta region of the Cauv ...

(India). With the help of an Indian Tamil intermediate, they reach a hospital in

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

. The doctor Subhash Chandra Bose, also known as Subhash, first refuses to treat Manimekalai because it is an illegal matter. After seeing her leg's condition, he finally accepts to operate her but Manimekalai does not want to have her leg amputated. It was a sensitive case, the doctors successfully operate her leg but it's only temporary. Her leg could be at any time collapsed and she could die of it. Subhash doesn't understand why she risks her life for her leg and she tells him her past. In the past, Manimekalai was a cheerful and careless girl. After failing a class twice, she left school. One day, the disabled woman Lakshmi had just moved in next door. Lakshmi and Manimekalai became good friends and spent time singing songs. Everything went well until a LTTE soldier got killed by

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

in Lakshmi's home. Thereafter, the army started to threaten them, Manimekalai ran away from the place while Lakshmi stayed there. The same night, Lakshmi set herself on fire. Later, Manimekalai joined the LTTE. After listening to her tragic past, Subhash promises her to not call the police and he accepts to let her in the hospital ward for a month. The Tamil Nadu police receive very often information letters from the Sri Lankan government and this time it's about the rebel group staying in a hospital. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

as Manimekalai *

as Dr. Subhash Chandra Bose aka Subhash *

as Lakshmi * C. Arun Pandian as LTTE fighter *

as Mohamed Sherif * Sudhangan as Murali *Sakthi Kumar as Yoganathan *Arulmani as Bhagavathi Pandian *

as Subhash's mother *Diana as Shiba *Premi as Manimekalai's mother *Ruban George as Police officer

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by

, with lyrics written by

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

Release and reception

The film was initially banned by the

Censor Board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

because of its sympathetic portrayal of the LTTE, and negative portrayal of Sri Lankan soldiers. Malathi Rangarajan of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote, "The way the story has been dealt with is quite interesting — till the last few scenes when the proceedings drag". Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' opined that "Writer-director Pugazhendi Thangaraj's 'Kaatrukkenna Veli' comes as a whiff of fresh air". ''

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 ...

'' rated the film "above average".

References

External links