''Kallazhagar'' 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, nativ ...

-language action drama film directed by Bharathi starring

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

and Laila. Nassar,

Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, model, humanitarian, and philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. In 2009, he received the Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Vil ...

and

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 car ...

play other supporting roles, while Deva composed the score and soundtrack for the film. This is the Tamil debut of Laila and

. The song ''Vaararu Vaararu Azhagar Vaararu'' is played every year at the Chithirai fest in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

. The song in the movie also takes place in the Chithirai festival.

Cast

as Kamaluddin /Kamalakannan * Laila as Aandaal *

* Nassar as Peter * Major Sundarrajan as Iyer *

Thilakan Palappurathu Kesavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appearan ...

as Kamal's father *

as Narayana *Ashwini (

Rudra Rudra (; sa, रुद्र) is a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva, the wind or storms, Vayu, medicine, and the hunt. One translation of the name is 'the roarer'. In the Rigveda, Rudra is praised as the 'mightiest of the mighty'. Ru ...

) * Sumithra as Kamal's mother *

S. N. Lakshmi Sennalkudi Narayana Lakshmi (1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often playing roles of a mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, ...

as Aandaal's grandmother *Melanie *

Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu and Kannada films, as well as two Hindi films. Riyaz debuted in Malayalam through the 199 ...

as Jamal *

Vaiyapuri Vaiyapuri (born 23 October 1968 as Ramakrishnan) is an Indian actor who has worked in Tamil-language films. He rose to fame by appearing in supporting roles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, often portraying supporting comedic characters. His ...

as Govindankutti * Crane Manohar * R. N. R. Manohar * Scissor Manohar *Sarath *Napoleon *Saravanan *John Babu *R. R. Sheela *Bharathi *

Rocky Rajesh Rocky Rajesh (born as Rajesh) is an Indian fight master/action choreographer, mainly in Kollywood. He did the stunts for '' Khokababu'' ''The Hindu'' said that his stunt work in the film '' Daas'' "looks so dangerous that it is ludicrous when ...

*V. M. Mani *Mohandass *Kripa

Production

Laila, who had appeared in other regional Indian films, opted to make her debut in Tamil films with ''Kallazhagar'' after she had famously rejected a string of other Tamil offers including ''

VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...

'' (1997). The actress also turned down a role in Ajith Kumar's ''

Unnai Thedi ''Unnai Thedi'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Sundar C. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Malavika, while an ensemble supporting cast includes Karan, Vivek, Sivakumar, and Srividya. Some of the scenes are sim ...

'' (1999), insistent that ''Kallazhagar'' should be her first release. Early reports had suggested that Hindi actor

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...

would also be a part of the cast, but he eventually did not feature. An elephant called Appu was brought in from Thrissur in Kerala, where the elephant formed one of a stable maintained by the famed Paaramekaavu temple, which forms the venue of the yearly Thrissur Pooram festival. A few scenes from the film were filmed at the Kallazhagar temple in

Madhurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in T ...

, but crowd trouble meant that the makers chose to finish the shoot in sets. For a particular song in the film, Russian dancers imported to dance alongside Laila. As the film marked music composer Deva's 250th album, the film industry felicitated him with a ceremony at the Kamarajar Arangam.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Deva.

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release on 14 January 1999 coinciding with the festival of

Thai Pongal Pongal (, ), also referred to as Tai Pongal (), is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka. The success of the film prompted the producer Henry (producer), Henry to sign

for his next film. The film also created demand for Laila as a lead heroine and she shortly after signed on to appear in a role in ''

Mudhalvan ''Mudhalvan'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film produced by R. Madhesh and S. Shankar, written and directed by Shankar. The film stars Arjun, Manisha Koirala and Raghuvaran while Vadivelu and Manivannan appear in ...

'' (1999).

References

{{Reflist 1990s Tamil-language films 1999 films Films shot in Madurai Films with screenplays by Mahendran (filmmaker)