''Maanagara Kaaval'' () is a 1991 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-thriller 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 life ...

directed by M. Thiyagarajan. The film stars

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

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. This is the 150th film of

AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, M ...

. The film was also one of the blockbusters of the year. The songs and background score composed by Chandrabose was also well received by the audience.

Plot

Ashok Metha, a senior politician, is enraged when a junior Roopavathi is made the Prime Minister of India. Though he pretends to accept his party's decision, he secretly plots to eliminate her. Meanwhile, a high-profile officer is killed in Delhi by a professional killer, Robin and Vidya witnesses the murder. Vidya arrives in Chennai for a dance event and falls in love with Subash, an honest IPS officer who is mourning the loss of his beloved sister. He manages to impress Roopavathi by arresting Vannai Varathan, an MP from her party, for creating social unrest. She gives him a green signal, and Varathan is arrested. Varathan swears revenge. As the story progresses, Subash begins to develop feelings for Vidya. Robin, who arrives in Chennai, tries to murder Vidya. But Subash catches him, and under the orders of his superior, IG Jayaprakash, he accompanies Robin to Delhi so as to hand him over to the Delhi police. Vidya also joins them. Robin manages to escape with the help of his gang, who pretend to be the concerned police officers, and Subash is suspended. However, Subash swears to find the culprits and stays in Vidya's house in Delhi. He is confronted by Gowtham IPS who was supposed to have taken Robin from the airport and accuses him of aiding an anarchist. Subash, on the contrary, believes Gowtham to be a mole. After spotting and chasing Robin, Subash, much to his horror, comes across his dead sister Seetha. She reveals the circumstances that forced her to land there and also says that Gowtham is her husband. Parallel to these incidents, it is shown that Robin was hired by Metha to assassinate Roopavathi. The person whom the latter murdered in the beginning of the movie was Roopavathi, Chief Security Officer. Metha is indirectly helped by Vannai Varathan, who is out of the prison. Subash discovers that the Inspector General of the Delhi police is the actual mole. However, before he can extract more information, the IG is killed. With the help of Gowtham, Subash manages to inform Roopavathi about Metha's treachery. Still, she is unable to take action against him due to his support and clean image in the party. Robin and his associates kidnaps and imprisons Gowtham, Subash and Seetha. After a prolonged struggle, Subash frees himself and kills Robin and Metha while an attempt was made on the life of Roopavathi.

Cast

as ACP Subhash IPS *

Suman Ranganathan Suman Ranganath is an Indian model and actress. She has starred in Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. Personal life Suman Ranganath was born in Tumakuru, Karnataka. She was married to Bunty Walia, an Indian film pr ...

as Vidhya * M. N. Nambiar IG Jayaprakash *

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

as PM Roopavathi * Nassar as Gowtham IPS * Vaishnavi as Seetha * Anandaraj as Robin * P. J. Sarma as Ashok Metha *

Dubbing Janaki Dasari Janaki, known professionally as Dubbing Janaki, is an Indian actress and voice artist. She has appeared in several films and television shows in various South Indian languages. Early life Janaki was born in Peddapuram, East Godavari D ...

as Subhash & Seetha Mother * Senthil as Alagappan * Thiyagu as MP Vannai Varathan *

Chinni Jayanth Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular television ...

as Seenu *

LIC Narasimhan LIC Narasimhan was an Indian character actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He has appeared in over 300 films and was also seen on the small screen and in ads. He was working for LIC as an officer, quit his job to take up a career in ...

as Sivasankar * Ganga as Suresh * Baby Vichitra as seetha's daughter * Ponnambalam as Fighter * Thalapathy Dinesh as Fighter *Murali Kumar as Police Inspector

Production

''Maanagara Kaaval'' was partially filmed at Palam airport, New Delhi. It was the 150th film produced by AVM. The film became Thyagarajan's final film as director before his death in 2021.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Chandrabose, with lyrics by Vaali.

Reception

N. Krishnaswamy of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' wrote, "Even a film that sheet anchors itself on thrilling action, .in credibility by neat characterisation .but ''Maanagara Kaaval'' doesnt waste time on these." C.R.K. of ''

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 ...

'' appreciated the film primarily for the cast performances.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{AVM Productions 1990s political thriller films 1990s Tamil-language films 1991 action thriller films 1991 films AVM Productions films Cultural depictions of prime ministers of India Films scored by Chandrabose (composer) Indian action thriller films Indian political thriller films