''Naan Sigappu Manithan'' () is a 1985 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, na ...

-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 ...

written and directed by

S. A. Chandrasekhar S. A. Chandrasekar (born 2 July 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, writer, and actor who primarily works within Kollywood. He made his directorial debut with ''Aval Oru Pachai Kuzhanthai'' (1978), He got his breakthrough with '' Satt ...

. The film stars

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor, ...

and

Ambika Ambika may refer to: Mythology * Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti * Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess * Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, th ...

, with music 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 o ...

. It was a commercial success at the box office. The film is a remake of 1984

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film ''

Aaj Ki Awaaz ''Aaj Ki Awaaz'' () is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra. The film stars Raj Babbar, Smita Patil, Nana Patekar, and Vijay Arora. The film's music is by Ravi. The film is based o ...

''. Vijay played a child artist role in this film.

Plot

Vijay is a Tamil professor living with his widowed mother and his sister Shanti. He is in love with Uma, who is a lawyer. During a visit to his friend Ravi's house, he is disgusted by the goings-on in his neighbourhood. Illicit liquor is being sold at a tea-stall while prostitution is flourishing in another house in the same colony. But his complaints to the police, yield nothing since the policeman is on the corruption's payroll and manages to warn them before making a raid. When Ravi's sister is killed and the perpetrator Mohanraj gets off scot-free with help from a minister, Vijay and Ravi take matters into their own hands and clean up the tea-stall and brothel on their own. Mohanraj and his goons barges into Vijay's house where they assault Shanti and his mother and throw them from the terrace. Vijay then turns into a vigilante, walking the streets at nights and dealing out his own brand of justice – shoot first and ask questions latter to the gangsters. He soon becomes known as

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

, helper of the poor and the police sends Singaaram, a CID officer, to unmask Robin Hood. Vijay kills Mohanraj and his uncle, after which he surrenders to Singaram revealing the truth, but Singaram mentions that he has already found the truth and decided not to arrest Vijay as he destroy the ''weeds'' that are harmful to the society. But Vijay feels guilty for his murders and surrenders himself. Uma appears in court in favour of Vijay and argues. The day before the judgment, Singaram masks as a criminal and tries to molest the judge's daughter, seeing which the judge tries to shoot the criminal. Singaram reveals his identity and mentions that his intention was to make the judge understand that Vijay was also under a similar situation before. The judge sentences Vijay for lifetime imprisonment, but recommends to the president of India for granting a pardon.

Cast

Production

Though Rajinikanth stopped working in "double-hero" films by the mid-1980s, he accepted to work on this film, which had Bhagyaraj in another leading role, "without any alterations" to the script.

Themes

Writing for

Jump Cut A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subj ...

, Kumuthan Maderya noted ''Naan Sigappu Manithan''s similarities to the American film ''

Death Wish Death Wish or Deathwish may refer to: Common meanings *Suicidal ideation, term for thoughts about killing oneself *Death drive, term in Freudian psychiatry Arts and entertainment Radio *"Death Wish", a 1957 episode of the radio series ''X Minus ...

'' (1974) and its sequel ''

Death Wish II ''Death Wish II'' is a 1982 American vigilante action film directed and co-edited by Michael Winner. It is the first of four sequels to the 1974 film ''Death Wish''. It is the second installment in the ''Death Wish'' film series. In the stor ...

'' (1982). According to him, one factor that differentiates ''Naan Sigappu Manithan'' from those films is the "unleashing of nationalist angst in a climactic courtroom drama scene".

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Reception

Jayamanmadhan 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 ...

'' said the film would run for Rajinikanth and Bhagyaraj.Kalkionline.com

References

External links

* {{S. A. Chandrasekhar 1980s crime thriller films 1980s Tamil-language films 1980s vigilante films 1985 action thriller films 1985 films Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Fictional vigilantes Films about rape in India Films set in 1985 Films set in Chennai Indian action thriller films Indian courtroom films Indian crime thriller films Indian rape and revenge films Indian vigilante films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Tamil remakes of Hindi films