''Navarathinam'' () is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language

road film A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

, written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan, his final film. It stars

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

, Latha, Jayachitra and

Zarina Wahab Zarina Wahab is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Hindi and Malayalam films. Known for critically acclaimed roles in '' Chitchor'' and '' Gopal Krishna'' in Hindi and Malayalam cinema with films like ''Madanolsavam'', '' Chamaram'' ...

. The film was released on 5 March 1977, and failed commercially.

Plot

Cast

;Lead actor *

as Thangam ;Lead actresses * Latha as Manikkam *

as Pushpa * P. R. Varalakshmi as Maragadam * Shubha as Muthamma * Jaya as Gomaidi * Sripriya as Vairam *

Y. Vijaya Yenigandla Vijaya (born 8 February 1957) is an Indian actress and classical dancer. She has appeared in more than 1000 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. Early life and education Y. Vijaya was born on 8 February 1957 in Ku ...

as Neela * Jayachitra as Pavalai *

Kumari Padmini Kumari Padmini (Tamil: குமாரி பத்மினி), born as Padmini (died 1980), was an actress who was active in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam industry during the 1960s and 70s. Bio Kumari Padmini acted mainly in Tamil films. She ...

as Vayiduriyam ;Supporting actresses * S. Varalakshmi as Thangam's mother * C. K. Saraswathi as Sagunan *

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 Pangajethamma * Puspalatha as Pavalai's sister ;Supporting actors * A. V. M. Rajan as Raja * M. N. Nambiar as Dharmaseelan * P. S. Veerappa as Manaru *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 fil ...

as Ratnam * Thengai Srinivasan as Muthamma's father * C. R. Parthiban as IG of Police * K. Kannan as Gunaseelan * M. B. Shetty as Djagou * Senthamarai as Police inspector * Isari Velan as Pavalai's uncle *

Shanmugasundari Shanmugasundari (23 September 1937 – 1 May 2012) was a Tamil actress. she acted in more than 750 films. Her daughter T. K. Kala is also an actress and playback singer. She also appeared in comedy roles along with Vadivelu in many films. Ca ...

as Tripurasundari / Pimpstress *

Ennathe Kannaiah Ennathe Kannaiah (1925 - 7 August 2012) was a comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. In the Ravichandran-Jayalalita starrer Naan, as he spoke his dialogues, he frequently used the word Ennathe and this became his nickname. Decades later ...

as Villager *

Oru Viral Krishna Rao Oru Viral Krishna Rao was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani award, Rao got the nickname ''Oru Viral ''Oru Viral'' () is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language mystery fil ...

as The worker of teashop *

Loose Mohan Arumugam Mohanasundaram (8 February 1928 – 16 September 2012), popularly known as Loose Mohan and Raja Gopalakrishnan, was an Indian actor who had acted as a comedian in over 1000 Tamil films. He is credited with popularizing Madras Basha ...

as House broker * T. K. S. Natarajan as Housekeeper

Production

''Navarathinam'' was A. P. Nagarajan's final film, as well as his only film with

. Considering the poor financial plight of Nagarajan, Ramachandran acted in the film without taking any remuneration and concentrated on minimal budget, by shooting all the scenes in his Sathya Studios, without outdoor shoots.

initially suggested her friend Vijaya for one of the female lead roles, but Ramachandran refused; Wahab herself was chosen.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother ...

. The song "Ladke Se Mili Ladki", written by

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

lyricist P. L. Santoshi, consists predominantly of

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 ...

lyrics.

Release and reception

''Navarathinam'' was released on 5 March 1977. Kanthan 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 ...

'' negatively reviewed the film, criticising Nagarajan's execution of an innovative story. ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'' called the film a "a march of nine gems", noting that though the story was subpar, there was amusement. The film failed commercially; according to historian Sachi Sri Kantha, a potential reason was that the plot was strung around "national unity" as a political propaganda for Ramachandran's newly formed party and it's then ally Indira Gandhi's Congress Party, prior to the 1977 Indian general election.

References

External links

* {{A. P. Nagarajan 1970s Tamil-language films 1977 films Films directed by A. P. Nagarajan Films with screenplays by A. P. Nagarajan Films scored by Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Indian road movies