''Sri Raghavendrar'' is a 1985

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

Hindu mythological film This is a list of genres of Literary genre, literature and entertainment (Film genre, film, television, Music genre, music, and Video game genre, video games), excluding :Visual arts genres, genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for ...

directed by S. P. Muthuraman and was produced by

Kavithalayaa Productions Kavithalayaa Productions is an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. It was founded by filmmaker K. Balachander in 1981. It has a library of 50+ films in three languages and 3500+ hours of television content. Kavitha ...

. 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 ...

, portraying the title character, in his 100th film.

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 ...

, Vishnuvardhan,

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

and

Nizhalgal Ravi Ravichandran Samanna (born 16 April 1956), known professionally as Nizhalgal Ravi, is an Indian film, television and voice actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films and television series. He st ...

play prominent roles. The film is based on the life of Hindu saint

Raghavendra Tirtha Raghavendra Tirtha () (1595 – 1671) was a Hindu scholar, theologian and saint. He was also known as Sudha Parimalacharya (). His diverse oeuvre include commentaries on the works of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, interpretation of the ...

. The soundtrack was composed 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 lyrics were written by Vaali. The dialogues for the film were written by A. L. Narayanan. The cinematography was handled by T. S. Vinayagam while the editing was handled by the duo R. Vittal and S. B. Mohan. The film was released on 1 September 1985 to positive reception with Rajinikanth's performance as a saint was widely praised. But the film failed at box office.

Plot

This film is the life of

, from Birth till his Mahasamadhi.

Cast

as Saraswati Bai * Vishnuvardhan as Sri Yogenthra Tirtha *

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...

as Maqbool Khan, Nawab of

Adoni Adoni is a city in the Kurnool district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Adoni mandal, administered under the Adoni Revenue Division. In the 2011 census of India, Adoni had a population of 166, ...

* Mohan as Mukuntha *

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, ...

as Aparajita * Somayajulu as Sri Sudeendrar * K.R.Vijaya as Devi Saraswathy *

as Appanacharya (foremost disciple) *

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

as King of Tanjavore * Y. G. Mahendra as Guru Sri Sudeendrar's disciple *

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language, Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coco ...

as Priest *

Poornam Viswanathan Poornam Viswanathan (15 November 1921 – 1 October 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil films. He started performing on stage at age 18. He worked as a reader for All India Radio and went on to act in films such as ''C ...

as a Devotee whose son accidentally dies but revived by Sri Raghavendra * V.S. Raghavan as Srinivasacharya Devotee *

as Venkanna *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor) Senthamarai was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil cinema and theatre. Career Senthamarai was born on 13 April 1935 at Kancheepuram. His family included his father Thiruvenkadam, his mother Vedamm ...

as Tamil Poet *

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthul ...

as Guru Sri Sudeendrar's disciple * S. R. Veeraraghavan as Seemaachar * Srikanth as Devotee who is blessed by Sri Raghavendra who protects this family by killing the demon character * G. Srinivasan as "Lower caste" person mistreated by V.S.Raghavan's character initially but blessed by Sri Raghavendra * Manorama as Saraswathi Bai's friend * Gopu *

Vennira Aadai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

* C. Vasantha as Poornam Viswanathan's wife

Production

''Sri Raghavendra'' was

's 100th film (including his other language films). The film featured him in the role of the saint

, different from the larger-than-life characters which he is known for and portrayed. Rajinikanth, a fan of Kannada actor Rajkumar, had seen his film ''

Mantralaya Mahatme ''Mantralaya Mahatme'' is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language film directed by T. V. Singh Thakur, based on the book ''Sri Raghavendra Vijaya'' written by Rajaguru Rajacharya, and stars Rajkumar in the role of Raghavendra Swami, a Hindu saint who ...

'' where Rajkumar portrayed Raghavendra. Rajinikanth approached S. P. Muthuraman to direct the film. Muthuraman was initially reluctant to direct a devotional film, but Balachander encouraged and convinced him to take up the film. To prepare himself to direct the film, Muthuraman watched various devotional films directed by

A. P. Nagarajan Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan (24 February 1928 – 5 April 1977) was an Indian film director, producer, actor and writer who set a trend in film making in Tamil cinema from 1965 to 1977. Film career Nagarajan started his own drama c ...

who was known for such films. Prior to the start of the film, the team took the script first to the Swami's abode in

Mantralayam Mantralayam is a pilgrim village in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, India, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River on the border with neighbouring Karnataka state. It is known for the brundavana of Raghavendra Swami, a saint who lived in 1 ...

, and got it blessed. They did the same thing with the first copy, post-completion. Muthuraman said that during the 90-day schedule, all the cast and crew of the film undergone the ritual of fasting on Thursday in reverence to lord's presence considering it was the mythological film.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by

and lyrics for all songs were written by Vaali. The song "Parthale Theriyadha" is based on Anandabhairavi raga. The song "Aadal Kalaiye" is based on Charukesi raga. The song "Azhaikiran Madhavan" is based on Subhapantuvarali raga. The song "Ramanamam" is based on Mayamalavagowla raga. The song "Mazhaikkoru" is based on Amruthavarshini raga. The song "Unakum Enakum" was later reused by American Musical group

Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...

's bonus track "The Elephunk Theme" from their 2003 album ''

Elephunk ''Elephunk'' is the third studio album by the American musical group Black Eyed Peas. It was released on June 24, 2003, by the will.i.am Music Group and A&M Records. The album charted at number 14 on the American ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart an ...

''.

Reception

The film received

tax exemption Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

from Tamil Nadu government, and received positive reviews, primarily for Rajinikanth's performance, but became a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

. Despite this Rajinikanth won three awards for his performance: the Film Fans Association Award for Best Actor, Cinema Express Award for Best Actor – Tamil and Filmalaya Award for Best Actor. The film itself frequently features on lists compiling Rajinikanth's best films, and he considers it a personal favourite film.

References

External links

* {{Kavithalaya Productions 1980s Tamil-language films 1985 films Films directed by S. P. Muthuraman Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Hindu mythological films