''Thaneer Thaneer'' () is a 1981 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory o ...

political drama film written and directed by K. Balachander, starring Saritha, Shunmugham, V. K. Veeraswami and Radha Ravi. The film, based on the 1980 play of the same name by

Komal Swaminathan Komal Swaminathan (born 27 January 1935 in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India, died 1995) was a congressional activist in his early years, a Tamil theater personality, film director and journalist. Early life Swaminathan joined the school of S. V. ...

, was filmed by B. S. Lokanath and featured music by

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

. It was released during the

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

day in 1981. ''Thanneer Thanneer'' deals with issues such as

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is whe ...

and

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, i ...

. Inhabitants of a

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

-ridden village in Tamil Nadu, Athipati, try a cooperative method to bring water to their village, but their attempts are thwarted by unscrupulous politicians who try to use the water problem for their political gains. The film has been highly critically acclaimed and considered a "classic", and fetched several accolades including two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

and two

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

IBN Live Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

included the film in its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time. Balachander has revealed that there is no existing copy of the negative of the film anymore.

Plot

When a remote village, Athipatti in Madurai district faces severe water shortages, the inhabitants adopt all possible means to bring their problem to the attention of the authorities. But the process soon reveals the apathetic attitude of politicians, bureaucrats and the press alike. A convict Vellaiswamy wanted for the murder of a local landlord turns the villagers' plight to his advantage and begins a co-operative scheme to transport water in a cart from a spring ten miles away with help of Vathiyar. The local politicians try to make people of village to vote for them in election. But all people of the village boycott the elections. The local politician beats the convict and breaks the vehicle used for transporting water. The villagers decide to build canal by themselves. But Alagiri, husband of Sevanthi, comes to the village and finds the convict hidden in the village. The convict promises to Alagiri that he will surrender after the canal is finished. But fate intervenes in the form of a Public Works Department Officer, who stops villagers from finishing the canal work. The villagers are shot by police. The convict dies due to thirst for water. A villager joins the naxalites. Vathiyar is arrested for aiding the convict. The villagers leave the town. But Sevanthi watches the sky every evening in hope of rain. These incidents are narrated by a Press reporter who had come to the village. The final scene mocks bureaucracy by showing pictures of government sponsored meetings for water resource improvement. It shows all the political parties' flags in the farmland. It shows that bureaucracy and politics fail the common man's aspirations.

Cast

* Saritha as Sevanthi * R. K. Raman as Vathiyar * Shunmugham * A. K. Veeraswami * Radha Ravi as Alagiri * Guhan as Vellaisamy

Themes

''Thaneer Thaneer'' is a film about administration negligence of suffering villagers, excessive bureaucratic regulation (

Red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to ...

), greed, power and powerlessness.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by

and songs were written by

Kannadasan Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was an Indian philosopher, poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important lyricists in India. Freq ...

and Vairamuthu.

Reception

P. S. Vaidyanathan of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new on ...

'' in his review praised the film citing "With his masterly touch, Balachander makes every scene throb with life – life as it is lived in the raw in India's poverty-stricken villages. Therein lies his – and the writer's – triumph. And that's what elevates the film far above the general run-of-the-mill movies and the director's own acclaimed previous efforts and converts it into a bold, thought-provoking classic." '' Kalki'' wrote, "Balachander at his best!". Saritha supposedly lost the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wi ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fi ...

(for '' Umrao Jaan'') that year by a narrow margin.

Accolades

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several aw ...

* National Film Award for Best Screenplay * Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil * Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil *

Cinema Express Award for Best Film – Tamil The Cinema Express Best Film Award is given as a part of its annual Cinema Express Awards for Tamil (Kollywood Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tam ...

References

External links

* * {{FilmfareAwardBestTamilMovie 1980s political drama films 1980s political satire films 1980s Tamil-language films 1981 films Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners Films about water Films directed by K. Balachander Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay National Film Award Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Indian films based on plays Indian political drama films Indian political satire films Water scarcity in fiction